SPRINGFIELD — Saying people shouldn’t be punished twice for the same crime, city officials are pushing for legislation to automatically seal records for those who committed nonviolent crimes three to seven years after conviction.
The Clean Slate Initiative, which is now being debated in the Legislature’s Joint Committee on the Judiciary, would automatically seal records of misdemeanor crimes three years after conviction and after seven years for a felony.
The law has a clause exempting some, including sex offenders and others who have committed violent felonies, from having their records sealed automatically, according to the bill.
“The intent is to give people a second chance,” said state Sen. Adam Gomez, D-Springfield, who is one of the legislators who filed the bill spearheaded by Sen. Cindy Friedman, a Democrat who represents the Fourth Middlesex district.
For Gomez, the bill is especially meaningful, since he got into trouble with the law and was charged with a misdemeanor when he was a teenager. He was able to seal his record, change his life and give back to his community, but many do not have the same opportunity.
Currently employers, landlords and others do background checks through the state’s Criminal Offender Record Information system and find out about an applicant’s legal history. Even if a person was arrested and never convicted, the charge can appear on their record.
That means people who have made a mistake are left struggling to find a place to live and having difficulty making ends meet, because they can’t find a good-paying job, no matter how qualified they are, Gomez said.
People can apply to have their record sealed, but the process is cumbersome, timely and can be difficult for people who can’t afford a lawyer, officials said.
Hampden County is one of the counties with the most arrests per capita, so the bill is even more important here, Gomez said.
The Springfield City Council convenes here on Jan. 1, 2024. (Don Treeger / The Republican, File)The Republican
The City Council voted last month to support the bill in a resolution that passed unanimously. All councilors asked to be listed as co-sponsors of the proposal.
Gomez said he was proud to have the largest city that he represents becoming the first to officially support the bill.
City Council Vice President Tracye Whitfield, who proposed the resolution, called the bill a great piece of legislation, which already has been adopted in at least a dozen other states, including neighboring Connecticut and some conservative ones such as Oklahoma and Utah.
“Clean Slate really just levels the playing field. We know that Black and Latino individuals have been and are disproportionately arrested, prosecuted, convicted and incarcerated, and the best way to fix and address this problem is to automatically seal records for low-level, nonviolent misdemeanors and low-level offenses,” she said.
Multiple advocates from a variety of agencies, such as Live Well Springfield, Greater Boston Legal Services and the Urban League, spoke in support of the bill. Several talked about people who had records that followed them their entire lives.
“Clean slate is about fairness. It is about economic opportunity,” said Miles Gresham, policy director for Neighbor to Neighbor. “It is also about public safety. People who cannot find a home and a job (are) more likely to reoffend.”
There are now roughly 672,000 people statewide who are eligible to seal their records, many of whom have not committed a crime in decades. Some do not know they are eligible to clear their record, some have mental health issues, others find the petition process daunting, and some are just traumatized over the idea of returning to court, said Andrea Freeman, policy director for the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts.
“It is about fairness and opportunity, and it is also about health,” she said.
City Councilor Lavar Click-Bruce said having an unsealed record is “double jeopardy,” because people who paid the price for their crimes are still being punished because their record follows them when they apply for a job, an apartment and even to enter college.
“If you make a mistake, who are we to judge?” he said. “It is a resolution that needs to be passed swiftly.”
City Councilor Zaida Govan said she has been fighting for legislation like this for three decades.
“When you are in active in active addiction, you get caught up,” said Govan, who added she has been sober for 36 years. “It is a long time coming. I’m really glad we are doing something about this.”
