On March 2, a diverse group of Oregonians testified in support of Clean Slate Legislation SB 698, sponsored by Senator James Manning (D-Eugene) and Senator Chris Gorsek (D-Troutdale). Clean Slate legislation seeks to fix Oregon’s antiquated petition-based expungement system that fails to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of Oregonians eligible to have their records cleared. Testimony also featured Former Congressman Doug Collins (R-GA) and Pennsylvania State Representative Sheryl Delozier (R-Cumberland) who urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to join a growing list of states in implementing automation legislation.
Approximately one in three Oregonians have a criminal record and an estimated over 300,000 have met all the conditions of their sentence and are eligible for record clearance. However, Oregon’s existing petition-based expungement system is overly costly and complex. As a result, fewer than ten percent of eligible Oregonians have been able to access the second chance in life that Oregon law provides.
Scott Sharp, an attorney with Metropolitan Public Defender who works with homeless veterans on expungement records, spoke to complexity as a barrier: “Just knowing whether you are eligible is complicated; figuring out what paperwork and where to submit is complicated; having the money and the knowledge to file with the state police and get fingerprints done and send that to the state police is cumbersome. If a person managed to do all of that correctly, they are still waiting months and months, sometimes up to nine to twelve months before getting any response. We need a better solution. It is necessary to streamline and automate the petition-based system.”
Republican Congressman Doug Collins, testifying from Georgia, made the point that the barriers in the current expungement system are at odds with the intent of the Oregon legislature: “When I look at the legislative intent that Oregon has had for those needing expungement, when only seven percent of the people are actually able to access that expungement, that, to me, as a former legislator, goes to the fact that the legislative intent is not being followed and carried out. (SB 698) will provide that legislative intent and I believe will help people in Oregon not only have safer communities but have people who are accessing jobs, housing things that can make their lives better which in turn drops recidivism.”
Any record — no matter how old or minor — can put employment, housing, education, good credit and more permanently out of reach. Studies show that a criminal record reduces a job seeker’s chance of getting a callback or job offer by nearly 50 percent[1] and formerly incarcerated people are nearly ten times more likely than the general public to experience homelessness.[2]
Paul Solomon, the executive director of Sponsors, Inc., a national leader in the delivery of prisoner reentry services based in Lane County, spoke to the overall opportunity loss caused by the current system: “(Clean Slate legislation) represents a critical investment in making government more responsive to our commitment to equal justice under law, to reinforce public safety and to unleash untapped potential in our workforce. $1.6 billion is the estimated annual earnings loss associated with clearable convictions in Oregon.”
Testifying from Pennsylvania, State Representative Sheryl Delozier, a Central Pennsylvania Republican, touted the positive impact clean slate legislation like SB 698 has had for communities across her state: “Two-thirds of those who are sentenced come back to our communities. We need them to be working and we need them to be part of our community. This type of legislation does that and in Pennsylvania we have seen where it has a phenomenal impact on recidivism; on the capability of people getting jobs.”
In written testimony, Jesse Kelley, campaign strategist for the Clean Slate Initiative, a national, bipartisan non-profit organization that has helped states pass records automation legislation, underscored the positive impact Clean Slate legislation has on public safety: “Clean Slate policies make communities safer. Ensuring people with records can obtain stable employment and provide for their families reduces the chance of recidivism. In fact, studies show that people who have been crime-free for a few years reach a ‘point of redemption’ and are no more likely than any other person in society to commit a crime… We believe that people who have made mistakes, paid their debt to society, and now want to make a better life for themselves and those who depend on them deserve a chance to do so.”
At Oregon’s current pace of expungements, it is estimated it would take 77 years to process all eligible legal records relying on Oregon’s current petition-based system. Without action, the backlog will worsen and hundreds of thousands of eligible Oregonians may never achieve the relief existing law provides.
Jannette Ward Horton, CEO of the NuProject, who runs expungement clinics and has been a leading advocate for automation in past sessions, stressed the need to work to advance the system beyond the status quo: “It is time to move… If the legislative intent (of the existing expungement statute) is to free these folks of these burdens who have already served their time, I would ask you, as the voice of the people, to hold these state agencies accountable to move towards change.”
SB 698 must be posted for a work session in the Senate Judiciary Committee by March 17. Advocates seeking to support Clean Slate legislation are encouraged to contact Senate Judiciary Committee members here.
Additional background Clean Slate Automation Legislation:
To date, ten states have passed policies that meet the Clean Slate Initiative’s criteria for automated record clearance. There are multiple Clean Slate advancing through state legislatures in active sessions, including SB 698 in Oregon; and, a group of Congressional leaders launched the Bipartisan Second Chance Task Force last month.
Clean Slate Oregon is a coalition that includes local, state, and national partners working to pass legislation that automates the record clearance process, easing access to records relief for people once they are eligible.
On the need for Clean Slate in Oregon
Resource materials and fact sheets are available at cleanslateinitiative.org/media#oregon.
- Oregon’s current petition-based expungement system remains a barrier for over 90% of all Oregonians eligible to have past arrest or convictions sealed.
- It is estimated to take 77 years to process all eligible legal records relying on Oregon’s current petition-based system.
- Automated record clearance “Clean Slate Automation”, does not expand who is currently eligible for expungement. It simply uses technology to make the expungement process more responsive, efficient, and reliable for all.
[1] Devah Pager, Bruce Western, and Naomi Sugie, “Sequencing Disadvantage: Barriers to Employment Facing Young Black and White Men with Criminal Records,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences 623 (1) (2009): 195–213.
[2] Lucius Coulouted, “Nowhere to Go: Homelessness among formerly incarcerated people” (Northampton, MA: Prison Policy Initiative, 2018), available at prisonpolicy.org/reports/housing.html.
