Posted: | February 22, 2017 09:04 AM |
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From: | Senator Scott Wagner and Sen. Anthony H. Williams |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Clean Slate |
We will be reintroducing Clean Slate legislation, similar to Senate Bill 1197 of the 2015-2016 legislative session, to provide those with low-level, nonviolent criminal records a mechanism to have their record sealed from public view. This legislation builds upon Act 5 of 2016, which passed the Senate 49-0 and provided for a process of sealing low level, non-violent misdemeanors. Under Act 5 individuals must petition the court, where our legislation will implement automatic sealing of records with no action required by the individual. Nearly three million Pennsylvanians – 37.5% or more than one-third – of the Commonwealth’s working-age citizens, are estimated to have criminal records. Many have only minor offenses, such as misdemeanors, while others simply have arrests without conviction. Unfortunately, having even a minor criminal record carries lifelong barriers that can block successful re-entry and participation in society. What’s more, nearly half of Pennsylvania children have a parent with a record, and the associated barriers to employment, housing, and more can severely limit a child’s life chances. Our legislation proposes the following structure for sealing records:
This proposal enjoys bipartisan support from groups across Pennsylvania and the nation, including Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, U.S. Justice Action Network, and Center for American Progress. As with SB 1197, we expect this legislation will also garner bipartisan support in the General Assembly. Previous co-sponsors of SB 1197 were: AUMENT, BARTOLOTTA, BLAKE, BREWSTER, COSTA, FONTANA, GREENLEAF, HAYWOOD, HUGHES, KITCHEN, LEACH, McGARRIGLE, SCHWANK, STEFANO, TARTAGLIONE, TEPLITZ, VOGEL, WARD, WHITE, WILEY, WOZNIAK, and YUDICHAK. If you have any questions regarding this proposal, please contact Erin K. Marsicano, 717-787-3817, emarsicano@pasen.gov or Kyle Miller, 717-787-5970, kmiller@pasenate.com. |
Introduced as SB529