In battle against crime, Chicago tries counterintuitive idea: wiping away some arrest records
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In their fight against gun violence, Chicago lawmakers are leading the way toward a counterintuitive idea — fighting crime by making it easier for young people to wipe away minor arrest records.
The goal is to give tens of thousands of teens a better chance to find work or get into college, rather than letting a minor episode doom them to a life on gang-dominated streets.
A new law makes Illinois one of the few states to automatically expunge the criminal records of juveniles who were arrested but never charged.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It could help teens like Mariama Bangura, who was arrested last year after she was accused of threatening a teacher. She worries that the incident could sink her ambitions to be a nurse or a massage therapist.