Many people say the trend toward expungement is a good idea, an opportunity for people charged with or convicted of breaking the law to have their criminal slates wiped clean if they stay out of trouble and proceed with their lives in a law-abiding manner.
Others say the process can demean the criminal justice system by effectively making a person’s bad acts disappear. Asked on a job application about any felony convictions, someone with a successful expungement can respond “no.”
“There is good, and bad, where this law is concerned,” Monroe County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Bob Miller said. “On the one hand, it provides a sort of amnesty for people who made a mistake when they were younger that has haunted them since in terms of education and employment. That part is a good thing.”
He said the process is fairly simple for his office. A lawyer typically files the petition on behalf of a client, and a member of Miller’s staff investigates to determine if the crime is eligible for expungement, then passes the paperwork along to the court where the charge originated.
“There’s no point in protesting, because it’s a done deal if they meet the eligibility requirements.” Miller said. “We haven’t had any hearings so far. The vast majority of them have been for offenses of a relatively minor nature.”
Monroe County has processed hundreds of expungements, 273 during the first six months of this year.
A person can have multiple convictions expunged at once; Miller has approved petitions involving more than one drunken-driving arrest, for example. “A person may have multiple offenses in multiple jurisdictions, but if they met the criteria of this law, they qualify,” he explained.
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