I first went to jail at 11. Coming home at 32, I entered a different kind of prison.
I first went to jail at 11. Coming home at 32, I entered a different kind of prison. | Opinion This isn't about erasing accountability. This is about recognizing rehabilitation, maturity and the human capacity for change.
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More than 12,000 have had their records expunged as part of Project Clean Slate
Project Clean Slate, started in 2016 by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, reached a milestone - and DeShaun is overjoyed to be No. 12,000.
Fox - 2 Detroit
I spent most of the first half of my life in carceral settings.
My first incarceration was at 11 years old. By 17, I was serving what amounted to a juvenile life sentence, followed by 15 consecutive years in prison. When I came home at 32, I stepped into a different kind of prison: one built from stigma, systemic barriers and the persistent shadow of a criminal record.
That's why clean slate, expungement and pardon legislation aren't abstract policy ideas to me ‒ they are deeply personal, transformational tools that can open doors otherwise locked shut. These aren't about erasing accountability. They're about recognizing rehabilitation, maturity and the human capacity for change. They're about giving people a real chance to rejoin the communities they never stopped loving.
After my release, I refused to be defined by my record. Instead, I became the first formerly incarcerated person ever hired by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware. I helped anchor and launch the state's first federal reentry court, a visionary model that is still operating today and successfully serving Delawareans. I didn't just reenter society ‒ I helped reimagine what reentry could look like. But even with that level of access and success, I still faced unnecessary hurdles that clean slate legislation would have helped eliminate.
Momentum for record-clearing legislation is growing
Across the country, momentum for record-clearing legislation is growing.
In recent months, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed the Expungement Reform Act into law, expanding eligibility for record clearance. Thousands of Marylanders who have stayed out of trouble and paid their dues now have a shot at housing, education and employment that was previously denied to them due to an outdated or irrelevant criminal record.
This follows a broader national trend. Twelve states ‒ including Delaware, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Utah ‒ have enacted clean slate laws that automatically seal eligible criminal records after a certain period of time.
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These laws increase employment, reduce recidivism and improve public safety. And they do it without requiring the person to navigate complicated and expensive legal processes that often disproportionately exclude the poor and people of color.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, nearly 1 in 3 American adults in the working age population has some type of criminal record, most of them for nonviolent offenses or arrests that never led to a conviction.
Yet even decades later, these records can restrict access to housing, employment and education. The collateral consequences can be lifelong.
We have a moral imperative to clean slates. We also have a financial one.
The Center for Economic and Policy Research estimates that the U.S. economy loses between $78 and $87 billion annually in gross domestic product due to the employment barriers faced by people with criminal records.
That's not just a policy failure ‒ it's an economic one.
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Clean slate laws create stronger, more stable communities. When people can access jobs and housing, they pay taxes, raise their families and contribute to the fabric of our economy. The data is clear: When you give people a fair chance, most take it and run with it.
At the federal level, the introduction of the Weldon Angelos Presidential Pardon Expungements Act is a potential game-changer. Named for a man who was sentenced to 55 years in prison for a first-time nonviolent offense and later pardoned, this bipartisan bill would allow people who have received presidential pardons to petition for record expungement.
Currently, a pardon removes penalties but not the stigma. Even after a presidential pardon, individuals still face the barriers tied to their record. This bill would be the first of its kind to create a federal pathway for record expungement, offering real relief and real second chances.
We have to close the federal gap
We are living through a political moment where tough-on-crime rhetoric is once again on the rise. However, the facts don't support the fear.
What we need now is not a return to mass incarceration, but a doubling down on policies that work: Clean slate laws, investment in reentry programs and fair hiring practices.
These policies have broad bipartisan support. A recent Clean Slate Initiative survey found that both Democrats and Republicans in many states overwhelmingly back record clearance as a pathway to economic self-sufficiency, family stability and safer communities.
I'm proud of what I've accomplished since coming home. I've built businesses, created training pipelines for returning citizens, and helped lead justice reform efforts at the local and national levels.
None of that would have been possible without the belief ‒ first in myself, then from others ‒ that I could be more than the worst thing I ever did.
Clean slate legislation codifies that belief into law. It says to every person coming home: You are more than your past. You deserve a future.
Let's make sure our laws reflect that truth, not just for me, but for the millions who are still locked out of opportunity, even after serving their time.Saad M. Soliman is the founder of Soliman Consulting LLC and is serving a four-year appointment on the Delaware Workforce Development Board.
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