THE CLEAN SLATE INITIATIVE WORKS TO GIVE THOSE WITH CRIMINAL RECORD A CLEAN SLATE

Sheena Meade is the CEO of the Clean Slate Initiative. The Clean Slate Initiative is a bipartisan organization that is seeking to automate the criminal record clearing process in the United States, making it easier for people to have their records expunged. Photo provided by Clean Slate Initiative.
Sheena Meade is the CEO of the Clean Slate Initiative. The Clean Slate Initiative is a bipartisan organization that is seeking to automate the criminal record clearing process in the United States, making it easier for people to have their records expunged. Photo provided by Clean Slate Initiative.

THE CLEAN SLATE INITIATIVE WORKS TO GIVE THOSE WITH CRIMINAL RECORD A CLEAN SLATE

BY TIA CAROL JONES

Black people are disproportionately affected by mass incarceration. A national initiative is looking to ensure those
who have served their time are able to not have their record
be a barrier to gaining housing, employment and education
opportunities. The Clean Slate Initiative is a national bipartisan
movement that focuses on automatic record clearance, removing the petition-based system that sometimes serves as
a barrier for people who are eligible to get their record cleared.

In Pennsylvania, before Clean Slate was launched around 2019-2020, legal service providers who were helping people
get their records cleared, realized it was a workforce issue. People were not able to get jobs because of their criminal records. The process was also causing backlogs. Community Legal Services was leading the work and figured there had to be an easier way, and worked to pass legislation that would automate the record clearing process in the State of Pennsylvania.

With My Clean Slate PA, drug felonies, as well as some property-related felonies, would be eligible for Clean Slate
automated sealing after 10 years. It also shortens the sealing waiting period for summary convictions and misdemeanor
convictions. Stakeholders for My Clean Slate PA and the Community Legal Services looked at how to scale that legislation in other states, with the aim to have the same outcome.

Sheena Meade, CEO of the Clean Slate Initiative, said this kind of initiative is important because it is removing the burden from the person who made the mistake to the system that traps them in the mistake. Meade estimates there are more than 114 million Americans who have a record, 30 million of those people are eligible the get their record cleared, but less than 10 percent of those people get it done. Meade believes the percentage is low because they don’t know they are eligible to get their record cleared, or because the process is overwhelming with red tape, cost, and/or waiting period.

“It’s important because people need these barriers to be
removed for them to get access to housing, education and employment. More than 90% of employers, 94% of landlords and 72% of colleges and universities use background checks to screen out applicants, which makes it harder for people to get back to work, get housing and get education,” Meade said, adding these sentences shouldn’t be a lifetime sentence for them once they’ve served their time.

The Clean Slate Initiative recently received a $75 million
commitment from The Audacious Project. This money will go
toward research, narrative work, to support the existing Clean
Slate Campaigns and coalitions that are on the ground. In order
to scale the work the Clean Slate Initiative is doing across the country in all 50 states, Meade estimates $25 million more is needed. Meade acknowledged that receiving the funding shows
that The Clean Slate Initiative is a common sense policy that everyone can get behind, and is a solvable solution.

“I know the power when people come together around humanity, redemption and forgiveness and when coalitions come together. I’m also doing this work because I have a
lived experience. I have an arrest on my record that I’m looking forward to having a clean slate behind,” Meade said, adding that she did work on the Florida law that restored voting rights to those with criminal records and saw the transformation
that restoration can do for a state, a community and for the person to be able to have a second chance.

There are currently six states that have Clean Slate Laws. Meade said the Clean Slate Initiative is working with partners, legislators and advocates across the country to see how to
automate the Clean Slate Laws in states. She encourages
people to talk to their legislators about automating the record clearing process in states that do not have Clean Slate legislation.

According to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, in the State of Illinois, a person can get their record expunged if they were never convicted of a crime in any state, if they were sentenced to supervision, or if they were released without conviction following completion of supervision. A person’s records may still be eligible for sealing if they were convicted of a criminal offense or a municipal ordinance
violation.

Petitions to expunge or seal must be filed in the court of the
county where the arrest occurred or where the charge was filed
against the person. Petition forms are available at the county
courthouse. The petition must include the list of charges to be
sealed or expunged, the date or approximate date of arrest, and
the name of the police department that arrested the person.

Petitions are submitted by the court to the Illinois State Police for review, and a decision for or against sealing or expungement will be mailed to the person by the court.

For more information about the Clean Slate Initiative, visit
cleanslateinitiative.org. For more information about getting a
record expunged in the State of Illinois, visit state.il.us/defender/
exp.html, or call 815-740-5160.

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