ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A proposed Maryland Senate Bill, the Maryland Clean Slate Act of 2024, aims to simplify the process of record expungement for individuals with criminal records. The bill was brought before the State Judicial Proceedings Committee today for a hearing. According to the Maryland Paper Prisons Initiative, approximately 1 million adults in… Continue reading Maryland Clean Slate Act Proposed to Streamline Record Expungement Process (Feb. 21, 2024)

Encouraging people to lead law-abiding lives following punishment for a crime becomes challenging when a criminal record interferes with their ability to get a job or rent an apartment years after they’ve paid their debt to society. To promote effective reintegration, New York recently joined states like California, Michigan, and New Jersey in adopting ‘clean… Continue reading New York’s clean slate reforms offer former offenders a second chance (Feb. 15, 2024)

More than 500 people registered for Berkeley Law’s recent California Racial Justice Act Symposium, which examined the 2020 Act’s early implementation and implications.  Presented by the school’s Criminal Law & Justice Center and Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law, the event welcomed expert lawyers, computer scientists, scholars, government officials, criminal justice nonprofit leaders, students, and others who probed a wide swath… Continue reading Implementing Equality: Packed Symposium Addresses California Racial Justice Act (Feb. 13, 2024)

BERKELEY, Calif. (CN) — In the two years since California passed the Racial Justice Act, attorneys and public defenders say there has been slow progress toward criminal justice reform and pursuit of a less biased system.  University of California, Berkeley’s Criminal Law and Justice Center and the Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law hosted a symposium… Continue reading California criminal justice system moving slowly to confront biases, discrimination (Feb. 2, 2024)