Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 390
individual of maintaining a criminal record. The Fifth Circuit,
however, has acknowledged that “expungement is ‘exceedingly
narrow’ and is granted only in exceptional circumstances.” The
court explained “the government cannot and should not be forced to
rewrite history” every time a wrongfully accused wants his record
expunged. Sealed Appellant v. Sealed Appellee, 130 F.3d 695 (5th
Cir. 1997). Some of the areas where expungement has worked are
in incidents of extreme police misconduct, or where the conviction
is being misused against the person. Unless there exist compelling
reasons, a federal judge is highly unlikely to grant expungement.
3. Expungement for drug possession: statutory authority
Under a federal law entitled “special probation and expungement
procedures for drug possessors,” certain persons are allowed to
request a federal court to issue an expungement order from all
public records. Congress intended this order to restore the person
to the status he or she “occupied before such arrest or institution of
criminal proceedings.” See 18 U.S.C. § 3607(c).
In order to qualify for the expungement, you must have been under
the age of 21 when you were convicted, you must have no prior
drug offenses, and your conviction must have been for simple
possession of a small amount of a controlled substance.
4. How does a person have firearms rights restored under federal law?
Under the Gun Control Act of 1968 (“GCA”), a person who has
received a Presidential pardon is not considered convicted of a
crime preventing the purchase and possession of firearms subject
to all other federal laws. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 921(a)(20)(B) and
(a)(33)(B)(ii). In addition, persons who had a conviction expunged
or set aside or who have had their civil rights restored are not
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