By Wallace McKelvey
Published: October 04, 2016
Pennsylvanians will soon be able to put nonviolent offenses in their rear-view mirror.
A new law taking effect Nov. 14 would allow residents with certain second- and third-degree misdemeanors to petition the court to limit access to their criminal records. The order is available for individuals who’ve had no arrests or prosecutions in the past 10 years.
It would, for example, prevent that information from showing up in routine background checks performed when they apply for education programs, employment or housing.
“We hope by limiting the dissemination of these criminal records, we can also limit discrimination,” said Michael B. Lee, co-chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s committee on legal services to the public.
In the digital age, he said, more and more criminal records are widely distributed out of context. Many websites offer vast databases of records for a fee, but there’s little assurance those databases are accurate or up to date.
The PBA and half of the state’s county-level bar associations have embarked on a campaign to publicize the new law. Bar officials appeared at the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday to speak out on the new law and debut a brochure designed to inform the public.
To read the full article, go to http://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/10/pa_limit_criminal_record_acces.html.
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