Policy Panel: Effects of Automated and Petition-Based Criminal Record Clearance, Expungement, and Sealing

Session Submission Type: Policy Panel

Abstract/Description

Criminal records impede individuals’ efforts to reintegrate into society. Record clearance can reduce barriers to employment, housing, and family re-engagement. It may also facilitate desistance from crime. This panel brings together researchers from a range of disciplines, using a variety of data sources and methodological approaches, to evaluate the effects of automated and petition-based record clearance and sealing processes on various aspects of people’s lives, in several American states. Together, the findings assess the current state of record clearance and shed light on policy approaches to make expungement processes more accessible, equitable, and effective.

Sub Unit

• Area XX. Policy Panels

Individual Presentations

• Impacts of Automated Record Clearance on Individuals, Families, and Communities - Elsa Y. Chen, Santa Clara University; Ericka Adams, San José State University; Sarah Lageson, Rutgers University, Newark

• State-initiated expungement relief: Preliminary findings from the RTI Clean Slate Initiative research project - Pamela K. Lattimore, RTI International; Suzanne Strong, RTI International; Karima Modjadidi, RTI International; Debbie Dawes, RTI International

• Measuring the Economic Impact of a Criminal Record and Record Sealing - Adrienne DiTomasso, The Ohio State University; Rebecca Xie, The Ohio State University

• An Early Examination of Utah’s Clean Slate Legislation: Implications for Equity - KiDeuk Kim, Urban Institute; Kelly Roberts Freeman, National Center for State Courts

Chair

• Elsa Y. Chen, Santa Clara University