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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | July 19, 2023 08:51 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Camera Bartolotta and Sen. Sharif Street |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Automatic Expungement of Criminal History After a Pardon |
| In the near future, we will introduce legislation to automatically expunge any criminal record that is the subject of an unconditional executive pardon by the Governor. Receiving a pardon from the Governor is the highest form of forgiveness recognized by Pennsylvania law. By Supreme Court precedent, a pardon “blots out the very existence of guilt, so that, in the eye of the law, [the offender] is thereafter as innocent as if he had never committed the offense”; and a court is required to expunge any crime that is pardoned. A pardon should mean a new start and the removal of unnecessary barriers to employment and entrepreneurship, housing, loans, licenses, education and even volunteer opportunities. Most applicants think that a pardon results immediately in a clean record. Unfortunately, this this is not the case because convictions remain on someone’s record, even after pardoned, until expunged. Expungement is expensive and time consuming. A person must file petitions of expungement for each docket, accruing hundreds or even thousands of dollars in legal fees and processing. This is a financial obstacle that causes many to abandon the process which is why only about 30 percent of those receiving pardons get their convictions expunged. This unnecessary hurdle also consumes the valuable time and resources of the sentencing court. Our bill will streamline and expedite the process for individuals who received an executive pardon to clear their records to advance work opportunities, without any harm to public safety while also conserving the resources of our courts. Because this is a “clean” bill, it has the support of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association. Please join us in co-sponsoring this important legislation. |
Introduced as SB944