Although Clean State reform looks unlikely to pass the New York legislature, Our Town highlights the case for Clean Slate based on Paper Prisons’ research that a Clean Slate Bill “would seal past criminal records up to 1.4 million people, according to one estimate by the Paper Prisons Initiative of Santa Clara University.”

On March 27, 2023, the California Committee on the Revision of the Penal Code held a hearing on the California Racial Justice Act (CRJA) (recording here*, RJA portion starts at 52:02). Paper Prisons founder, Professor Colleen Chien testified before the committee about the data infrastructure supporting implementation of the CRJA , alongside Chief Assistant District… Continue reading Paper Prisons’ Testimony at California Penal Committee Hearing on CA Racial Justice Act (Mar. 27, 2023)

“Connecticut’s ‘clean slate’ law, which is designed to erase certain criminal records after a period of time, took effect earlier this year but has yet to be fully implemented. Here’s what to know about the law.” “The legislation will automatically erase criminal records seven years after the date of a conviction for a misdemeanor or 10 years… Continue reading Here’s what to know about CT’s ‘clean slate’ law, which erases some criminal records (Mar. 27, 2023)

“A large percentage of Missourians who could to have their criminal records ‘expunged’ have not done so, despite the effects expungement — referred to as ‘clean slate’ — can have on earnings and opportunities.” “Baker noted many individuals whose records are not expunged struggle to get hired at all, leading to high rates of unemployment.”… Continue reading MO ‘Clean Slate’ Bill Would Make ‘Expungement’ Automatic (Mar. 26, 2023)

On March 22, 2023, Vox Creative made the case for Clean Slate legislation based on Paper Prisons’ “second chance gap” research.

“There is a bill this legislative session that will provide that second chance to thousands of Oregonians. Senate Bill 698, or the “Clean Slate’’ act (sponsored by Sen. Manning), automatically expunges criminal records for people who are eligible. Current law states that individuals convicted of low-level offenses who have completed their sentence and then remained… Continue reading Guest Column: Fix Oregon’s broken system for expunging criminal records (Mar. 14, 2023)

“In 2021, I co-published a report with Paper Prisons about people in Connecticut with convictions. I also testified for the Clean Slate bill, passed in May 2021, which was supposed to erase the records of misdemeanor and low-level felony convictions after seven or ten years without any conviction. The law was supposed to take effect in January… Continue reading The Clean Slate bill must be enforced to end injustice in CT (Mar. 13, 2023)

“The Clean Slate Initiative works to expand and automate the sealing of arrest and conviction records after people have completed their sentence and remained crime-free for a period of time,” according to the organization’s website.” “According to the non-profit’s website, they have helped pass legislation to pave the way for over 7 million people who… Continue reading ‘A second chance at life’: Clean Slate Initiative looks to give those with a criminal record a fresh start (Mar. 9, 2023)

“According to the ACLU of Oregon, about 42% of Oregonians with criminal records were eligible to have their records expunged in 2021 – about 300,000 people. But less than 10% of those eligible did, said Scott Sharp, an attorney with the Metropolitan Public Defender office in Portland. A forthcoming amendment to the bill would exclude all “person crimes”… Continue reading 300,000 people could have criminal records sealed under Oregon ‘Clean Slate’ bill (Mar. 4, 2023)