Comment by burnJS | Hacker News Reader

Comment by burnJS | Hacker News Reader

So the plea in abeyance will show up. I was fed the same line of shit by courts. My misdemeanor, from 2016 was a plea in abeyance. I was told no crimes for a year and it's like it didn't happen. Easy, done. And guess what? Mine was also in Utah. Hello South Salt Lake City.

Fast forward to a few months ago, it came up on the background check. You have to understand the charge shows up and its possible that the plea shows up. Mine did.

The big difference is mine came up for a Public Trust background check with the federal government. So maybe they can go a bit deeper than a FAANG? I am sitting in limbo 5 months into this job still not knowing if I'll be canned at any second. I had to do a full interview with an agent with the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). They even brought up stuff that was from beyond the 7 year window I had to declare.

If anyone knows what my chances are with that I'd love to hear. As a Public Trustee and not touching any sensitive data I'd hope they are lien-ant for a non-violent, non-drug offender like myself.

For you. If it comes up. I'd have the media report present to prove it was an illegal act of activism and not showing TRUE criminal intent. But I wouldn't try to sweep what you did under the rug either.

I don't have much experience in this area, but I know quite a few people in sensitive government positions (in Canada) and finding these things is pretty common. The main issue (as far as I understand) is that regardless of what you did, you are potentially a security risk if you try to hide the issue. I've led quite a boring life so it's never been an issue for me, but when I've had to go through security checks with the Canadian government, the advice I've always been given is that if you are completely candid about your experiences, then they basically don't care what you did. The main issue they are worried about is that you will be blackmailed. By telling your employer, that risk is mitigated to a certain extent.

Especially if you are not in a position to deal with sensitive data, and you were straight up in your interview, I would personally not worry. (Disclaimer: random dude on the internet that knows nothing about your situation --- this is not professional advice!)

Just a side not on worrying... I've had some health scares in the past few years which luckily ended up being fine. I thought about how I would feel if it weren't fine. I think one of my reactions would be to wish it were the day before I had found out about anything. You know... before any of this happens you are carefree and everything feels fine. Then you have a conversation and suddenly it's not fine. But in reality nothing has changed. So when I'm dealing with this kind of worry, I try to pretend that it's the day before I had that conversation. It changes nothing except that potentially I can have a nice day instead of worrying. Of course, easier said that done, but it's helped me a bit. I hope it can help you too.

> I was fed the same line of shit by courts.

Hmm... when I was a lot younger I got charged with a felony (burglary) that was then downgraded to a misdemeanor (breaking and entering), and I was told that it would disappear from my record completely when I turned 18. Does anyone know if that's true? I always figured that some kind of deeper background check would uncover it.

Could you order a background check yourself and find out?

I believe most if not all states seal juvenile records by default.

If so, then a court would have to unseal it.

As an example, in Texas, juvenile records are automatically sealed in most cases, and can basically only be released to the subject of the record, or a prosecutor in a future case.

People's records under 18 in US are not public. They are sealed, meaning even for government officials hard to get. Names and images of suspects under 18 are also NOT released to the public (news outlets etc).

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