Hello, MY name is Curtis Davis. I am disabled, since 06/02/1988. I lost my right hand, except for my thumb. Almost lost my right leg. I was arrested twice the same year, for carrying a concealed weapon on person and 4 counts of murder. Both cases were dismissed without prejudice. I thought at the time that it was all over. I couldn't get a job, public assistance or ssi - disibilty. After a few years the only job I could get was 5.15 hr. For years I could not get past 6.35 hr. Meanwhile Child Support waned to know why I could not pay them. Lost my house, that I lived in since 1968 due to back taxes. All the while thinking that I couldn`t get a job because of my disfigurement. I could not afford to see my son or assert any of my parental rights. My mother was moving to Florida and since I didn`t have a place stay, I should move too. While in Florida, I tried to get a job as a security officer. I received a letter from the state department licenses, Stating that they couldn`t give me a security license because I was arrested for 4 counts of murder and again for a ccw on person. That was in 2006. I had to have my police record expunged. For over 18 years this has haunted me and kept me form receiving disibility benefits, a better life. I owe over 40 thousand dolllars in back child support, because I couldn`t pay. It over 24 years to receive my social security disibility, beause when they ran my name that's what they found. They will not pay benefits if they think you are fleeing prosecution. They thought I was. I have paid for something that I didn`t do. How can I receive justice, or is there any justice for me?

To summarize, you spent 18 years with 2 criminal charges on record despite charges being dismissed, finally got them expunged in 2006, and now wonder if there is any restitution? This is very tough, because 'justice' in this case means suing some gov't agency or agencies for a monetary award, and it can take forever and you can still lose.

I am a bit puzzled about getting a record expunged that didn't exist. Can you explain that? If SS says you were denied because it looked like you were fleeing prosecution, then either the cases weren't dismissed, one of them was and one wasn't, or some technicality was not finalized.

Your best bet is a law firm that does pro bono work, a local law school, or a not for profit law clinic. The trouble is that most such legal help is limited to defense cases only, and you are now a plaintiff.

I forgot to add that expunged records are still available to courts and police.

As for the police dept in FL that denied you based on arrests only, not convictions, I am not familiar with the legalities of such a denial. I think the whole matter of what exactly happened that kept 'records' on file needs to be solved first.

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Originally Posted by cdee45

...I received a letter from the state department licenses, Stating that they couldn`t give me a security license because i was arrested
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over 24 years to receive my social security disibility, beause when they ran my name thats what they found. They will not pay benefits if they think you are fleeing prosecution. They thought i was.

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Originally Posted by joypulv

I... As for the police dept in FL that denied you based on arrests only, not convictions, I am not familiar with the legalities of such a denial. I think the whole matter of what exactly happened that kept 'records' on file needs to be solved first.

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The Florida licensing office was incorrect and OP should have appealed at that time. Just because OP had been arrested doesn't mean squat. Unless it could be proven that he did what he was accused of doing, the arrest record should not disqualify him for the license.

I am also puzzled by the inability to receive SSI benefits, for the same reason. OP should be able to get past-due benefits.

From EEOC guidelines:
"Even if the employer believes that the applicant did engage in the conduct for which he or she was arrested that information should prevent him or her from employment only to the extent that it is evident that the applicant cannot be trusted to perform the duties of the position when considering the nature of the job, the nature and seriousness of the offense, and the length of time since it occurred.
This is also true for a conviction. "

Pre-Employment Inquiries and Arrest & Conviction

I was surprised the first time I read the above in researching another question recently. But the way I read it an employer can use details about the arrest (even without a conviction) to deny employment if those arrest details indicate that the applicant cannot be trusted to perform certain jobs. Depends on the circumstances documented in the arrest record and that makes sense to me after thinking about it.
And if you became disabled in 1988, and you have been haunted for 18 years (since approx. 1994?), why didn't you apply for disability in the 6 years before the arrest?
"It over 24 years to receive my social security disibility, "-- Are you receiving disability payments or not?

He couldn't get SSI because they thought he was fleeing prosecution.
(From what I hear from others, SS likes to deny claims from anyone with a criminal record, even though they are eligible unless in prison, and the claimant has to fight for it. SS likes to deny most claims for disability and puts the burden on the claimant to fight harder to prove disability too, even if a doctor states it - probably because some doctors will go along with what a patient wants.)

He eventually got SSI, just recently ('over 24 years,' so 2012 or 13). When he says 'has haunted me' I think he means 'had haunted me' 18 years, until 2006, when he got the expungement.

He was denied in 1988 and worked for several years, making disability harder to prove anyway.

Must be bad if their own judges just sued them:

"Judges sue Social Security over 'quotas' on disability decisions
They say Woodlawn-based agency expects them to decide as many as 700 cases annually, making errors more likely--


By Yvonne Wenger, The Baltimore Sun

5:12 p.m. EDT, April 28, 2013

Administrative law judges who evaluate disability claims for the Social Security Administration want a federal court to ease a workload that they say makes errors more likely — the latest in a series of challenges confronting the Woodlawn-based agency.

In a federal lawsuit filed this month, 1,400 judges said the agency's expectation that they decide as many as 700 claims per year is causing them to rush evaluations and possibly approve claims that should be denied, at a potential cost of millions of taxpayer dollars.

The Social Security Administration seems to care only about quotas," said Judge Randall Frye, president of the Association of Administrative Law Judges. "Case quotas prevent judges from devoting necessary time to the most complex cases resulting in waste and abuse."


The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, comes as the judges try to make progress on a backlog that is keeping disabled individuals waiting hundreds of days for decisions. "

Read more: 1,400 judges sue Social Security Administration over 'quotas' on disability decisions - baltimoresun.com

Hello, Thanks for your response. It happened in Detroit Michigan. From what I understand, there 3 levels of government. Local, State, Federal. Once the Detroit police arrested me, the state police and the F.B.I. have that information too. The Detroit police erased it from their system, but the state and federal agencies still had a record of it. Look at it this way, when you go looking for a job. The more the job pays the more through a back ground check is done.

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Originally Posted by smearcase

From EEOC guidelines:
"Even if the employer believes that the applicant did engage in the conduct for which he or she was arrested that information should prevent him or her from employment only to the extent that it is evident that the applicant cannot be trusted to perform the duties of the position when considering the nature of the job, the nature and seriousness of the offense, and the length of time since it occurred.
This is also true for a conviction. "

Pre-Employment Inquiries and Arrest & Conviction

I was surprised the first time I read the above in researching another question recently. But the way I read it an employer can use details about the arrest (even without a conviction) to deny employment if those arrest details indicate that the applicant cannot be trusted to perform certain jobs. Depends on the circumstances documented in the arrest record and that makes sense to me after thinking about it.
And if you became disabled in 1988, and you have been haunted for 18 years (since approx. 1994?), why didn't you apply for disability in the 6 years before the arrest?
"It over 24 years to receive my social security disibility, "-- Are you receiving disability payments or not?

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To Reply, I was disabled and arrested and applied for disability in 1988. Lost my right hand, except for my thumb. Then had to beg the doctors not to amputate my right leg. I didn`t receive assistance in the whole 24 years, until now.

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Originally Posted by joypulv

He couldn't get SSI because they thought he was fleeing prosecution.
(From what I hear from others, SS likes to deny claims from anyone with a criminal record, even though they are eligible unless in prison, and the claimant has to fight for it. SS likes to deny most claims for disability and puts the burden on the claimant to fight harder to prove disability too, even if a doctor states it - probably because some doctors will go along with what a patient wants.)

He eventually got SSI, just recently ('over 24 years,' so 2012 or 13). When he says 'has haunted me' I think he means 'had haunted me' 18 years, til 2006, when he got the expungement.

He was denied in 1988 and worked for several years, making disability harder to prove anyway.

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It took 4 years to even get a minimum wage job. Life without opportunity, is no life at all. Either starve or go to jail.

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Originally Posted by AK lawyer

The Florida licensing office was incorrect and OP should have appealed at that time. Just because OP had been arrested doesn't mean squat. Unless it could be proven that he did what he was accused of doing, the arrest record should not disqualify him for the license.

I am also puzzled by the inability to receive SSI benefits, for the same reason. OP should be able to get past-due benefits.

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I received no past-due benefits, If I did, Child support received them.

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Originally Posted by joypulv

To summarize, you spent 18 years with 2 criminal charges on record despite charges being dismissed, finally got them expunged in 2006, and now wonder if there is any restitution? This is very tough, because 'justice' in this case means suing some gov't agency or agencies for a monetary award, and it can take forever and you can still lose.

I am a bit puzzled about getting a record expunged that didn't exist. Can you explain that? If SS says you were denied because it looked like you were fleeing prosecution, then either the cases weren't dismissed, one of them was and one wasn't, or some technicality was not finalized.

Your best bet is a law firm that does pro bono work, a local law school, or a not for profit law clinic. The trouble is that most such legal help is limited to defense cases only, and you are now a plaintiff.

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Both cases were dismissed. Since we have local, state police and FBI. The charges were erased on the local level, not with the state police or the FBI. What a life ending nightmare.

Curtis, millions of arrests get off all the books, so all I can think is that you didn't have enough help and enough tenacity yourself way back in 88. Your explanation about 3 levels applies all over the US, and it still doesn't explain getting something expunged that never needed expunging. It almost sounds like they really did commit a serious error. I don't know! We can't know.
Aside from that is the issue that people are routinely denied SSI and SSD for whatever reason they can think of. Then you applied for a job requiring a gun and got special scrutiny. It's all a bad dream, a scenario that should have been different but you let it go for years and years. It would be nice if government were fair and just, but it isn't, and you have to fight if you lose what is right.
You could try a journalist in your home town, to find out if a technical error was made. Some will take up a cause. But if there was an error, it has been erased, and the only way to find it is to track it through the places that denied you.

First of all I did not ask for any of this to happen, and did nothing to anyone. It should be that if you did not commit a crime that you be able to continue your life like everyone else, and have nothing to worrie about. That's what I thought. I am not a criminal. Most know the in and outs of the system. I tried to avoid the system by not doing anything stupid. Until you expirence it yourself, you have no idea. As I stated (that I did not know then) is that the state police and the FBI had records of both cases. At the time, how was I to know that? I got local police clearences for work with no problem. No one told me anything, except the state of Florida Deptment of licenes. If they had not told me I would still not know. I do have the court papers from The Wayne County Clerks Office stating that removed from their system both cases, and papers from The 36th District Court stating that they removed both cases from their system and that they contacted the State Police. The State Police contacted FBI and had the both cases removed from their system too. With court seals. I have the proof. Somebody messed up. And I paid for it. I should have the right to earn a living like anyone else. They were wrong for arresting me twice, for things I did not do. If you did not do it you have nothing to worrie about. The biggest lie ever told by a policeman. As I was taught as a kid, your record will follow you! How do you know you have to fight something if you did not know at the time what? I had no idea. All I know is that I did not want to be one of those imprisoned for something I didn't do, and was so gald to be what I thought free. As for newspapers, one person told me that it wasn`t newsworthy.

I am siding with YOU! I meant it when I said it really sounds like someone committed a serious error. I agree that it is wrong and unfair and you shouldn't have had to fight it, ever, much less years later. I just don't know what restitution you might get, and suggest that you try a journalist first, and perhaps a legal project, or a law school.

I tried the lawyer that handled the murder case. He told me that I have only 2 years after I found out about it to sue. Nobody wants to touch it. Meanwhile child support is taking 60% of my disibitly, and they say I owe them 40,000 dollars. I tried explaining that to them. They told me that I need a family court attorney. I don't have the money. All I get is reasons I can't consideration or assistance. Sorry but is is frustrating to hear people speak about justice when they are wronged, but when you don't have the resources or the ear of someone that can speak for you. Justice may as well be something you just hear about. I wish that I could write a book about my experince. Again sorry, but this has been very frustrating for me.