Today is the second annual “CORI Independence Day,” where people with criminal records can learn what they can do to move forward with their lives, without forever being held back by their pasts.
The event, organized by the Springfield Health Disparities Project, is being held from noon until 6 p.m. in Blunt Park, at 2460 Roosevelt Ave.
“The C.O.R.I. Independence effort is designed to provide the people of the community with C.O.R.I. education and assist qualified candidates in beginning the process of sealing their record,” Betty Agin, the group’s director, said in an announcement.
Under a 2010 law reforming the Criminal Offender Record Information—or CORI—system, former offenders can have misdemeanor convictions on their records sealed after five years, and felony convictions after 10. In addition, non-convictions no longer appear on a person’s record (in the past, all arrests showed up on the record, even if the charges were dropped or the person was found innocent). And employers can no longer ask job applicants about previous convictions during the initial hiring phase, which reformers say will prevent worthy applicants from being immediately disqualified simply for having a record.
Activists who pushed for the changes argued that the old CORI laws made it unduly difficult for people who’d committed crimes in the past to move forward with their lives, making it hard for them to find jobs or housing, for instance.
More than 750 people came to last year’s event, where volunteer lawyers and law students explained the law and advised participants on how to get copies of their CORIs and how to seal them, according to organizers.
“The recent tornado has highlighted the importance for people to know what is on their record—and take the necessary steps to clear their record if eligible—because of the amount of volunteers that were turned away for failing the required background checks, and the now-homeless people that will unfortunately continue to be denied housing due to their past record,” organizer Orlando Ramos said in the announcement.
