HARTFORD, Co. (WSHU) – In 2021, Connecticut passed the “Clean Slate” law to erase conviction records for minor offenses. At the time, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said it would change the lives of people who had been denied jobs, housing and education because of their criminal record. Three years later, the state is struggling to keep […]
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Maryland Matters) – With a stroke of his pen, Gov. Wes Moore last month pardoned 175,000 individuals for prior cannabis offenses from his office in Annapolis, the Sailing Capital of the United States. His executive action will help many Marylanders with prior convictions navigate the criminal justice system’s uncharted waters. In 2022, Maryland embarked on this journey
By Colleen Chien, Founder of the Paper Prisons Initiative On June 19, 1865, US soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas – the last corner of the Confederacy – to announce that the Civil War had ended and that enslaved Americans were now free. In the two years prior, slave owners quietly and strategically delayed the news
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (NPR) – Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is pardoning 175,000 people who have low-level convictions related to marijuana, the governor announced Monday. To date, it is one of the most expansive absolutions by a state for this type of crime. “The barriers to everything from employment to education to the ability to buy a home and
NORTH CAROLINA (NC Newsline) The North Carolina House Judiciary 2 Committee approved a bill on Wednesday that would repeal automatic expungements of “not guilty” or “dismissed” charges from criminal records. The committee approved a committee substitute for Senate Bill 565 on a voice vote. As NC Newsline previously reported, the original bill proposed to restart automatic expungements
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KY3 Staff) – Missouri lawmakers are discussing a way to make it easier for those eligible to have their criminal records wiped clean. The policy is called “Clean Slate.” The organization behind the push says only about 1% of eligible convicts are able to successfully get their records expunged because the process
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Fox2Now) – Two bipartisan lawmakers are pushing to help more than half a million Missourians have their arrest and conviction records expunged. Supporters say the purpose of this bill is to provide a second chance. Right now, the state allows for certain minor offenses to be expunged but requires the offender to
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (SHRM)- Individuals with old criminal records have a greater chance of employment in the growing number of states—now 12—with clean slate laws. As these laws spread, more employers may benefit from a talent pool they haven’t tapped much before. “Employers need to understand that there is a growing trend throughout the country to
The Clean Slate campaign is backing four Missouri bills, which all provide for a more automated expungement process for low-level offenses. MISSOURI (KCUR) – More than a half-million Missourians could have their arrest and conviction records expunged of minor offenses if either of two Senate and two House bills, supported by the Missouri Clean Slate
HARTFORD, Co. (CT Mirror) – As a concerned resident of Connecticut and a victim of the state’s criminal justice system, I am deeply troubled by the results of a data analysis I did for all criminal convictions from 1980 to 2022. In 2021, I co-published a report with Paper Prisons about people in Connecticut with convictions. I