Tag: clean slate

Automated sealing nears enactment in Pennsylvania

[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 analysis of its relevant provisions, which are fairly complex, and which become effective on different dates.  In the meantime, we note below what appear to be the bill’s most salient features. In addition to authorizing automatic sealing through an “order for limited access,” HR 1419 retains existing authority for sealing by individual petition, and expands the range of cases eligible for relief through petition.  It does this in several ways: It makes certain misdemeanors eligible for sealing for the first time; It shortens the 10-year eligibility waiting period by having it run from conviction as opposed to completion of sentence, and makes only convictions that occur within that period disqualifying, as opposed to any arrests, as under present law (though all financial penalties must be satisfied – a provision not explicitly in existing law); It cuts back substantially on the kinds of prior convictions that will make individuals ineligible for relief under present law; It further limits dissemination of sealed conviction records, so that licensing agencies will not longer be routinely permitted access once a sealing order has been issued. It clarifies and amends the laws providing for dissemination of non-conviction and juvenile records by police departments.  However, by far the most noteworthy and unusual provision of the bill is its provision for automatic computer-assisted identification and sealing of eligible conviction records, obviating the need for any initiating court action by the subject of the records.  While a few states now authorize automatic sealing of some non-conviction records, no state extends automatic sealing relief to adult convictions, or even to non-conviction records on as extensive a basis as Pennsylvania will when HR 1419 is signed into law.  As noted below, some though not all of the expanded eligibility criteria for sealing by petition also apply to this so-called “clean slate” sealing. HR 1419 spells out a procedure by which the Administrative Office for state courts and the State Police will identify eligible cases, giving local district attorneys an opportunity to object.  Lists of cases deemed eligible for automatic sealing will be submitted on a regular monthly basis to commonwealth courts.  The courts will then issue a blanket “order for limited disclosure” applicable to each listed case, so that individuals will not have to file a court petition or pay a filing fee in order to have their record sealed. The bill also authorizes automatic sealing of records that did not result in conviction. Finally, the bill specifies the process going forward whereby the Administrative Office of the Courts and the State Police will identify through computerized search techniques the cases that are eligible for automatic sealing, and submit to the commonwealth courts on a regular basis lists of these cases for a judicial sealing order. Even after passage of the new law, there will still be cases in which an individual must file a petition in order to obtain sealing relief.  This is because not all cases eligible for sealing by petition will also be eligible for automatic sealing, notably because of differences in the types of prior offenses that are disqualifying.  For example, a prior felony or serious misdemeanor conviction at any time will disqualify an individual from consideration for automatic sealing, whereas only the most serious prior felonies will disqualify an individual for sealing by petition, and then most only for a limited period of time.  Conversely, all “summary” offenses are eligible for automatic sealing after 10 years.  (These minor offenses are not mentioned in the law providing for sealing by petition, but they are eligible for expungement after five arrest-free years.). The amendments enlarging eligibility for sealing by petition are effective December 26, 2018, while many other provisions of the Act are effective June 28, 2019.  The courts and state police are directed by law to identify all cases eligible for automated sealing between June 28, 2019 and June 27, 2020.  Indications are that implementation will be done in phases during that period. Note:  Thanks to Sharon Dietrich, a major force behind the Clean Slate Act, for reviewing the above description of the new law.   Read more

Expungement in Pennsylvania explained

Pennsylvania has been active in recent years in expanding its judicial relief mechanisms, though it still has a long way to go to catch up to states like Kentucky, Missouri, and New Jersey, which have in the past 12 months extended their expungement laws to some felonies and/or reduced waiting periods.  No one has been more active and effective in the effort to increase the availability of “clean slate” judicial remedies than Sharon Dietrich, Litigation Director for Community Legal Services of Philadelphia.   Sharon has written a comprehensive guide to existing authorities on expungement and sealing in her state, which also discusses pending bills that would extend these laws.  The abstract follows: Over the last few decades, the collateral consequences for the estimated 3.8 million Pennsylvanians with criminal records have increased exponentially because of legislative action and ubiquitous background screening. Many people with criminal records struggle with these barriers years after having last encountered the criminal justice system. Their most effective remedy is to have their record cleared. Until recently, Pennsylvania’s only method of record clearing was expungement, which is limited primarily to cases with non-conviction dispositions. The only broad category of convictions that can be expunged prior to November 14, 2016, are summary offenses, after five years. Pennsylvania’s record-clearing scheme changed in February 2016, with the passage of Act 5 of 2016. Act 5 introduces orders for limited access (often known informally as “sealing”). These new orders allow cases to remain accessible to criminal justice agencies and occupational licensing boards, but to no one else. Act 5 permits some second degree, third degree and ungraded misdemeanor convictions to be sealed after 10 years free of arrest or prosecution, although exceptions written into the law will disqualify many cases. By allowing some misdemeanors to be sealed, Act 5 moves Pennsylvania into the mainstream of the record-clearing schemes of the 50 states. However, around half of the states allow more extensive expungement or sealing, with eleven states allowing many felonies to be cleared. Pennsylvania could take a significant step forward by adopting “Clean Slate” legislation now pending in the General Assembly, 5 which would provide automatic sealing of misdemeanors, summary offenses and non-convictions after certain waiting periods. A 50-state survey of existing expungement and sealing laws is available here, with additional details on each state’s laws here. Read more

Clean slate remedies help overcome collateral consequences

Eliza Hersh, director of the Clean Slate Clinic at the East Bay Community Law Center and one of CCRC’s contributing authors, has co-authored a most persuasive op ed in the LA Times, which we are pleased to reprint here in full.   Should a shoplifting conviction be an indelible scarlet letter? Not in California What exactly is the appropriate punishment for someone who commits a low-level, nonviolent crime? Should a conviction for minor drug possession, shoplifting or writing a bad check result in a lifetime of stigma and denied opportunities, or do people with criminal records deserve a second chance? In November, California voters took a clear stand on these issues when they passed Proposition 47 and reclassified eight nonviolent felonies to misdemeanors for people without prior serious convictions. Proposition 47 allows for the resentencing of many who have been convicted of such crimes, reducing the amount of time they serve, lowering state and county incarceration costs and chipping away at decades of overly punitive criminal-justice policies. But this common sense reform alone won’t necessarily change the lifelong punishment experienced by many people with a criminal record. Today, a criminal record — even for a low-level misdemeanor or infraction — acts like an indelible scarlet letter. Until relatively recently, employers, landlords and others rarely requested criminal records, which could be accessed only by sifting through physical files in a local courthouse. With the post-9/11 push for more background checks, the advent of online databases and the steep increase in the number of people with convictions, criminal records have become a serious barrier to employment, housing, education and other forms of civic participation for millions of Californians. New fair-chance hiring laws help reduce discrimination against people with criminal records by removing conviction history questions from initial job applications and postponing background checks until later in the process. But California has an additional remedy. Laws long on the books allow judges to dismiss old convictions, a recognition that people who have successfully completed their sentences should be free to rejoin society without disabling consequences. The dismissal remedy doesn’t erase the record completely, and it is not available in all cases, but it can restore rights and reduce barriers for many people. People who have successfully completed their sentences should be free to rejoin society without disabling consequences.- These dismissal laws, however, are obscure and complex. The process can require a lot of paperwork and a court appearance, or even multiple appearances in more than one county. As a result, far too many Californians remain saddled with convictions that are otherwise eligible for dismissal. The East Bay Community Law Center, a teaching law office affiliated with UC Berkeley School of Law, tries to address these problems. Since establishing its Clean Slate Clinic a decade ago, the center has helped several thousand people obtain record-clearing remedies with the aim of reducing the collateral consequences of convictions and lowering the risk of recidivism. Under the supervision of attorneys, law students interview the clinic’s clients, draft their declarations, prepare them for court hearings and, if necessary, later represent them in civil and administrative proceedings to redress unlawful discrimination in employment, housing and professional licensing. The process can be long and emotional. People with criminal records are grappling with painful episodes from the past and hopeful aspirations for the future. But the results can be equally rewarding. While Berkeley law students have been serving clean-slate clients, University of California researchers have been studying the results. We already know that clean-slate interventions increase a person’s ability to get a job and provide him or her with a profound sense of relief: No more skeletons in the closet. But the benefits go far beyond that: In surveys, focus groups and in-depth interviews, people who’ve had their records cleared express a sense of accomplishment (increased confidence and self-esteem), a sense of hope (a focus on the future) and a sense of agency (control over their lives). Significantly, the clean-slate process itself — not just the outcome — appears to create a kind of status enhancement ritual, or rite of passage, helping people move from their old life into a new one. Proposition 47 takes an important step toward addressing the consequences of mass incarceration in California. Tens of thousands of people will benefit from it. The Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates that the state and counties will each save hundreds of millions of dollars annually as a result of lower incarceration rates. But rebuilding lives and communities will not flow automatically from the new law. As we take additional measures to reverse the most damaging effects of our tough-on-crime policies, we will need to invest time and resources in clean-slate programs that help people with criminal records go through the challenging process of re-integrating into our families, communities and society. Read more