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Comment by frockington | Hacker News Reader

Not for non-violent misdemeanors. Unless you're a flagrant offender you will normally be slapped don the wrist and given a stern lecture in the form of a class. Source: was in a fraternity in the US where literally nothing bad happened to anyone I knew with a misdemeanor outside of a fine and class

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A lot of companies won't hire you if you have a criminal record of any kind. Some won't even hire you if you have any record of arrest, regardless of conviction.

Which fraternity?

If the court seals the record its nearly impossible for anyone but government agencies to discover

wasn't there just a story about background check startups finding these records and using them?

Yes, but that costs money and not all states do it. My state has a fully searchable arrest database with mugshots.

> If the court seals the record its nearly impossible for anyone but government agencies to discover

No, it is not, because background check and other third-party intelligence firms aren't purely reactive now, they have and use tools to proactively vacuum up public records and maintain their own DBs. After-the-fact sealing of arrest records or expunging of convictions has no effect on data that is already in third-party hands.

Never knew this, so is it that just no employer cares enough about minor misdemeanors or the cost of doing so makes it not worthwhile? I've never heard of anyone getting a job offer taken back because of a minor misdemaonor

exactly what the GDPR helps you with...

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