Restoration of Rights Project – Maine Profile
Guide to restoration of rights, pardon, sealing & expungement following a Maine criminal conviction
Related blog posts:
- Maine governor vetoes clean slate bill (5/4/2026) - On April 29, Maine governor Janet Mills vetoed a bill that would have authorized automatic sealing of many misdemeanor convictions after five conviction-free years, and made Maine the 14th state to adopt a “clean slate” record relief measure. Efforts to override her veto failed, but supporters of the failed record relief bill vowed to bring it back in the next legislative session. Our recent annual report notes that Illinois became the 13th “clean slate” state when Governor Pritzker signed it into law in January. The Illinois law’s provisions are explained in a post we published last fall. In support of her veto, Governor Mills’ letter cited the bill’s extension to domestic violence convictions, as well as recurring concerns held by opponents of automatic sealing: cost and constitutionality. There are several significant problems with the legislation. First, as drafted, L.D. 1911 would mandate the sealing of records for Class D domestic violence assault – a result that is plainly contrary to the public interest. Second, a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit strongly suggests that categorically sealing criminal records without conducting a case-by-case review of the circumstances violates the First Amendment. Third, this legislation would commit the
- New research report: Four Years of Second Chance Reforms, 2013-2016 (2/8/2017) - Introduction Since 2013, almost every state has taken at least some steps to chip away at the negative effects of a criminal record on an individual’s ability to earn a living, access housing, education and public benefits, and otherwise fully participate in civil society. It has not been an easy task, in part because of the volume and complexity of state and federal laws imposing collateral consequences. To encourage employers and other decision-makers to give convicted individuals a fair chance, some states have enacted or modified judicial restoration mechanisms like expungement, sealing, and certificates of relief. Others have extended nondiscrimination laws, limited criminal record inquiries, and facilitated front-end opportunities to avoid conviction. In partnership with the NACDL Restoration of Rights Project, the CCRC maintains a comprehensive and current state-by-state guide to mechanisms for restoration of rights and status after conviction. As a part of keeping that resource up to date, we have inventoried measures enacted and policies adopted by states in the past four years to mitigate or avoid the disabling effects of a criminal record, and present it here as a snapshot of an encouraging national trend.
- State courts question mandatory lifetime sex offender registration (1/4/2015) - Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s decisions in Connecticut Department of Public Safety v. Doe, 538 U.S. 1 (2003) and Smith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84 (2003), state courts are coming to different conclusions under their own constitutions about whether sex offender registration and notification laws constitute punishment for purposes of due process and ex post facto analysis. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is the most recent to invalidate mandatory registration requirements imposed on juveniles, but several state supreme courts have limited the retroactive application of registration requirements to adults under an ex post facto analysis.