Employers will consider employing candidates with blemishes, especially when the labor market is tight, it is possible to terminate poor workers, and the minimum wage is not too high. I don't think trying to erase people's records is a good idea. The article mentions past records having a "disproportionate impact on people of color", but in the absence of such information, a Bayesian will use demographic information to predict whether an applicant has a criminal record. Some research has found that this is the result of "ban the box" legislation.