According to the Evening Sun:

CLEARING THE RECORD: Certain former offenders who remain crime-free for several years would have a chance to clear their criminal records under a bill passed 198-1 by the House.

The bill would apply to people who have committed summary offenses, second-degree misdemeanors under the age of 25, and third-degree misdemeanors. They would be allowed ask county courts to expunge their records within 5 to 10 years after their release, depending on the nature of the offense.

Under current law, offenses can only be expunged from the criminal records of people who have been dead for three years or who have reached the age of 70 after spending 10 years crime-free following their last confinement or supervision. The measure goes to the Senate, which passed a measure in April to allow the expungement of summary offenses only. (House Bill 1543)

Ex-Convicts Turn Out To Apply For Second Chance
Expungement Summit Held At Roberto Clemente High School

CHICAGO (CBS) ― A massive effort took place Saturday to help some Cook County residents clean up their rap sheets, in an attempt to make it easier for those with criminal records to rebuild their lives.

As CBS 2′s Pamela Jones reports, clearing criminal histories can help remove obstacles that can block such necessities for life outside prison such as employment and housing.

The opportunity to expunge criminal records motivates 2,000 to 3,000 people to line up each year for the Expungement Summit, which took place at Roberto Clemente Community Academy, 1147 N. Western Ave.

The event was open to people with non-violent offenses on their rap sheets, such as drug possession. Participants got the chance to sit down with more than 70 volunteer attorneys to file the paperwork required to clear or seal criminal records.

People started arriving at the event around 5 a.m., and Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown said she was impressed with the turnout. Organizers expected some 3,000 people to attend.

“If people that have non-violent offenses have the opportunity that the state legislature has actually provided them to get their records expunged, they can then go on to get jobs, proper housing and the like,” Brown said.

People with criminal histories like Michael Long.

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This is another example of a law that could hamper an employers ability to run a thorough background check. Read our other postings on this subject you may be surprised to see our position on the subject.

Don’t sanction secrets

By Boston Herald editorial staff
Saturday, May 24, 2008 – Updated 2d 23h ago

When it comes to reforming the state’s criminal records law, Gov. Deval Patrick can’t win for losing.

His bill aimed at smoothing the path to employment for ex-offenders is bogged down in a Legislature that can’t seem to find agreement on just what those reforms should look like – or whether they should make any changes at all. The co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee told the State House News Service last week that the proposal is hitting “a lot of roadblocks.”

Advocates for ex-offenders, meanwhile, continue to criticize Patrick for backing a measure they say doesn’t go nearly far enough. They staged a four-day march and a State House rally on Thursday where they called on Patrick to do more on behalf of ex-cons who have moved beyond their checkered pasts.

When both sides are kvetching it can be a sign of a good compromise. On this rare occasion we hope that’s not the case.

That’s because the criminal offender record information law, known as CORI, is an important tool for employers who have a right to information about the criminal backgrounds of their prospective employees. Tinkering with it to curtail access to that information is simply the wrong way to go.

Patrick’s bill would shorten the length of time before a felon can petition to have a criminal record sealed from public view – from 15 years to 10. For a misdemeanor, it would go from 10 years to five. In both cases the individual must have maintained a clean record in the intervening years.

A competing bill pushed by advocates would shorten the waiting periods to seven years for a felony and three years for a misdemeanor. But no matter how you slice it the “reforms” call for keeping secrets from those who have a legitimate right to know who is keeping their books or caring for a vulnerable senior citizen in their charge.

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We were just notified about this from the Executive Director of NAPBS®. The good news is NAPBS® has been successful 100% of the time when these issues arise. This Bill was passed 46 to 17 by the Rhode Island House.

We have written about these issues many times before. We support ex-offenders and their rights to enjoy gainful employment. In fact, GOSO (Getting Out and Staying Out) is one of our corporate philanthropy’s. We just think employers have the right to know! Employers have the responsibility to ensure a safe working environment for their employees, customers and vendors. Its a slippery slope when putting forth legislation such as this. My hope is that the RI Senate quashes this effort, if not, a Veto from the Governor is also possible. Please take the time to write to the RI Legislatures about this issue!

House OKs bill to destroy criminal records

By Katherine Gregg
Journal State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE — Advocates for convicted criminals scored a victory on Smith Hill yesterday.

Despite objections from the attorney general, the state police and the governor, the House voted 46 to 17 for a bill to quash and destroy the records of criminal cases in which the accused was given a deferred sentence, usually in exchange for sparing the state a trial by pleading no contest or guilty to a crime.

The bill, which is now headed to the Senate, calls for the automatic destruction of all such records at the end of the deferral period — which usually runs five years, regardless of how serious the crime or the criminal history of the offender as long as he or she stayed out of trouble in the interim.

The bill sailed through the House with no debate yesterday after a heated — but short-circuited debate earlier this week — in which proponents assured their colleagues it was aimed at helping people remove from their records youthful indiscretions that were keeping them from moving ahead in life, school and jobs, and opponents noted the bill goes much further than the state’s existing expungement law in that it is not limited to nonviolent crimes by first-time offenders.

Beyond that, critics argued that it could be used as a legal club to try to prevent newspapers from publishing facts that the public already knows about crimes — or perhaps should know — if they involve candidates for a job, including public office. Current state law bars people with certain felony convictions from obtaining state licenses to work in nursing, social work and auto repair: this would provide a way around that.

“So now we are rewriting history and telling the newspaper they can’t refer to something that everybody knows about?” Rep. Laurence Ehrhardt, R-North Kingstown, asked rhetorically.

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