Hello and thanks for choosing Just Answer®:

I am a licensed attorney and will do my best to provide you an honest and accurate answer to your important legal question.

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1. I am a lousy mind reader. If you do not supply information to me, I do not know it. Please, give me the needed details to work with so I can provide you with the best possible service. Also, if you use the RELIST or BLOCK features, our discussion ends and I may no longer be able to assist. Please, just write back to me, directly, and talk to me.

2. Also, while I make every effort to work in a timely fashion, answering legal questions is not an instantaneous process. I am required to conduct research, interact with multiple customers simultaneously and sometimes take a break. Also, there may be times when I have to sign off for the night or to attend to other obligations. Rest assured, however, I will get back to you.

3. If you have a new legal question, the terms of this site ask that you post it in a separate thread. In other words, please be fair and reasonable. You can direct any future questions to my attention. Just go to my Profile Page, type in the text box "ask Your Question", click the hyperlink that says "15 minutes", and use the drop down menu to select 12 hours.

4. Please remember that many times even attorneys disagree with the law. But, we cannot change it. The answer I give you is based on my years of legal education and professional practice. It may well not be what you were hoping to hear. I will be upfront and direct. I will not mislead you, misstate the law to suit your hopes, or agree just to meet your expectations.

5. If you answer an Information Request and I start working on formulating your answer, it does take some time to draft a quality response. In the meantime, you may receive a message indicating that I am "offline" or "unavailable". This is not the case. These messages are generated automatically without my knowledge or input.

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QUESTION: "Can I do anything to clear my record?"

ANSWER: First of all, please allow me to say that I commend you for the honorable manner in which you are living your life. I say that in all sincerity and mean every word of it. Personally, I am beyond frustrated with our criminal justice system. But, what counts is not my opinion but rather the law. Accordingly, please believe me when I say it gives me no pleasure to be the bearer of some news I realize you were not hoping to hear. But, rather than doing you the disservice of misleading you or providing false hope, I will speak plainly. Here is the truth. Alabama law is terribly strict or restrictive in this regard. In fact, I can recall no worse jurisdiction when it comes to post-conviction remedies. Specifically, the remedy of expungement (expunction) is nonexistent. Also, you are indeed correct that a pardon will not obliterate an arrest record, which will continue to show up on a criminal background check. The botXXX XXne is that yours is simply a lousy jurisdiction in terms of one in your shoes. This may sound like an absolute long shot and might not even be applicable, but I will just throw it out as a thought. I have had numerous friends over the years who have rather extensive records and were able to obtain gainful employment by participating in a 12 step recovery group and sharing their need. I am not suggesting going just to try and make contacts, of course, but just in case you happened to attend, I thought it was worth a mention. Otherwise, I am very sorry to say Alabama law is of zero help.

I truly hope all works out for you. I know this is a lot to take in, so please do not hesitate to write back. After you select "Accept", our conversation need not end. I would be happy to continue our dialog, without further charge, until you are fully satisfied. I promise to check back periodically for any updated posts from you each time I return to this online venue.

Take care and thanks again for choosing JustAnswer®!