The following thought-provoking piece about the growing popularity of judicial “certificates of good conduct” was first published in The Marshall Project (www.themarshallproject.org) a nonprofit news organization focused on the US criminal justice system. The “forgiving” approach to avoiding or mitigating collateral consequences is an important alternative to the “forgetting” approach advocated by proponents of expungement or sealing, which tend in any event to be limited to minor dated offenses or arrests not resulting in conviction. Forgiving v. Forgetting: For offenders seeking a new life, a new redemption tool. In February of 2003, a much younger Barack Obama rose before…
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Restoration of Firearm Rights After Conviction: A National Survey and Recommendations for Reform (Dec. 2025)

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