Category: non-conviction records

Study: Texas diversion provides dramatic benefits for people facing their first felony

NOTE: In light of renewed interest in state legislatures in judicially-administered diversion and deferred adjudication programs, we are re-publishing our 2021 report on a remarkable study of deferred adjudication in Texas by researchers Michael Mueller-Smith and Kevin Schnepel. We noted at the time that “The deferred adjudication program in Texas represents the largest diversion program in the U.S. with over 200,000 participants during 2017 (the most recent year with state-wide caseload data available). Based on the findings of Mueller-Smith and Schnepel, this program may serve as a good model for other jurisdictions considering an expansion of diversion options, especially for people possibly facing their first felony conviction. by Margaret Love and David Schlussel (Feb 23, 2021). Increased use of diversion is a key feature of America’s new age of criminal justice reform. Whether administered informally by prosecutors or under the auspices of courts, diversionary dispositions aim to resolve cases without a conviction—and in so doing, conserve scarce legal resources, provide supportive services, reduce recidivism, and provide defendants with a chance to avoid the lingering stigma of a conviction record. Despite the growing popularity of diversion in this country and around the world, there has been little empirical study of its impacts on […]

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DC enacts progressive new record-clearing law

Until last month, the District of Columbia had one of the most complex and restrictive record relief laws in the country. D.C.’s sealing law even applied the same burdensome petition-based procedures, extended waiting periods, and onerous burdens of proof to non-conviction records that applied to convictions. In testimony before the D.C. Council in 2021, CCRC’s Margaret Love noted: “Compared to states across the country, DC’s record relief laws are very prohibitive and unusually complex.” CCRC’s Reintegration Report Card published in March 2022 commented that “the restoration laws in the District of Columbia are noteworthy for a remarkable study in contrasts: D.C. has extraordinarily progressive laws in civil areas like voting, employment, housing, and occupational licensing, and among the most regressive laws in the Nation in every category of criminal record relief, likely reflecting the heavy hand of the federal authorities that are responsible for most prosecutions under the D.C. Code.” Last month, everything changed. The Second Chance Amendment Act of 2022 (D.C. Law 24-284, codified at D.C. Code § 16-801 et seq.), which became final after the required period of congressional review on March 16, 2023, gave the District one of the broadest record-clearing laws in the country, including both petition-based […]

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California poised to expand record clearing to cover most felonies

NOTE: On September 29, Governor Newsom signed into law both of the bills discussed in the post below. They will take effect on January 1, 2023.    California Governor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign this week two bills that will give that state the broadest record-clearing laws in the nation. Senate Bill 731 would extend both automatic and petition-based and record relief to felony-level offenses, while Senate Bill 1106 would preclude denial of relief based on outstanding court debt in most cases. When signed into law, Senate Bill 731 will place California at the forefront of record clearing nationwide. It would expand automatic record relief to all felony non-convictions since January 1, 1973, six years after the date of arrest. California law currently excludes felony arrests from eligibility for automatic relief if the charge is serious enough to potentially result in incarceration at a state prison. Other felony non-convictions remain eligible for automatic relief after three years unless the charge was punishable by eight years’ incarceration or more in a county jail, for which the new six-year wait period applies. SB 731 also expands eligibility for automatic relief to persons convicted of a felony and sentenced to probation on […]

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Judicial Diversion and Deferred Adjudication: A National Survey

*Update (3/3/22): the full national report, “The Many Roads from Reentry to  Reintegration,” is now available. Last week we announced the forthcoming publication of a national report surveying various legal mechanisms for restoring rights and opportunities following arrest or conviction, a revision and updating of our 2020 report “The Many Roads to Reintegration.” The first post in the series (“Expungement, Sealing & Set-Aside of Convictions“), published on February 25, gives some additional background about the report. The second post in this “preview” series (“Fair Chance Employment & Occupational Licensure“) was published on February 26.  The third part (“Executive Pardon“) was published on February 28. Today’s post concerns the role that court-managed diversionary dispositions play in reducing convictions and avoiding collateral consequences.  Since our first national report was published in 2018, many states have expanded the availability of these non-conviction dispositions, including for any defendant potentially eligible for a probationary sentence, and made record clearing more generally available. We expect to publish the whole national report, plus our Reintegration Report Card for 2022, later this week. Judicial Diversion and Deferred Adjudication: A National Survey An increasingly desirable strategy for facilitating reintegration through avoiding collateral consequences is to divert individuals away from […]

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When banks ask loan applicants about their arrest record

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition reports that its evaluation of small business loan applications from a sample of seven banks in Washington, DC revealed that “some lenders discriminate against applicants who have been charged at any time in their lives with a criminal offense.”  A comment on the NCRC website proposes that these banks consider applicants to be “a lending risk for having been ‘ever charged’ with any crime, other than a minor vehicle violation, no matter when it occurred.”  It goes on to argue that “[t]his practice is not only factually suspect, it is discriminatory.”  The comment, written by Anneliese Lederer, the NCRC’s Director of Fair Lending, was subsequently republished in The American Banker.  The NCRC findings demonstrate that even interactions with the criminal justice system that do not result in a conviction record can have “lasting implications:” It is known that having a criminal record is a barrier to both housing and employment. There are few protections for people with a criminal record. But what about for people who have been charged and found not guilty, or their charges were dropped? What barriers do they face? Unfortunately, they face similar barriers as people who have a criminal record, especially in […]

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