Jul 6, 2018 4 min read

Many of us did things when we were young and not so bright that we are not proud of, and some of those things perhaps brought us into contact with the criminal justice system. Of course, some offenses are serious and not so easily forgotten. But a person who commits a minor offense, especially in their youth, shouldn’t have it follow them forever as a black mark on their record, potentially affecting their ability to get a job or rent an apartment. But that’s largely the way it has been in Pennsylvania, until now.

The other day, Gov. Tom Wolf signed the “Clean Slate” bill, which, according to a news release from the governor’s office, “provides those with low-level, nonviolent criminal records a mechanism to have their record sealed from public view.”

“The Clean Slate bill helps us accomplish something I have worked hard to do since I took office: make our criminal justice system fairer, more equitable, and more focused on rehabilitation,” Wolf said. “Passage of the Clean Slate law allows for many people to move on with their lives with greater chances of success. This means better career, housing and education options.”

According to the governor’s office, nearly 3 million Pennsylvanians of working age are estimated to have criminal records that are minor, including offenses such as low-level retail theft or disorderly conduct.

The new law provides for the following:

• Nonviolent misdemeanor convictions:
• Sealing would occur after a person goes 10 years without committing a crime.
• Nonconviction records:
• The governor’s office said these records would be sealed “as a matter of course, given that the presumption of innocence is one of the bedrocks of the American criminal justice system.”

The news release notes there can be no scrubbing of records for more serious crimes, including firearms charges, sexual offenses, murder, kidnapping and endangering the welfare of children, among others.

A couple of years ago, the Legislature passed a law that enabled those arrested on or convicted of minor, nonviolent crimes to petition in court to have their records expunged, but a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted it was a “bureaucratic procedure that often requires the expense of a lawyer. In the future, such cases will automatically be sealed by the court’s computer system.”

One of the sponsors of the “Clean Slate” bill, state Rep. Sheryl Delozier, R-Cumberland, told the Post-Gazette recently, “When you’ve done something wrong as a youth or you make a mistake, businesses want good workers. Getting an underage drinking citation shouldn’t keep you from getting a job that you are very good at.”

Wolf also noted, “Last year, we ‘banned the box,’ removing the criminal conviction question for job applications covered by the Office of Administration, which ensured that all candidates for employment are being evaluated on their merit, and on their willingness and ability to reform our criminal justice system.”

Wolf is supporting a number of other criminal justice reforms, including an effort to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses who are being held in county jails, and bail and pretrial reforms aimed at ensuring everyone has a right to a fair trial and that risk-assessment tools are consistent statewide.

It’s a given that our criminal justice system has its flaws. Any legislation that continues to improve the system, and make it fairer for those involved in it, is welcome.