Courts - "Wrongfully Convicted Often Find Their Record, Unexpunged, Haunts Them" Submitted by Susan Bentley
Title: District 5 Rep
May 8, 2013 Some quotes from this long, May 5th story in the NY Times by Jack Healy:
Across much of the country, sealing or clearing a criminal record after a wrongful conviction is a tangled and expensive process, advocates and former prisoners say. It can take years of appeals to courts and pleas to governors to wipe the slate clean. Even then, many felony convictions remain on federal databases and pop up during background checks or at traffic stops.
Aside from the practical challenges — a criminal record can impede big things like finding housing and employment, and smaller things like getting a hunting license — people who have been exonerated say they feel unfairly marked, branded with a scarlet letter from a justice system that should not have locked them up in the first place. * * *
Clearing a criminal record can take years and cost thousands of dollars in legal fees, and differs widely state to state. Many require that defendants return to court to prove their innocence, a higher hurdle than showing that charges were dismissed or a conviction was overturned. In some states, a governor’s pardon is needed. It can be a complex process, which advocates say is made even more difficult by a lack of support services for the exonerated.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signs sentencing, expungement bills into law Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-President
May 7, 2013 By Lesley Weidenbener
Posted May 6, 2013
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has signed bills to revamp the state’s felony sentencing laws and give some offenders the ability to expunge their records.
“Indiana should be the worst place in America to commit a serious crime and the best place, once you’ve done your time, to get a second chance,” Pence said in a statement.
The sentencing legislation — House Bill 1006 — is the product of three years of work by lawmakers, judges, prosecutors and others. It’s the first wholesale overhaul of the criminal code since the 1970s.
It will move Indiana’s system of four felony classes to one that has six felony levels. It also requires offenders to serve 75 percent of their sentences instead of the 50 percent currently required. Indiana “Second Chance” Bill Signed Into Law Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-President
May 7, 2013 May 7, 2013
(Indianapolis, Ind.) – A local lawmaker’s bill that allows non-violent Indiana criminals to have their charges eventually erased from their records is now law.
House Enrolled Act 1482 allows individuals to expunge a misdemeanor conviction – such as a DUI or possession of marijuana – after five years. Some non-violent and non-sexual Class D felonies – like theft or residential entry – can be expunged after eight years. An individual can only petition a judge for expungement one time.
The law also allows judges to seal the records of a person who was arrested but not prosecuted or whose conviction was overturned on appeal one year after their arrest. Another provision permits police to access certain expunged records without a court order.
|
