Commentary: What does it take to get a second chance?

Reginald Dwayne Betts was still in high school when he was convicted of the crime - carjacking and armed robbery - that would haunt him the rest of his life. After serving eight years in a Virginia state prison, Betts eventually became a widely published poet and graduated from Yale Law School. In a recent essay in The New York Times Magazine, he explains the devastating aftereffects of a felony conviction, and the difficulties it created for him when he applied for admission to the Connecticut bar.

Although there is no comparison between what Betts endured and my own life, his essay has moved me to tell my story of criminal convictions and ultimate admission to the Illinois bar. I had an