Connecticut is just the latest state to provide a more accessible criminal record expungement system designed to “eliminate employment, education, and housing barriers for those convicted of low-level crimes, who have finished their sentences and remained crime free for a specific timeframe.” Maintaining that it is in “society’s best interest” the Clean Slate Law, which was signed by the Governor in 2021, has removed the criminal records of 80,000 individuals as of January 1, 2024.

Additional states are considering similar laws now — and Churches and NGOs are helping. In California, more than 900 people attended the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s annual Restorative Justice event last fall for the victims of crime, as well as for formerly incarcerated individuals and their families.  For more than a decade now, the San Francisco Archdiocese has aimed to help crime victims as well as those released from prison or jail. Sponsored by the Archdiocesan Restorative Justice Ministry, this year’s conference was the largest ever and included a jobs fair with 50 employers hoping to find workers, and as many as 100 attendees were expected to find jobs as a result of their participation in the conference. (READ MORE from Anne Hendershott: Pope Francis Falls Silent on the Persecution of Jimmy Lai)

This year’s conference included a criminal record expungement clinic staffed by the San Francisco Public Defender’s offices.  And although some might believe that helping to expunge the criminal records of those who have served their sentences is a “soft-on-crime” approach, the truth is that research indicates that expungement can in fact make society safer.

Indeed, through a data-sharing agreement with the state of Michigan and the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank that is dedicated to free, open and civil societies, research on expungement in Michigan has indicated that people who receive expungements have very low rates of recidivism — even lower by some measures than the average crime rates for all Michigan adults.  Just 4 percent of all expungement recipients in Michigan are reconvicted within five years, and most of these reconvictions are for nonviolent misdemeanors.  Expungement recipients have very low rates of recidivism and exhibit much better employment outcomes.

Importantly — and perhaps the most important reason for the low rates of recidivism for Michigan’s expungement recipients — expungement recipients quickly exhibit better employment outcomes.  The data indicate that “average quarterly wages rise by about 23 percent within a year of expungement, an increase driven mainly by unemployed or marginally employed people finding work. “  And although we must acknowledge that those who have expunged records are likely to be qualitatively different from those who have not pursued the expungement route even with the same criminal history, we have to also acknowledge that at least some of the gain in wages is caused by expungement itself.

The Michigan data are valuable because the state’s expungement law has been on the books for more than 50 years yielding valuable data.  And there is a growing awareness — even among conservatives — that expungement, in fact, can reduce crime.  We know — and the Michigan data validate — that the correlates of crime such as “unemployment, low wages, poverty, homelessness, poor education, stigma, and social exclusion are all associated with higher recidivism risk.”  If expungement alleviates even some of these conditions, it seems likely to reduce recidivism among those who petition for expungement of their criminal records. (READ MORE: All Politics Are Local — And So Is the Cheating) 

Expungement has the potential to be an issue that can unite both Democrats and Republicans in their efforts to reduce crime.  Wisconsin is providing a good model for a bipartisan effort to help offenders clear their criminal records through their co-sponsorship of LRB 0955/1. In a statement published in the Wisconsin media, the co-sponsors complained that the state’s  earlier expungement procedures were published in the 1970s and were unnecessarily cumbersome. Their new bill — which is supported by the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin and the Koch family’s Americans for Prosperity — creates a new more effective and efficient process.

It would seem that anything we can do to enable people to access employment, apply for a professional license, and find a safe place to live should be encouraged.  Yet there continue to be many states which refuse to even consider expunging the records of those who have paid their debt to society and have remained crime-free for several years. It is also very difficult to go through the process of petitioning for expungement.  The Cato/Michigan study found that only 6.5 percent of individuals eligible for expungement actually receive expungement during their first five years of eligibility.  Part of the reason for that is due to the fact that expungement is an arduous process — one that most individuals cannot handle without legal assistance.

In 2019, a new reform campaign supported by the Center for American Progress, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Koch Foundation groups, the Clean Slate campaign argues that “automated data-driven processes are the key to effective record sealing.”  Toward that goal, a few states provide for the “automatic expungement” of some criminal convictions.  According to Cato, Pennsylvania and Utah passed these policies — with the near-unanimous support of Republican dominated legislatures.  Cato points out that, “Chambers of Commerce have joined with civil rights and civil liberties groups to endorse many recent reform proposals … many employers and landlords want to give opportunities to qualified applicants with records but cannot do so because of legal restrictions and fear of tort liabilities, which expungement laws curtail.”

Still, even with an increased availability of access to expungement assistance, there are still a long list of Internet websites that offer “cheap and easy criminal background checks” open to the public for a fee,  and there are also a number of state and local news blotters that post booking photos. These sites would not necessarily be updated with the expungement information. Forcing a website to take down public records would violate the First Amendment. But these websites could be encouraged — through legislation — to update their data if expungement has occurred. (READ MORE: Assisted Suicide Surges in California)

Expungement should not be viewed as a liberal “soft on crime” approach.  Rather, we all should recognize that the dignity of human persons applies to both victim and the offender who has actually paid the price for his or her offenses.  This approach can offer society another way to understand and respond to crime, its victims, and its perpetrators.  It does not give up on those who violate the laws.  An effective and accessible expungement system that rewards those who have paid their debt to society would be a start.