I, the undersigned, call on the Governor of Illinois to change the laws regulating the length of time that a felony conviction, committed in the state of Illinois, remains on record. Excluding felony convictions comprised of a violent or sexually criminal nature, I supplicate the Governor of Illinois to enact the following precepts:

A.) Excluding felony convictions comprised of a violent or sexually criminal nature, all other felony convictions shall be completely expunged from all records contingent on the following conditions:

1.) 5 years have elapsed from the date the case was closed due to a completed parole or probationary period and/or time served; and no additional felony or misdemeanor convictions have been acquired during the aforementioned 5 years.

2.) Fines owed on closed felony or misdemeanor conviction cases shall play no determining role in the expungement being granted; instead the fines shall only be treated as a debt to be collected by the state or local law enforcement agency to which the debt is owed and therefore conducted as such, bearing no affiliation to any former criminal court proceedings.

I have composed this petition, because of the simple fact that, the past is the past. You can't judge a person for the rest of their life for bad decisions that they've made in the past. People do grow, change their mentality, move forward to become husbands, wives, fathers, and mothers. For this reason, there needs to be a better chance given for life. It's hard to provide for your family to the fullest of your ability when 90\% of the career fields that you would excel in, won't except you because of a bad decision you made 12 years ago. It's hard to even find a home for your newly started family, when so many apartments won't even accept your application for a lease because of a felony on your record; especially when you're trying to move your family into a good neighborhood, so they can have the best. It narrows down your choices so dramatically that it discourages many people and it shouldn't be that way. When a person turns their life around and becomes a productive, upright citizen in society, they should have the chance at regaining their wide range of choices and privileges back, so that they can reach their full potential and provide the best life possible for their family.