Several recent articles highlight the subject of criminal expunctions both in North Carolina and nationally. As the United States as well as individual states tackle the ever-rising costs of incarceration and the administration of justice, the subject of criminal justice reform has naturally gained attention. As knowledge and popularity of expunctions spreads, state legislatures have taken a fresh look at a very old concept that dates back to English law, the concept that punishment allocated by the criminal justice system should have a known end point. With the proliferation of information in nearly real time, the collateral consequences to criminal defendants have vastly expanded in recent years. To some degree, once a felon has "served his time," he's really only begun to pay the real costs and experience the collateral consequences that flow from interaction with the justice system and a criminal conviction.

This article is not intended to be political in nature and the author has attempted to address the topic in a political vacuum. Whether you find yourself in the camp of folks who think that evolution of the criminal justice center is socially necessary or those who believe convicted criminals "deserve what they got," a reasoned analysis of the issues of state and federal budgets and the socioeconomic health of our nation would lead nearly all readers to conclude that the matters discussed herein are relevant and important in today's geo-political environment.

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