Search Results for: embed

New research report: Four Years of Second Chance Reforms, 2013-2016

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.

Iowa
Restoration of Rights & Record Relief

    Last updated:  April 10, 2026  ContentsI.  Loss & restoration of civil/firearms rightsA.  Vote and OfficeB.  JuryC.  FirearmsII.  Pardon policy & practiceA.  AuthorityB.  Restoration of civil rights, firearms rightsC.  PardonD.  Eligibility1. Restoration of citizenship (vote and office)2. “Special Restoration of Citizenship (firearms)”3. Full pardonE.  EffectF.  ProcessG.  Frequency of GrantsH.  ContactIII.  Expungement, sealing & other record reliefA.  Misdemeanor expungementB.  Deferred adjudication and expungementC.  Expungement of non-conviction recordsD.  Juvenile records E.  Certificate of EmployabilityIV.  Criminal record in employment & licensingA.    Occupational licensingB.  Fair change employment – negligent hiring liability I.  Loss & restoration of civil/firearms rights A.  Vote and Office Under the Iowa Constitution, persons convicted of an “infamous crime” (any crime punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary, which may include aggravated misdemeanors as well as felonies) are ineligible to vote or hold public office.  Iowa Const. art. II, § 5; see Iowa Code § 48A.30(d).  The rule in Iowa has been that “[a]ny crime punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary is an infamous crime.” State ex rel. Dean v. Haubrich, 248 Iowa 978, 980 (1957). In 2016, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the state’s policy of lifetime disenfranchisement of anyone convicted of any felony as being consistent with the state Constitution.

Pardon Attorney says clock is ticking on Obama clemency initiative

The Justice Department is urging lawyers for federal prisoners to move quickly to file clemency petitions for their clients, lest the clock run out before the end of the President’s term.   U.S. Pardon Attorney Deborah Leff told volunteer lawyers in a video seminar last week that petitions not submitted until Obama’s final year may not be considered, at least by him.  As reported by Greg Korte of USA Today, Leff suggested that lawyers might be spending too much time briefing cases, and she encouraged them to file even if they have not been able to obtain all documents. “While I greatly admire your legal skills, this is not the time to prepare a treatise of hundreds of pages,” she told the lawyers.