ATLANTA, Ga. – In Georgia, nearly 40 percent of citizens have a criminal record. That’s 4.2 million people have a criminal record who struggle to gets jobs and live with a host of restrictions for often minor offenses.

The Georgia Justice Project has a new campaign, “Second Chance for Georgia,” designed to expand expungement of millions of people’s criminal records, The Albany Herald reported.

Georgia’s expungement law is one of the most restrictive and harshest in the country and this effort brings together a diverse group of stakeholders to expand Georgia’s expungement law.

The Albany Herald reported that 40 other states allow expungement of some misdemeanor and felony convictions after a period of years without re-offending. Georgia upholds almost all convictions no matter how much time has passed or how straight and narrow a new path the former offender has taken.

By expanding the expungement law, millions of Georgians could have their records sealing of some misdemeanor and felony convictions.

Some 50 organizations have signed on to the Second Chance campaign, with new organizations still joining.

In 2019, five expungement bills were dropped.