{"id":29919,"date":"2022-03-21T08:00:02","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T08:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/21\/maine-legislature-considers-bill-to-seal-certain-criminal-records\/"},"modified":"2022-03-21T08:00:02","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T08:00:02","slug":"maine-legislature-considers-bill-to-seal-certain-criminal-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/21\/maine-legislature-considers-bill-to-seal-certain-criminal-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Maine Legislature considers bill to seal certain criminal records"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When Peter Lehman got out of prison\u00a0nearly 20 years ago, it was a more private time.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwenty years ago, if you wanted to find out about someone\u2019s criminal record, you would need to go through criminal records by hand,\u201d said Lehman, now\u00a0the legislative coordinator for the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have the access to criminal records that we do now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mugshots on Facebook, jail logs on newspaper\u00a0websites, online registries: Lehman said that in the modern world, the ways that people\u2019s\u00a0criminal records stick with them even after they\u2019ve served their sentences can be a life sentence in itself, especially when these records come up as they try to get\u00a0housing or employment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some point at which they say, \u2018I should be able to move on with my life and put this behind me,\u2019\u201d Lehman said.<\/p>\n

Maine lawmakers are considering a bill<\/a> that would not do away with online exposure, but would give some people convicted of certain low-level, nonviolent crimes an avenue to seal their criminal records after they\u2019ve served their time.<\/p>\n

The bill would apply to most Class E offenses<\/a>, low-level crimes with the lowest sentencing requirements, that being six months incarceration. In Maine, data from the judiciary shows the most commonly charged Class E crimes are violations of a person\u2019s condition of release from jail, shoplifting and operating a vehicle without a license. The bill does not allow for the sealing of most records related to sexual assault or domestic violence.<\/p>\n

Those wishing\u00a0to seal their records would\u00a0need to have been between the ages of 18 and 28\u00a0at the time they committed their crimes and would have to wait four years after completing their sentences to file motions in the courts where their criminal cases were\u00a0considered, requesting that the records be sealed.<\/p>\n

The person applying would file a motion in court, typically represented by an attorney. Whoever prosecuted the person in the case \u2013 a district attorney\u2019s office or the attorney general\u2019s office \u2013 would be able to oppose the request.<\/p>\n

The court must hold a hearing on the motion and, if it determines all the requirements have been met, it may seal the criminal history record information and issue an order certifying the determination.<\/p>\n

When criminal records under the bill are sealed, the information becomes confidential to the public. That doesn\u2019t mean it goes away. Relevant state agencies, including those in law enforcement and the Secretary of State\u2019s Office, would still have access as necessary. There\u2019s also an exception for victims of the crime to access the records. Criminal justice agencies can still disseminate the records to necessary state agencies, certain professional licensing boards and others where fingerprint-based background checks are necessary.<\/p>\n

Maine is one of only a handful of states without any sort of process to allow people to request their criminal records be sealed or expunged. But this hasn\u2019t always been the case. From 2017 to the end of 2020, the state ran a pilot record sealing program<\/a>, during which a court approved the sealing of 26 people\u2019s records. There were 55 applications for record sealing, and a few were still pending at the end of 2021.<\/p>\n

The process for the pilot was essentially the same as the process described in the most recent bill, where individuals wanting to seal their records would file a motion in court.<\/p>\n

After that pilot ended, the Legislature created a Criminal Records Review Committee made up of a wide range of stakeholders \u2013 including representatives from the media, law enforcement and legal aid organizations, civil rights advocates and the formerly incarcerated to consider the issues involved in sealing and expunging criminal records, and to make recommendations.<\/p>\n

Drawing on that group\u2019s work, lawmakers considered a measure in 2021 that would have allowed a wider swath of low-level, mostly nonviolent crimes to be eligible for record sealing.<\/p>\n

That bill did not succeed, but a new, narrower version of it, which would have offered an avenue to record sealing for fewer types of crimes, was introduced in 2022.<\/p>\n

Its scope was narrowed further after objections from the governor\u2019s office.<\/a> The narrower version now being considered removed Class D crimes, which carry nearly twice as much incarceration time and include offenses like operating under the influence.<\/p>\n

Lehman of the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition has argued that\u00a0the bill\u2019s scope is now\u00a0too narrow, applying to too few offenses.<\/p>\n

Why, Lehman asked in testimony to the Judiciary Committee<\/a>, should a hardware store have access to criminal records for a sexual offense, for example, when it\u2019s not relevant to the job?<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bill is only better than nothing,\u201d Lehman said of the bill\u2019s current version.<\/p>\n

Judy Meyer, executive director of the Sun Journal, the Kennebec Journal and the Morning Sentinel, served on the Criminal Records Review Committee and addressed lawmakers on behalf of the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition, which aims to spread awareness of the First Amendment and citizens\u2019 rights to public information. The coalition, she said, does not oppose a process to seal criminal records for low-level crimes with little victimization. But she has concerns about inequities in the bill, which doesn\u2019t require\u00a0assigned counsel to help indigent people navigate the courts and seal their records.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are knowingly putting into (the) bill, \u2018If you can afford a lawyer, it\u2019s clear sailing to get your records sealed,’\u201d Meyer said. \u201cIt traps people who live in poverty with their criminal records for all time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous legislation has covered other issues people face after they are sentenced and incarcerated.<\/p>\n

A law passed last year prohibits Maine employers from asking about job applicants\u2019\u00a0criminal history during the application process.<\/p>\n

The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine supports L.D. 1310, the bill to allow some records to be sealed.<\/p>\n

Michael Kebede, its policy counsel, called it a step forward to the \u201cgolden standard,\u201d which for him would mean the sealing of all types of criminal records, unless specifically excluded in state law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what we could get now,\u201d Kebede said. \u201cAnd this also gives the state and the judiciary \u2026 practice. It gives them something to point to when, down the road, we ask for the golden standard. It gives the state some experience in the area so we\u2019re not acting totally in the dark when a future legislator introduces a golden standard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meyer, who said she and the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition support an avenue for some people to seal their records, argues that at some point the public\u2019s right to know begins to outweigh one individual\u2019s rights to seal a criminal\u00a0past.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think there are legitimate public interests in having access to public records that go beyond the defendant\u2019s need to restart their life,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cWhen those records are pulled out of the public view, the public loses that ability to understand the prosecutorial process. The public has a huge interest in knowing how that process works.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Judiciary Committee agreed to send the bill to the full House on March 10. Both the Maine House and Senate would need to approve the bill and the governor would need to sign it for it to become law.<\/p>\n

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