INDIANAPOLIS — On Wednesday, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears addressed the rising tide of gun violence in Indianapolis and shared plans for helping non-violent offenders. By Thursday afternoon, he was out doing something about it.
Mears held an event to give second chances to those familiar with the justice system.
“Now I could go and get me that driving job that I want,” said Terri, who hopes a better future lies ahead for him and his family. “I came here today to take advantage of this opportunity that’s being given, and this is my steps for moving forward to bettering my life.”
Terri came to Thursday's workshop hoping for a second chance, looking to get criminal misdemeanors expunged from his record, hoping to get a better job.
“You want to make an honest living. You want to work like everybody else, live a normal life like everybody else,” Terri explained.
Hundreds came to the workshop with the same hope.
“We opened this up for 48 hours and we filled 375 spots in 48 hours, which tells me there’s a ton of people out there who want better, who want that opportunity,” Mears said.
They're people Mears believes need a second chance and he's helping them seize it.
“What we’re really trying to deal with today is individuals who have arrests or convictions for theft cases, trespass cases, disorderly conduct, these types of issues,” Mears explained.
For more serious charges that involve a victim, expungement can happen only if the victim and a judge both agree to it.
“If we help people get their criminal convictions expunged, they’re going to get better jobs, and people who are out there in the workforce are not out there committing violent crimes,” said Mears, explaining he hopes the second-chance workshops, like the two held this week, can help reduce violent crime in Indianapolis.
Thursday’s workshop also helped people who may have lost their driver’s license for not paying a past ticket.
That's not all. Mears is also starting a program to give low-level juvenile offenders second chances. Instead of sending first-time offenders through the juvenile process, Mears wants to pay for them to join the Boys and Girls Club.
“It goes back to the issue, you give young people hope, they’re not going to be involved in violent crime,” Mears said.
Terri’s certainly walking out of Thursday’s workshop with more hope than he had going in, hoping he doesn’t have to worry about what's in the past anymore. His only concern now is hope for the future.
“I just got to continue taking the steps to better my life, keeping my record clean and doing whatever I need to do,” Terri said.