The time for a federal ‘clean slate’ measure is long overdue

Imagine if a government database entry was keeping you out of a job, a home or from going to school. This is the reality for roughly 1 in 3 Americans, for whom a long-ago interaction with police may have led to an arrest or conviction record. 

In the digital era, landlords, employers and educators use criminal records to screen applicants, meaning that any record — no matter how small or long ago — is now a life sentence to poverty for millions of Americans. Across the country, many states have attempted to put in place comprehensive expungement and record clearance measures, but federal criminal records still prevent people from rebuilding their lives and participating in society. 

Congress has a chance to unlock opportunities for millions when it reintroduces the bipartisan Clean Slate Act and the Fresh Start Act. Together, these bills will implement the first federal record clearing mechanism, establish an automatic record clearance process for certain federal drug offenses and establish a federal grant program to provide funding support to states that have passed their own automatic record clearance laws.

The collateral consequences of an arrest or conviction record vary, and can significantly impact virtually every aspect of life, even after a person has successfully completed their sentencing requirements. Individuals with a record have more difficulties accessing vital life resources like employment, housing, education and adequate health care — barriers that disproportionately impact people of color and people from historically marginalized communities.  

Recognizing the ongoing punitive effects that a criminal or arrest record can have, most states have provided some sort of expungement or sealing measure. However, at the federal level, there is virtually no mechanism for an individual to obtain relief by having it expunged. While a person can apply for a federal pardon, the pardon is merely the “forgiveness” of crimes committed — their record can still be accessed by hiring employers and landlords who can make decisions solely based on that information. They are still susceptible to background checks and other regulatory practices that deny them the ability to thrive.

If passed, both measures would provide millions of people with economic growth and ultimately improve safety for communities across the country. The measures would also help strengthen our nation’s workforce by opening more job opportunities for record holders who, research shows, perform their jobs about the same or better than workers without criminal records. 

Clean slate laws are already taking off at the state level, proving that these reforms actually work. 

States such as Pennsylvania, Utah, Colorado, Delaware and Michigan have passed their own automatic record clearance measures. Pennsylvania was the first to pass its law in 2018, and since its enactment, it has sealed over 40 million cases for more than 1.2 million people. Michigan’s clean slate measure went into effect earlier this month and is expected to seal all or part of the conviction records of more than 1 million people.

Unfortunately, for those with a federal record, such relief is not yet possible.

As President Biden stated in his proclamation naming April as Second Chance Month, the initiative is part of “helping people forge the new beginnings they have earned and building a safer and more just society.” 

But it is not enough to give lip service and empty sentiments about wanting returning citizens to turn their lives around. It is time for Congress to continue the work that states across the country are leading in and support other states in adopting their own automatic record clearance practices. 

It is time to pass the Clean Slate Act and Fresh Start Act.  

Akua Amaning is the director for Criminal Justice Reform at American Progress. Amaning previously served as the legislative fellow for U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) and as the Nancy Hale Social Policy fellow at Third Way, a nonprofit think tank in Washington, D.C.