Protest calls for lawmakers to pass bill sealing certain criminal records

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — More than 100 people rallied on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse Wednesday to show support for the GROW Act which, if enacted, would seal certain criminal records automatically.

Those NBC4 spoke with talked about the struggles they still face almost every day despite serving their time years ago. All they want is to be given another chance at life and they believe that that can start with the GROW Act.

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House Bill 460, or the GROW Act, was introduced by Reps. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) and Brett Hillyer (R-Uhrichsville).

The bill would seal certain criminal records automatically. Right now, Ohio law allows most people to be eligible for record sealing if they have stayed out of trouble for six years since they have been convicted and finished their sentence; for most misdemeanors, it is three years.

“I committed the felonious assault over 35 years ago. I did 10 years incarcerated. I went to college. I sent other people through college. I came home 24 years without incident and I still suffer from collateral sanctions,” said Fred Ward, the state director for Building Freedom Ohio (BFO).

There are currently more than 1 million Ohioans whose records would be sealed if this bill is passed. However, according to BFO, there are millions of others whose criminal records will not qualify.

One person would not be helped by the GROW Act, but continues to fight for its passage.

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“I remember being sentenced and the judge telling me that I need to rehabilitate myself, so I did that time,” Shauntae Metcalf, a volunteer for BFO, said. “And so now this GROW Act would allow people coming behind me to be able to pick up the torch and get careers and live in, you know, better communities and have jobs that would be effective.”

Some said that while they’ve made mistakes in the past, a conviction shouldn’t be the end of their opportunities.

“I think that once a person do the sentence of incarceration, pay their fines, fees, right? And complete a probation or parole, they should be able to move on with their life and they shouldn’t have these barriers that last as collateral consequences for the rest of their life, it’s a life sentence,” Ward said.

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Some said that while the GROW Act is an important step, there’s still a lot more work that needs to be done.

“I think my dream would be for people to be able to have the ability to get their degrees in prison while incarcerated and then come home and be able to use those,” Metcalf said.

People at the event said they want to be able to make a life for themselves, their families and children, adding they want to move forward, not backward.

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