November 1, 2024
Recently, New Jersey lawmakers have begun investigating means to increase protections for individuals awaiting expungement of their criminal records. However, expanding these protections requires a Senate panel’s unanimous approval of a proposed bill.
This bill is S2513, and it would prevent delays in carrying out expungement orders. Addressing these delays could significantly reduce the harmful impact of a pending expungement order. Assemblywoman Annette Quijano sponsored S2513, intending to confront this issue, which continues to grow due to ongoing backlogs.
“We have to do better. These are residents of New Jersey,” she passionately advocated to the Senate committee. “We have been holding up their lives for up to two years.”
This backlog can result in months to potentially even years of delays. Furthermore, these delays have led to a class action lawsuit from the office of the Public Defender in 2023. In this case, six unnamed plaintiffs revealed how records that should have undergone expungement cost them jobs and other opportunities. They claimed these processing delays ran for months or years, significantly impacting their opportunities.
State officials agreed that this result is due to the state’s legalization of marijuana. When legalizing the substance, the law also called for automatic expungement of low-level marijuana-related offenses. In addition, recent legislation offered opportunities to expunge more records under the state’s Clean Slate Law.
To provide residents with second chances, New Jersey has offered multiple programs so residents can clear records of previous arrests and convictions. In most cases, these records can clear after a ten-year wait that starts after the individual completes their sentence. Interested residents must pay associated fines and remain free of other offenses to qualify.
A granted expungement prevents authorities from disclosing information about the expunged offense to members of the public. However, the delays in expungement orders have allowed convictions with pending expungements to slip through the cracks. As such, authorities have revealed information they should not. Current regulations permit the State Bureau of Identification (SBI) to provide criminal history information on request. However, they do not address what to do for unprocessed expungement orders.
S2513 would correct the issue by requiring the SBI to verify whether an individual has any pending expungement orders granted by the state’s Superior Court. Under this bill, authorities must update their records concerning accounts with expungement orders. This process would prevent them from releasing criminal history information awaiting expungement. As such, employers, housing providers, and higher education facilities would not accidentally access information that could deny opportunities to individuals seeking second chances.
Disclaimer:
Information provided here is for educational and informational purposes only and should not constitute as legal advice. We recommend you contact your own legal counsel for any questions regarding your specific practices and compliance with applicable laws.