In Michigan, thousands of criminal records have been wiped clean through the expungement process because of the state’s Clean Slate Act.
Certain crimes can be expunged but some more serious crimes cannot.
For those who don’t qualify for expungement, there is another route for people to get their records cleared.
That’s the pardons process.
Aaron Suganuma received one of seven pardons granted by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in the past year and a half.
“At the age of 22 I was having a lot of struggle in my life,” Suganuma said. “A lot of my life ended up revolving around drugs and just trying to self-medicate.”
He served more than four years in prison for armed robbery, a crime that happened more than twenty years ago.
Suganuma now works at the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office and sought a pardon so he could travel overseas and participate more fully in school events with his daughter.
Nationally, the Restoration Of Rights Project tracks the frequency of pardons granted by the states.
The project advocates for more pardons, rating Michigan in the bottom fourth of states granting them.
Michigan State University law professor Quinn Yeargain agrees the number of pardons in Michigan is low.
“There are some pardons in Michigan, but it really doesn’t stack up compared to the number of people who are incarcerated in Michigan under their state criminal charges,” Yeargain said. “It’s a drop in the bucket.”
One Detroit contributor Mario Bueno spent 19 years in prison and now reports on criminal justice issues. He joined One Detroit Senior Producer Bill Kubota examining pardons in Michigan. They heard stories about how the stigma of being a convicted felon affects people’s lives long after their prison sentence ends.
In their report, we hear from Pete Martel, who earned his law degree after serving time in prison, and Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein whose thoughts on second chances for returning citizens have changed in recent years.