There have been a few posts asking about convictions, etc. in the past. Thought you'd want to read this story: http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/ne...type=ynews_rss

Sue Lanum said it felt just like holding her diploma after graduating from nursing school years ago.
Beneath the gubernatorial seal, there it was in bold letters: Warrant of Pardon.

“I started crying ... I was so happy,” she said.

Lanum, 67, of London was granted clemency earlier this month by then-Gov. Ted Strickland for a 1979 conviction for passing bad checks and a 1996 conviction for domestic violence.

Finally, Lanum thought, this would remove any obstacles between her and a nursing career caring for the elderly.

“I missed nursing,” she said. “My passion is working at a nursing home with the elderly.”

But, in order to do that, a background check is necessary, a probe that turns up those convictions, pardon or not, and thereby disqualifying her for employment.

“I just couldn’t get any jobs,” she said.

Yet, under the law, the pardon Lanum was granted is doing more or less all it’s intended by law to do, said Thomas Hagel, professor of law, University of Dayton.

“It’s supposed to relieve you of any disabilities attached to you,” said Hagel. “The conviction is still a matter of public record.”

Nothing but an expungement can erase a conviction, and only then could an individual legally assert that he or she has never committed a crime, said Hagel.

But, that option isn’t available to Lanum because it typically only applies to first offenders, and domestic violence convictions can’t be expunged, said Hagel.

“It’s scary. I feel like I’m right back where I started,” said Lanum.

Since her 1996 conviction, Lanum said she got an education and stayed on the straight and narrow.

In 2010, she applied for the pardon in the hope that her record would be wiped clean or amended.

“I don’t want to go to the grave feeling like I’m a criminal,” she said.

It’s a national problem, Hagel said. More than 400,000 people are released from jails and prisons each year, many of whom are unemployable due to their criminal record, said Hagel.

“It creates a class of people who are still excluded from making a living,” said Hagel.

Lanum has been working for a temporary service and said she will have to keep taking odd jobs as her nursing career stays on hold.

She said she’d like to see the laws change to make pardons more practical.

“It shouldn’t be so black and white, if (someone) has proved themselves and they’re trying, give them a second chance,” she said. “Why give somebody a pardon if it’s not really going to help them?”