Restoration of Rights Project – Pennsylvania Profile
Guide to restoration of rights, pardon, sealing & expungement following a Pennsylvania criminal conviction
Opening Doors: How Philadelphia Area Colleges Can Promote Access & Equity by “Banning the Box”
Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (Aug. 2017)
From Expungement to Sealing of Criminal Records in Pennsylvania
Sharon Dietrich, Penn. Bar Ass’n Quarterly 161 (Oct. 2016)
Juvenile Record Expungement in Pennsylvania
Guide from the Juvenile Law Center
The Pennsylvania Juvenile Collateral Consequences Checklist
Pennsylvania Juvenile Indigent Defense Action Network (April 2015)
Related blog posts:
- First fair chance licensing reforms of 2024 (3/27/2024) - Expanding employment opportunities in licensed occupations has been a priority for criminal record reformers in the past half dozen years. Happily, fair chance licensing reforms also appear less politically controversial than some others, with Midwestern states like Iowa and Indiana among the most progressive in the Nation in their treatment of justice-impacted license applicants and licensees. In the first three months of 2024, two more Midwestern states (South Dakota and Nebraska) enacted comprehensive changes to their licensing laws, while a third state (Pennsylvania) was poised to close a major loophole in its licensing scheme. These reforms continue a nationwide trend that since 2017 has seen 43 states and the District of Columbia enact 79 separate laws* to limit state power to deny opportunity to qualified individuals based on their criminal history. Significant legislation is under serious consideration in half a dozen additional states, so we expect this year to produce another bumper crop of fair chance licensing laws. The new laws are described briefly below, and additional details can be found in the relevant state profile from the Restoration of Rights Project.
- Two significant new occupational licensing laws enacted in 2021 (2/4/2021) - After 11 states enacted 19 laws limiting consideration of criminal records by occupational licensing agencies last year, the first significant record reforms of 2021 are occupational licensing laws enacted by Ohio and the District of Columbia. D.C.’s new law is particularly comprehensive, and applies both to health-related and other licensed professions in the District. The new District of Columbia law, Act A23-0561, is described in detail in the DC profile from the Restoration of Rights Project. It provides that no one may be denied a license based on conviction of a crime unless it is “directly related” to the licensed occupation, as determined by a detailed set of standards; prohibits inquiry about a record until an applicant has been found otherwise qualified and then prohibits consideration of certain records (including non-conviction and sealed convictions); and provides procedural protections in the event of denial. The new law also establishes a pre-application petition process for individuals with a record to determine their eligibility, and requires the Mayor to report annually to the Council on each board’s record. The Institute for Justice has described the “landmark” new D.C. law as “the best in the nation, second only to Indiana.” The new Ohio law, [...]
- How Utah Got Automatic Expungement (1/15/2021) - Editor’s note: We are pleased to publish this fascinating account of how one state transformed its record relief system in little more than a year from a standing start, written by a person who had a central role in the transformation. In March of 2019, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed HB 431, Utah’s Clean Slate law. At the time, this made Utah the third state in the nation to pass a law automating the criminal record expungement process. That law went into effect on May 1, 2020, but due to COVID-19, implementation efforts were delayed. Several months later, implementation is back on track, and it is now anticipated that Utah’s state agencies will begin clearing court and repository records of non-convictions and qualifying misdemeanor convictions by the end of March. Preliminary estimates suggest that hundreds of thousands of people across the state will have their records expunged automatically. What follows is a story about how Utah, one of the reddest states in the nation, came to adopt such a generous and efficient record relief system. As someone who was involved in that process from the beginning, I hope it will be helpful to others seeking to push their [...]
- Report card on licensing laws finds progress, but still a way to go (6/25/2020) - The Institute for Justice, a leader in advocacy for reforming occupational licensing laws, has just issued a major new report grading the states on the opportunities they give to people with a criminal record. The press release and links are below. We are not at all surprised that Indiana got the best grade—or that so many states “tied for dead last.” Coincidentally, the legislatures in Iowa, Missouri, and Pennsylvania have in recent days sent broad new occupational licensing reform measures to their governors’ desks, so at least three states seem poised to climb out of IJ’s basement. Stay tuned for an update of our own survey of employment and licensing laws nationwide, which will be part of the revised Forgiving and Forgetting report that we expect to issue in a few weeks. In the meantime, many congratulations to IJ for its pioneering law reform work on behalf of people with a record. IJ press release: Barred from Working: People with Criminal Records Are Unfairly Denied Licenses to Work New Nationwide Report Offers the Most Comprehensive Look at the Occupational Licensing Barriers Facing Ex-Offenders Arlington, Va.—Even as states debate opening the economy back up, millions of Americans with criminal records are [...]
- PA high court will again review sex offender registration (4/9/2019) - Two years ago, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court shook up long-settled orthodoxy by ruling that the state’s sex offender registration law, otherwise known as SORNA (Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act) was punishment. The case, Commonwealth v. Muniz, 164 A.3d 1189 (Pa. 2018), presented the Court with two questions: whether people who committed their crimes before the adoption of the law could continue to be registered without running afoul of the state Constitution’s Ex Post Facto Clause, a fairness doctrine that prevents governments from retroactively applying greater punishments to conduct than could have been applied at the time of the crime; and, second, whether the law more broadly violates due process by unfairly labeling a person as sexually dangerous without first proving that fact and without giving the person an opportunity to challenge that message. While the Court answered the first question with a resounding yes, it punted on the second. The effect of that decision meant that although Pennsylvania was forced to reduce the length of registration for many people who had committed their crimes many years before, or in many cases remove them from the registry altogether, it did little to change how the law would be applied moving forward. SORNA was [...]
- Bumper crop of new expungement laws expected in 2019 (4/9/2019) - Earlier this year we reported that, in 2018, legislatures enacted an unprecedented number of new laws aimed at restoring rights and opportunities for people with a criminal record. (Last year 32 states, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands enacted 61 new laws to facilitate reentry and reintegration.) The first quarter of 2019 has already produced a baker’s dozen of new restoration laws, some quite significant, indicating that this year is likely to be every bit as productive as last. The 13 new laws enhance access to record-clearing relief, occupational licensing and employment, and executive clemency. Also notable, if only for the sheer number of people who will benefit when the law goes into effect on July 1, is the Virginia legislature’s accession to Governor Ralph Northam’s request that it “eliminate[] the unfair practice of revoking a person’s driver’s license for failure to pay court fines and fees,” which will immediately reinstate driving privileges to more than 627,000 Virginians. This year to date, state lawmakers have focused most of their attention on improving access to record-clearing: 8 of the 13 new laws expand eligibility for expungement and sealing and streamline applicable procedures. The two most significant new laws were enacted in Western states. Utah’s HB 431—signed by [...]
- PA prepares to implement clean slate (3/14/2019) - Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (CLS), with the leadership of Sharon M. Dietrich, has issued a report on the progress made towards implementing Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate Act. (See our post describing this ground-breaking law when it was enacted last June.) Notably, the state is “on target” to start automated sealing of criminal records by the onset date of June 28, 2019. As the report explains, “[a]utomated sealing will permit Pennsylvania to close the large ‘second chance gap’ between those eligible for expungement or sealing and those who actually benefit, by allowing cases to be sealed in a volume not possible in the absence of technology.” The most ambitious aspect of the new law is its retroactive application to millions of people, some of whom were convicted decades ago. CLS is to be commended for marshaling lawyers and other advocates to make the relief promised by this law a reality. Other jurisdictions across the country will have their eyes on Pennsylvania as it works to harness technology in the service of reintegration. The report’s overview is reprinted below: Get Ready, Get Set: Pennsylvania Prepares for Clean Slate Implementation By: Community Legal Services, Inc., Philadelphia, PA First Published: March 6, 2019 Last Updated: March 13, [...]
- Automated sealing nears enactment in Pennsylvania (6/25/2018) - [NOTE: On June 30, HR 1419 was signed into law as Act 56. Its provisions have been incorporated into the Pennsylvania profile of the Restoration of Rights Project.] On Friday June 22, the Pennsylvania legislature took its final step toward passage of the so-called Clean Slate Act of 2018, delivering to Governor Wolf a bill (HR 1419) that he has already indicated he will sign. When enacted, the Act will be the first state law providing for automated sealing of at least some conviction records, sparing individuals with qualifying records the trouble and expense of filing a formal petition for relief with a court. Congratulations are due to the Community Legal Services of Philadelphia and the Center for American Progress for their sustained efforts over several years to enact this ground-breaking legislation, which will provide relief for “hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians with old and minor criminal convictions or who were arrested but not convicted.” Their press release, linked here, notes that “[t]he bill enjoyed remarkably broad support, including from legislators and advocacy groups that rarely find common ground.” As soon as HR 1419 has been signed into law, we expect to incorporate into the Restoration of Rights Project a full [...]
- New expungement legislation: Maryland and Oklahoma (5/8/2018) - The trend toward expanding expungement and sealing laws is continuing. In the last week of April, the governors of Maryland and Oklahoma signed bills enlarging eligibility criteria and reducing waiting periods, joining Florida and Utah with new record-sealing enactments in 2018. The provisions of these two newest laws are described below. Similar legislation is well along in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Vermont. Vermont S 173, enrolled and awaiting the governor’s signature, is of particular interest since it makes expungement automatic in some categories without the requirement of a petition or filing fee (“unless either party objects in the interest of justice”). We are tracking these pending bills and will add them to the Restoration of Rights Project if and when they are enacted.
- Big win for sex offenders in PA as registration held punishment (7/20/2017) - Yesterday, in Commonwealth v. Muniz, __A.3d__ (Pa., July 19, 2017) (47 MAP 2016), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held what for a long time has been obvious to many: that sex offender registration is punishment. Five Justices declared that Pennsylvania’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act’s (SORNA) “registration provisions constitute punishment under Article 1, Section 17 of the Pennsylvania Constitution — Pennsylvania’s Ex Post Facto Clause. The majority of the Court held in no uncertain terms: 1) SORNA’s registration provisions constitute punishment notwithstanding the General Assembly’s identification of the provisions as nonpunitive; 2) retroactive application of SORNA’s registration provisions violates the federal ex post facto clause; and 3) retroactive application of SORNA’s registration provisions also violates the ex post facto clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution. This is a radical shift from prior Pennsylvania and federal law. Although the reasoning of the justices to get to this result is a little convoluted because several in the majority did not believe that the court even needed to address the Federal claim, the end result is clear. The decision directly affects roughly 4500 people in addition to Mr. Muniz.