[QUOTE=Greenhorn deckhand;159140]Thread totally got derailed.[/QUOTE]
Tell us what you “might have gotten in trouble for” and well tell you if we think it will hurt your chances for a job. This forum is completely anonymous, its not like anybody will know who you are
Already stated it
theft by check 1st degree,
theft by check 2nd degree x 3,
theft by check 3rd degree x 2,
worthless check(misde) x 6
So 6 bad checks, and 6 theft charges to go with it
Got sentenced to the pen for a nickel. Served 2 and was allowed work release to continue offshore at the same time. Completed my sentence, probation, etc over 5 years ago.
Why should anyone in Sam hill need to know that. I did my sentence why continue to be punished
All these crimes were done to provide food, electricity, etc
Judge said i was a monster in society. Never been in trouble before that nor after that.
[QUOTE=Greenhorn deckhand;159146]Already stated it
theft by check 1st degree,
theft by check 2nd degree x 3,
theft by check 3rd degree x 2,
worthless check(misde) x 6
So 6 bad checks, and 6 theft charges to go with it
Got sentenced to the pen for a nickel. Served 2 and was allowed work release to continue offshore at the same time. Completed my sentence, probation, etc over 5 years ago.
Why should anyone in Sam hill need to know that. I did my sentence why continue to be punished
All these crimes were done to provide food, electricity, etc
Judge said i was a monster in society. Never been in trouble before that nor after that.[/QUOTE]
Here’s the problem. Theft is considered a crime of “moral turpitude.” It’s a big turnoff to a lot of potential employers regardless of your rationale. I would try small, local companies and leads from people you know personally who can vouch for your current behavior. You will have a problem with government employment.
Once you have established a good work reputation, the record won’t matter as much. Reputation is important. Once you blow it, it takes a lot of hard work to claw it back.
Nobody’s judging you. It’s a real bitch for someone with a record to find employment in this country and fly straight, I completely agree.
5 years for 6 bad checks? shit! obviously we don’t know what the total amount of money that was stolen was but that sounds like a LONG time for bad checks!
4,200 total
I work already on boat, been so for 7 years. Worked before the crime worked offshore while serving time and continue to now. Just laid off and want something till the company calls me back
Gotcha. I think you’ll be fine as long as you could get a good reference from a reputable boat company to speak about your character and work ethic.
[QUOTE=Greenhorn deckhand;159151]I work already on boat, been so for 7 years. Worked before the crime worked offshore while serving time and continue to now. Just laid off and want something till the company calls me back[/QUOTE]
Good luck to ya then. It’s tight all the way around, union or non union, for everyone.
Best of luck to ya G-d. You’ve managed to get the employment part, post-incarceration, down reasonably okay. See if you can’t get a letter of recommendation from your supervisor or captain, as has already been suggested, and if you’re brought up on this in an interview, tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but.
6 Bad Checks, 7 years ago? That is the type of thing that should be sealed and completely unavailable to pre-employment background check companies.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;159181]6 Bad Checks, 7 years ago? That is the type of thing that should be sealed and completely unavailable to pre-employment background check companies.[/QUOTE]
Such things aren’t automatically sealed, unfortunately.
I’m thinking a discussion with an attorney about expungement options might be worthwhile. Expungement might be available.
OP, I wouldn’t share any more facts here…talk with a local attorney.
(this place isn’t as anonymous as you think)
I believe that companies are not aloud to ask about your background past seven years, and yet they all state “have you ever been convicted of a crime” If you look at the TWIC app it only states the last seven years. I think this law actually came out about 5 years or so ago. Anyone know this law that has more info please share…
I saw a question have you ever had any interaction with any law enforcment, court, or judge.
You may want to read this. Employers can ask an awful lot about you unless it’s something like personal medical information. There, privacy laws apply. Other than that, they have to get your permission to run a background check- but if you decline, you won’t get offered the job.
http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/background_checks_employees.cfm
Sorry. Call me what you will but a thief of any sort is pretty low on the human scale. Murderers rapists and child molesters are lower but that’s about it. Can’t stand a thief and I certainly don’t want to work with one.
Also for people to completely blame the banks for the recession is ludicrous and putting blame on someone else rather than taking blame for poor decisions. All these people buying homes they couldn’t afford for interest only were bound to default when the principle came in.
I keep hearing people blaming banks for approving the loan but if you couldn’t afford it then you shouldn’t have bought it. Part of what’s wrong with society as a whole.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;159181]6 Bad Checks, 7 years ago? That is the type of thing that should be sealed and completely unavailable to pre-employment background check companies.[/QUOTE]
I guess if I were the employer I might still want to know. The guy basically “stole” over 4K. He didn’t just bounce a check, pay the overdraft fee and move on with life… he didn’t make good on checks he wrote… and given the large amount, he had to have intentionally written checks that exceeded the balance in his account. This is no different than if he had gone to the bank and stolen it there.
Now, he says there were extenuating circumstances. He has paid his “debt to society”… I hope that meant he has made full restitution for the check amounts…if he hasn’t I wouldn’t consider his debt truly being paid in full though. Most applications I have seen ask you to “self-report” this kind of thing. Of course, this would be the best place to say… yes, you will find X,Y and Z and this is why this happened. It is his chance to put in writing his justification and to explain exactly why he wouldn’t be doing this again. (I had a kid with cancer and couldn’t afford chemo and the rent so I wrote bad checks… or whatever). This gives the employer full disclosure and allows them to make the choice they think is best for them.
I’ve seen guys steal everything not nailed down on a boat from toilet paper to food to tools and equipment. An employer would certainly have an interest in knowing whether an employee was likely to steal from them. History of stealing means it could happen again. It seems that quite often when I see embezzlement stories in the paper the accused has often had similar problems in the past and the company didn’t actually do a background check.
As far as the ins co’s… they have actuaries that basically calculate the odds and apparently people with poor credit have been shown to statistically have more claims. That doesn’t mean there is a direct relation between paying bills on time and having an accident, but apparently there is enough of a relationship there that the insurance companies will use it. I imagine that employers will also use it as a filter tool in a tight job market for some positions.
Anyway, for the OP… full disclosure and a well worded explanation of his prior circumstances and how he wouldn’t do the same thing again and why. Even if his explanation is I was a young dumb a$$ and I was irresponsible… but now I have 2 months of expenses in the bank and live within my means…etc… The key will be to not hide it and try to explain it head on.
I do think it would be reasonable to have some types of offenses “drop off” like a bankruptcy does after 10 years… but I think I would lean more towards a 10 year period vs a 5 year period… and some things obviously couldn’t drop off at all… but speeding tickets… yeah… no need to carry those around forever.
I have always been honest. But writing checks isnt like stealing from the bank. Since speeding isnt looked at as attempted murder. One the bank didnt pay the.
And yes all cost were repajd to include chexk and penalties.
Once everything is done then there should be no reporting. Whatever the judge says my punishment is that should be it nothing more nothing less
[QUOTE=Greenhorn deckhand;160028]I have always been honest. But writing checks isnt like stealing from the bank. Since speeding isnt looked at as attempted murder. One the bank didnt pay the.
And yes all cost were repajd to include chexk and penalties.
Once everything is done then there should be no reporting. Whatever the judge says my punishment is that should be it nothing more nothing less[/QUOTE]
I have to be honest… you seem to not understand that when you write a check for something and KNOW there is no money in that account and have no intentions of making the check good that is stealing. Either the bank paid the person you wrote the check to and they are out the money or the person you wrote the check to provide you with a good or service and didn’t get paid for it. ie you either are stealing the bank’s money or the person’s (landlord’s) money or right to money.
Not to be too sensitive about it but I have had people write me bad checks that were never made good… and that in effect was stealing from me.
The reason you should have a reportable record (for at least some amount of time) is that people can be forewarned that you did this in the past and so they don’t take an uninformed risk by potentially putting you in a position where you could steal from them. Of course, you should also have the opportunity to explain the circumstances and again… allow them to make an informed decision as to whether you are a good risk or a bad one.
I really hope that you are in a better place personally now and whatever circumstances put you in a position where you wrote those checks is long behind you. If you have references, that should help too. The job market is pretty tough right now and unfortunately, it often doesn’t take much for an employer to discard an application… there are just too many people that don’t have the same baggage that they can hire. I think some people talked about trying to get the charges expunged and maybe that would be something to explore… it couldn’t hurt to try.
As a landlord, I do not like bad checks or any of the other ways that tenants steal from me.
As a taxpayer, i do not want to support millions of misfits (and their kids) on welfare forever because their petty criminal records keep them from getting a family wage job. Lack of a job often leads to more crime.
While I understand that employers and landlords want to know everything. And some think they have a right to know everything. We cannot have a successful society with reasonable tax levels unless we limit landlord, employer, and even police, access to petty criminal records more than a few years old.
As far as Gulf boat companies go, they hire a lot of criminals and lowlifes. I laugh my ass off when I see a Gulf application that says on top “we are committed to hiring the best people in the Gulf,” but later on you find questions like: "how many felony convictions do you have? Are you doing time now or on parole? Do you have any upcoming court appointments that might interfere with you being able to show up for work?
Employer inquires are going far beyond what a just and decent society should allow. Limits are needed.
I say leave it to the USCG, TSA and FBI to screen mariners for disqualifying crimes. When a guy shows up with a TWIC and MMC, an employer should not be allowed to make any further inquiry in criminal background.
Most importantly, when a mariner presents his USCG Medical Certificate, an employer should not be allowed to conduct a company physical or make any further inquiries into the mariner’s health. That system works just fine in Canada and much of the rest of the world.
I totally get your point and a lot of the things that pop up are minor traffic violations, minor drug/alcohol or even disorderly conduct types of offenses. Isolated indiscretions of relatively minor importance shouldn’t follow someone for the rest of their life. However, a long lived pattern of even minor offenses might justifiably give an employer pause and probably shouldn’t be wholesale brushed away under the rug. I do think that many employers actually have the sense to discount on their own, an older, minor offense if the applicant submits a statement of explanation. Obviously it is not impossible to find a job with a criminal record… but it doesn’t make it any easier… maybe that is one of the incentives for people to not be in that position? Having a minor offense tail you for your whole life is unreasonable… I guess it would be up to lawmakers to decide limits and length of time etc…
As a landlord, I am pretty sure you would want to know whether an applicant had just written 10 bad checks to their old landlord… the cost to you as a taxpayer for the “general social support” is probably less than the harm that one bad tenant could cost you individually.
I think most will agree that quite a few hiring companies do hire people with records… so all this guy has to do is disclose it and probably explain it. If he is a strong candidate otherwise then he could still be hired.
I guess my problem with too much quick erasing of records is do we the taxpayers want to pay for the “other non-criminal” applicant’s family either? I mean, if two people apply for the same job, one with record, one without…equal qualifications and experience… if the guy with a record gets the job… the guy without one may well be forced onto the dole too. Now, maybe that’s better cause the guy without the record might be less likely to resort to theft to resolve their problems… but isn’t that kind of like blackmail… hire me or I will steal from you?
I don’t know… I do think minor misdemeanor offenses should roll off… just like bad credit rolls off your credit report after 7-10 years. Felonies might take more serious thought.