Tag: poggenklass

The Frontiers of Dignity: Clean Slate and Other Criminal Record Reforms in 2022

At the beginning of each year since 2017, CCRC has issued a report on legislative enactments in the year just ended, new laws aimed at reducing the barriers faced by people with a criminal record in the workplace, at the ballot box, and in many other areas of daily life.  These annual reports document the steady progress of what our report two years ago characterized as “a full-fledged law reform movement” aimed at restoring rights and dignity to individuals who have successfully navigated the criminal law system. In the three years between 2019 and 2021, more than 400 new criminal record reforms were enacted.  Many states enacted new laws every year, and all but two states enacted at least one significant new law during this period. The modern record reform movement reflected in our annual reports is bipartisan, grounded in and inspired by the circumstance that almost a third of adults in the United States now have a criminal record, entangling them in a web of legal restrictions and discrimination that permanently excludes then from full participation in the community. It reflects a public recognition that the “internal exile” of such a significant portion of society is not only unsafe […]

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Virginia poised to enact “transformative” record clearance law

Editor’s Note:  We are delighted to post a description of the broad new record relief bill now awaiting Governor Northam’s signature, by an attorney-advocate who was actively involved in the campaign to secure its passage. Rob Poggenklass describes the ambitious new law and how it came to be enacted, as well as likely next steps for record clearance in a jurisdiction that is swiftly becoming one of the nation’s leaders in record reforms. In addition to automatic sealing, the bill’s provisions for appointment of counsel, elimination of a fingerprint requirement for petitions, and regulation of private screening companies are particularly significant for reducing access barriers and ensuring effectiveness. The Virginia General Assembly has passed transformative legislation to allow sealing of convictions, including low-level felonies, for the first time in the Commonwealth, and to establish a system of automatic sealing of police and court records for many offenses. About 1.6 million Virginians have a criminal record, which creates significant barriers to employment, housing, education, and other necessities of life. The legislation reflects a compromise between an automatic expungement bill sponsored by Del. Charniele Herring and a mostly petition-based one brought by Sen. Scott Surovell. It also reflects the sustained work of […]

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