Yeah, I think this is a more common occurrence in industry outside of tech. I would imagine there are many stories that echo this amongst construction trade and independent truck drivers, for example. I know of several folks in those industries that started their own business because of priors.
I think a lot of Americans play lip service to "innocent until proven guilty" and "repaid debts to society", but in reality, to many, an arrest is a conviction, and if you are a felon, you are stained for life, even if you served the terms of your conviction the law decreed necessary to atone for your crimes.
Not only that, the justice system in the US seems horribly broken. It's just one of those things you have to put out of your mind, like the chances of getting mangled in a car wreck driving to work every morning. I don't think the US will change much in regards to the justice system the near future. We seem to have full and unshakable faith in state and local police, prosecutors and juries while at the same time, berating government workers for being incompetent. It's completely illogical and bewildering.
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