CNN
—
Once a felon, always a felon. That is how some convicted felons say society looks at them, no matter the crime.
Around 19 million Americans have a felony conviction, and at least 79 million has a criminal record, which can mean an arrest, charges or a conviction. But having a felony conviction, whether it involves incarceration or not, can impact your life long after you have served your time and paid your debt to society, felons say.
There is a stigma that sticks to convicted felons even years after the crime, says Bruce Western, professor of Sociology and Social Justice and director of the Justice Lab at Columbia University.
“I think the core content of criminal stigma is that it arouses fears that someone could behave violently or dishonestly,” he said. “That’s kind of what a criminal record is signaling to people.”
Many felons say their criminal records make it harder for them to find jobs. About 30% of people with criminal records are unemployed. But that stigma did not appear to harm former president Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Less than six months after a New York jury convicted him of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to a porn star, Americans voted to return Trump to the presidency.
“The president-elect, he contested the legitimacy of court action against him from the beginning,” Western said. “And I think his supporters, a lot of them found that pretty credible.” In a poll after the trial, 83% of Republicans said they felt Trump’s conviction was politically motivated, with just 17% saying it was not, according to an AP-NORC survey.
Trump’s crimes are considered white collar, which are usually nonviolent and often include fraud and corruption, according to the FBI. White collar crime “isn’t thought of as threatening in the same way as street crime, and high-status white offenders are not as burdened by criminal stigma,” Western said. “It doesn’t hurt that he (Trump) is an older White man who is extremely wealthy.”
Restrictions on convicted felons vary from state to state. In some states felons are ineligible to vote, unless specific requirements (as in Trump’s case) are met. Felons also can face restrictions on their ability to freely travel, serve as a juror, get a loan or qualify for public housing. In some states, felons can no longer hold public office.
Western said his research shows that stable employment is crucial in helping felons avoid returning to crime. But while convicted felons can eventually find jobs, “it’s really at the bottom of the labor market,” he said. “It’s minimum-wage work, and there’s no wage growth in that kind of work.”
CNN spoke to six convicted felons and asked them about their struggles, their hopes and how they feel about President-elect Donald Trump. Some expressed frustration at a perceived double standard that led many voters to apparently overlook Trump’s criminal behavior, while others are hopeful that Trump’s political resurrection may ease the stigma that they and other felons face.
Jeremiah was 25 years old when he was convicted of drug possession and selling drugs. He accepted a plea deal that meant no jail time.
Nearly 10 years after that felony conviction, Jeremiah is still dealing with the effects of being labeled a felon.
“My conviction was in 2015 and here I am still trying to apply to these jobs, and they still hold that against me,” he says.
He says he is an entrepreneur working in the trucking industry, but his criminal record keeps him from getting high-paying contracts that would allow him to work while staying close to his two young daughters. Jeremiah says he must take whatever job he can — usually long-distance driving. A better contract would provide him with more opportunities closer to home and his family.
After last month’s presidential election, he wonders if his situation is so different from that of President-elect Trump’s.
“If people can trust in him to run the country, you should trust in somebody that did their time and want to reinstate themselves,” Jeremiah says. “Especially if your leader has got 30-something felonies and I just have one.”
Danielle was released in March 2021 after serving about 8 months for being convicted of accessory to armed robbery after the fact. Danielle says her job hunt has been difficult and that working as an independent contractor in administration and customer support is the only way she can be employed right now.
Her conviction “put a halt on my life, on my career, on my mental stability,” she says. “It’s very disheartening.”
Danielle says she is qualified for many jobs and has been offered some, but once the company does a background check “all of that goes out the window. It makes me feel worthless.
“A lot of these jobs that I have been hired for are work-from-home, and I don’t even come into contact with people face-to-face,” she says. “So I’m just really confused why (my conviction) plays a part.”
Danielle says the hardest thing about having a felony record is feeling like a “productive member of society.” She believes that it’s altered peoples’ perception of her forever.
“You’re never looked at as a normal person ever again.”
Danielle hopes Trump will take actionable steps to destigmatize and even relabel how felons are seen to improve the barriers they face when searching for jobs.
“If he can be our president, then why can’t there be some type of change for employment for just normal people?”
Michael says he was convicted twice of breaking and entering in the late 1990s, serving less than a year for each charge. He’s also had convictions for theft and forgery. In 2003 he came out of prison for what he says was the last time after being convicted of driving under the influence (a misdemeanor), among other offenses.
Since 2009 he’s been working at a local community college after getting his associate degree in electrical technology.
Despite his academic achievements — he’s also earned both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in substance abuse counseling – Michael says he’s found it difficult to advance in his career.
Based on his 15 years of experience, he applied for a higher-paying job as an electrical engineer at another company. During the job interview, when he was asked if there was anything else he wanted them to know, Michael was forthcoming about his felony convictions.
“I saw the shoulders slump and the heads went down,” he says.
He did not get the job.
Now 22 years sober, Michael recently wrote a book, “Living in a Two-faced Jungle,” about his struggles with drug addiction. He hopes one day society will start to look differently at people trying to rebuild their lives after being convicted of crimes.
“Years ago, a felon was looked at as a second-class citizen,” he says. “Now he’s (about to be) the President of the United States.”
Alysha says she served seven-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to two drug charges. Following her September release, she was placed under house arrest in Indiana. She was employed at a car lot but says she was let go because business was slow.
Under the terms of her house arrest, whenever Alysha leaves home she must have people around her sign documents verifying her whereabouts at the given time. Alysha must also present these documents to hiring managers when she interviews for jobs.
“There’s definitely still a big stigma,” she says. “You can see it pass on their face when I ask them, ‘Hey can you sign my paper stating that I was here?’ Their whole view of you just changes.”
“They go from an excited, ‘We-just-had-this-great-conversation’ look, to their face just falls a little bit. They don’t want you to realize it, but you can see it.”
Alysha says that when she enters the final phase of her house arrest in a few months she’ll no longer need to share those documents when interviewing for a job. Still, she says she’s frustrated by the lack of job opportunities for people like her, especially since Trump’s recent election. “I don’t wanna hear anything about my criminal history, because here we are. I’m a felon, (Trump’s) a felon,” she says.
“It’s crazy because a lot of the people that voted for (Trump) are probably a lot of the same people that at the end of my interview, if I pulled out this paper, I would see their face fall when they looked at me,” she says. “Because I don’t have a position of power, and I don’t have money in my pocket.”
Alysha hopes Trump’s own convictions will lead him to pursue policies that help remove barriers for people who have been incarcerated.
“If he’s able to … get himself into this position of power with a background like that, he should do everything in his power to try and make sure that these restrictions that are being put on us, are at least lessened,” she says. “I understand we messed up, and we put ourselves in prison, but one mistake shouldn’t cost somebody the rest of their life. That’s how it ends up in this cycle.”
Since 2006, Jerail has been in and out of prison. He says it started with a felony conviction for drug possession and intent to distribute. Other felonies followed, including burglary and possession of a firearm, along with probation violations. His most recent release from prison was in 2023 following a probation violation for a gun-related felony charge.
He is now on a non-violent probation, which Georgia allows for felons the state believes are not a threat to society. Part of his probation requires he check in with the state twice a month, he says.
After many months of trying, Jerail says he recently got a job as a janitorial technician with a private company.
He is frustrated and sometimes angry at the difference in how he is treated compared with President-elect Trump.
“At the end of the day, nobody is perfect — because look at our president,” he says.
“How can we have a president as a convicted felon and he can do what he wants to do, and he got way more felonies than me,” he adds. “I can’t even leave the state of Georgia without permission. I just look at that as a slap in the face.”
Andre Clark, 49 | Kansas
After serving time for illegally possessing a firearm as a felon, Andre says he was released from prison in April and placed in transitional housing. Between all his convictions for possession of firearms and drugs, he says he’s served more than 20 years behind bars.
Although he is currently employed at a distribution center, Andre says he’s had consistent trouble finding jobs after getting out of prison.
“Every time I get out, I have a challenge of trying to get a job,” Andre said. “They don’t want to give you a second chance. When you can’t find a job, it automatically turns you back into the criminal mindset.”
Job applications shouldn’t ask about criminal history if society is trying to help felons get back on their feet, he says.
Andre says he voted for Trump in the 2024 election and thinks Trump’s criminal history gives him a perspective that not many politicians have.
“He’s been through a lot of struggles that a lot of politicians have never seen,” he says. “A lot of lawmakers ain’t never been on the wrong side of the law. So, they don’t understand the laws they’re making, and how they affect people.”
CNN’s Justin Gamble contributed to this reporting.
