Atlanta woman who spent 41 years cycling through prison gets fresh start after Georgia pardon

An Atlanta woman got a fresh start after receiving a pardon and having her arrest record restricted.

She shared how that record can be a barrier to finding employment and the resources available to help others in similar situations.

"I'm formerly incarcerated myself. I spent 41 years in and out of the system," Marilynn Winn, a formerly incarcerated woman who was pardoned by the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles, said.

Seventy-five-year-old Marilynn Winn once had a lengthy arrest record.

"I went to prison eight times, and each time I went for shoplifting," Winn said.

Because of her criminal record, she faced many ups and downs trying to find and keep a job.

"I had 18 jobs. I lied to get them, and I was terminated from every one. Some of them don't do a background check right away. Some don't. I stayed on the job as long as a year. When they got ready to give me a raise, they did a background check. When I told the truth, nobody hired me," Winn said.

After years of facing barriers, Winn helped push for a change to job applications known as "Ban the Box."

"It removes the question off the application: Have you been arrested? So that you can get the opportunity to get through to an employer without your paperwork being shredded before it even gets there," Winn said.

Georgia's Ban the Box law forbids state employers from asking about criminal history on initial job applications.

The law does not apply to private employers.

Winn took this picture with then-Gov. Nathan Deal when the law was signed 11 years ago.

The Georgia Justice Project later helped her receive a pardon from the state board.

"My record is so long that it took us about eight months to complete it. Once I completed it, they sent it in, and it came back, and they gave me a pardon," Winn said.

With the pardon, she was able to have her arrest record restricted, meaning her convictions no longer appear on background checks.

The Georgia Justice Project, a nonprofit organization, has helped nearly 400 people receive pardons since 2010. The group also helped pass a Georgia law allowing record restrictions for misdemeanor convictions.

"About 25 years ago, we started working on criminal records issues. So helping folks clear their criminal records, something that in a lot of states they would call expungement. In Georgia, we call it restriction and sealing," Brenda Smeeton, legal director of the Georgia Justice Project, said.

The Georgia Justice Project offers resources for people with criminal records, including assistance with record restrictions and pardons.