Case Closed on Expungements

Jasen Burwinkel, 27, could be like any number of job seekers in the Tristate, except for one thing: His record includes a theft conviction, a crime for which he served about three months in jail. "It hurts every time I come back from an interview, because they say, 'You have a theft? No job.'" About 650,000 people are released from prison each year in the U.S., and many advocacy groups are pushing for more lenient expungement laws for non-violent offenders as a way to help them gain employment and avoid becoming repeat offenders.