CLS is a Record Clearing Pioneer
The story of Clean Slate begins long before Pennsylvania’s law has passed in 2018. Community Legal Services has been a pioneer advocating for people with criminal records since the 1990s.
How It Started
A brief history of criminal record work performed by CLS
When CLS was founded in 1966, criminal records were not a significant barrier to employment, housing and education. Background searches were not the commonplace practice that they are today. As time went on, more and more people came to CLS seeking help after they were denied employment and other opportunities based on their criminal record. For the last two decades, CLS’s Employment Unit has focused on helping people with criminal record barriers to employment. Our work has culminated in the passing of Clean Slate legislation in Pennsylvania.
1990s – Community Legal Services pioneers new ways to serve people with criminal records
Over the past 25 years, CLS has represented individuals who are denied employment by bringing challenges under federal, state and local law. CLS has also fought laws and practices that affect millions of Americans through impact advocacy
- CLS started filing Title VII race discrimination charges in cases involving failure to hire for a criminal record in the 1990s and was one of the earliest advocates for the 2012 update of EEOC’s criminal record guidance.
- CLS established that lifetime employment bans in state law violate the PA Constitution.
- CLS litigated class actions against background screeners for their inaccurate background checks. With co-counsel from Francis & Mailman, CLS has litigated several national class actions against background screeners that report expunged cases in employment and housing background checks. We also have promoted best practices for notifying the commercial databases of expunged cases.
- CLS raised awareness of issues through national media such as PBS, NPR, the WSJ, and the NYT. CLS helped highlight the importance of record-clearing in the press (such as in The New Yorker’s “The Solace of Oblivion”) and in national conferences (such as the ABA’s National Summit on Collateral Consequences).
- CLS hosted U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and HUD Secretary Julián Castro for National Reentry Week in 2016.
2011 – CLS expands its expungement practice
- In the last decade, CLS has exponentially expanded its expungement and sealing practice, representing thousands of clients by petitioning the court to seal or expunge their records.
- In 2011, CLS developed a web-based program that automates the process of generating PA expungement petitions. Production time was reduced from several hours to several minutes. The software has been shared freely with non-profit attorneys and with pro bono clinics around the state and has been used to generate over 30,000 petitions statewide.
- Beginning in the fall of 2014, CLS began reaching underserved sections of Philadelphia by conducting neighborhood expungement clinics. These clinics use law student volunteers to expand their resources. Through the clinics, we have increased our reach with the City. We also have provided technical assistance to expungement clinics run by the Philadelphia Bar Association and other groups.
- CLS was funded by the US Dept. of Labor to conduct outreach to nonprofit lawyers and others to encourage expungement work and to provide backup to those lawyers who are performing this work as part of the National Clean Slate Clearinghouse. We speak at conferences, developed a provider network, develop technological supports, and help educate the field through postings and papers.
2014 – Clean Slate is born: CLS pioneers the concept of automated sealing
We recognized the need for a comprehensive approach to help the 70 million to 100 million Americans with criminal records. We were also struck by how difficult remedies such as expungement and sealing were to access, even for people who were eligible to have their records cleared. We believe that sealing and expunging records is the best approach because it helps people facing different kinds of barriers, from employment to housing to education. But how could we close the “second-chance gap” and bring the benefits of record clearing to large numbers of people?
Our solution was the new idea of “Clean Slate” automated sealing. Clean Slate would enable individuals with qualifying records to have those records sealed automatically, by computer query, instead of putting the burden on the individual to file record-clearing petitions.
2018 - Clean Slate becomes law: Bipartisan support makes PA a leader in sealing
Before 2016, Pennsylvania had one of the narrowest laws in the country for the record clearing of criminal convictions. A 2016 law brought sealing of some misdemeanor convictions to the state—a modest step forward. But then, in 2018, Pennsylvania catapulted to the forefront of record clearing, becoming the first state in the nation to adopt Clean Slate automated sealing of minor records by use of technology. This groundbreaking law garnered support from almost everyone: Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, the Left, the Right, business interests, district attorneys, the faith community, and even National Football League (NFL) players. CLS played a central role in drafting and advocating for Clean Slate.
Today - Clean Slate work continues: CLS supports implementation and expansion
CLS continues to be at the forefront of Clean Slate in Pennsylvania and around the country. CLS and its many partners are working to ensure the fullest possible implementation of the law. Read more →
CLS is also helping bring Clean Slate automated sealing to other states, primarily by sharing its experience in devising and implementing the model in Pennsylvania. Utah became the second state in the nation to enact automated sealing, in March 2019. Red and blue states across the nation have been preparing and beginning Clean Slate campaigns, with a California bill leading the way. A bipartisan federal bill would automatically seal an individual’s federal criminal record if they have been convicted of simple possession or any federal nonviolent offense involving marijuana.
In Pennsylvania, HB 440 was passed which removes the requirement of having to pay court fines before a record can be sealed. Restitution does still need to be paid if applicable.
CLS gratefully acknowledges the support of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Alliance for Safety and Justice in our work implementing and expanding Clean Slate.