When Khalil Ferguson started offering free expungement clinics in Oak Park five years ago, he saw firsthand how a conviction — even one from decades ago — could shadow someone for life.
One of his clients came to him in 2022 with more than 15 convictions dating back to the 1970s when he tried to feed a drug habit he had since beaten. His record had been spotless since 2000, Ferguson said, and he had stable employment.
He wanted peace of mind that the convictions wouldn’t pop up in a future background check, said Ferguson, who has worked with a number clients whose dreams of financial success were crushed when exactly that happened…