CLEAN SLATE RESOURCE LIBRARY
One in three people in America has some type of arrest or conviction record. Even a minor record can present lifetime barriers to obtaining jobs, housing, and education, and put other opportunities out of reach.
Fortunately, there’s a solution - automatic record sealing once someone remains crime-free for a set period of time. Momentum for these policies is growing – and using these resources, advocates can help bring Clean Slate to millions of people across the country.
ADVOCACY RESOURCES
Information for Lawmakers
Clean Slate policies offer people a pathway to redemption by opening access to meaningful employment, housing, and education opportunities that allow them to provide for themselves and their families.
Ensuring passage while drafting meaningful and implementable legislation can be challenging for lawmakers - the Clean Slate Initiative is here to help!
CSI Public Comment and Testimony
RESEARCH RESOURCES
At CSI, data and research are a driving forces behind our mission to enact impactful automatic record sealing laws. We advocate for change and we also shape it through evidence-based research and analysis.
Data is more than numbers; it can be a blueprint for a better future. By harnessing its power, we equip policymakers with the information they need to craft effective solutions and empower individuals with a fresh start. Check out our research resources.
CSI’s Data Dashboard
The CSI Data Dashboard presents population estimates for people in the U.S. who are impacted by arrest or conviction records, with data further broken down by race, ethnicity, sex, and type of record, within each state and over time.
CSI’s Impact Survey Report
The Clean Slate Initiative commissioned a survey to learn more about the impacts of Clean Slate laws in Pennsylvania, Utah, and Michigan — three states that have implemented Clean Slate. We aimed to gauge the impact that having a record has had on people’s lives, their awareness of Clean Slate laws, their eligibility for record sealing, and the impacts they have experienced thus far from their state’s Clean Slate law. Learn more in the full report.
CSI Research Publications
Other Clean Slate Research Resources
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The Paper Prisons Initiative conducts empirical research to measure, study, and narrow the Second Chance Gap - the difference between eligibility and delivery of relief from the criminal justice system. This website provides reports and information on state “second chance expungement gaps” - the difference between eligibility and delivery of expungement - using the methodology described in America's Paper Prisons: The Second Chance Gap (Mich. Law. Rev. 2020).
Learn more at paperprisons.org.
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Author: Colleen Chien
This study introduces the concept of the “second chance gap,” which it defines as the difference between eligibility and delivery of second chance relief; explores its causes; and approximates its size in connection with several second chance laws and initiatives. Using administrative and other data, it finds that among a host of petition-based second chance opportunities, to shorten sentences, restore one’s vote, and clear one’s criminal convictions, only a small fraction (less than 10 percent) of those eligible for relief actually received it.
Learn more here: This study introduces the concept of the “second chance gap,” which it defines as the difference between eligibility and delivery of second chance relief; explores its causes; and approximates its size in connection with several second chance laws and initiatives. Using administrative and other data, it finds that among a host of petition-based second chance opportunities, to shorten sentences, restore one’s vote, and clear one’s criminal convictions, only a small fraction (less than 10 percent) of those eligible for relief actually received it.
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Authors: Colleen V. Chien, Alexandra George, Srihari Shekhar, & Robert Apel
This paper is a first attempt to measure the cost of “paper prisons” of limited economic opportunity due to expungable records and restorable licenses, in terms of annual lost earnings. Analyzing the literature, the paper estimates the annual earnings loss associated with misdemeanor and felony convictions to be $5,100 and $6,400, respectively, and that of a suspended license to be $12,700.
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Authors: David J. Roberts, Karen Lissy, Becki Goggins, Mo West, & Mark Perbix
The primary focus of this research project was to assess the design, scope, implementation, and costs of record clearance through clean slate initiatives in eleven states, selected in consultation with The Clean Slate Initiative. Program staff documented the legal, policy, operational, and technical challenges that the states confront in planning and implementing the record clearance objectives of clean slate legislation.
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Authors: J.J. Prescott & Sonja B. Starr
Laws permitting the expungement of criminal convictions are a key component of modern criminal justice reform efforts and have been the subject of a recent upsurge in legislative activity. This debate has been almost entirely devoid of evidence about the laws’ effects, in part because the necessary data (such as sealed records themselves) have been unavailable. The authors of this paper were able to obtain access to de-identified data that overcomes that problem, and use it to carry out a comprehensive statewide study of expungement recipients and comparable nonrecipients in Michigan.
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Authors: Alan Barber & Cherrie Bucknor
Despite modest declines in recent years, the large and decades-long blossoming of the prison population ensure that it will take many years before the United States sees a corresponding decrease in the number of former prisoners. Using data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), this report estimates that there were between 14 and 15.8 million working-age people with felony convictions in 2014, of whom between 6.1 and 6.9 million were former prisoners.
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Author: Ariel Nelson
This report provides an update to the 2012 Broken Records report. Today, the background screening industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, with about 94% of employers and about 90% of landlords using background checks to evaluate prospective employees and tenants.
Background screening companies now generate reports through largely automated processes. Generally, they run automated searches through giant databases of aggregated criminal record data. Reports may undergo only minimal, if any, manual review or quality control before an employer or landlord receives them. The data included in reports often is purchased in bulk through intermediaries or obtained from websites via web scraping technology. The data often is incomplete, missing key personal identifiers. It also may be infrequently updated.
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Authors: Christine Karamagi, with assistance from Selena Teji & Vishnu Sridharan
Californians for Safety and Justice brought together a group of content expert stakeholders to pool knowledge and conduct research based on the experiences of people with convictions and opportunities for reform.
The Second Chances Advisory Committee met six times between May and October of 2017 to discuss and collect current institutional research and experiential knowledge on the lifetime consequences of having a conviction in California. This report is the culmination of that work.
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Authors: John Halpin & Karl Agne
Although Americans remain split on numerous issues in contemporary politics, a new study finds widespread support among voters for states to automatically seal the records of nonviolent criminal offenders, allowing people who have served their time and paid their debts to re-enter society and pursue work, education, and family life. Voters across party lines also support the legalization of marijuana. Additionally, regardless of their position on the legalization issue, voters back efforts to seal the records of people convicted of marijuana possession after they have completed their sentence.
The results presented here are based on a 1,000-sample national online survey of registered voters conducted from April 25 to May 1, 2018 by the Center for American Progress and GBA Strategies. The same survey was administered independently to 500 registered voters in both South Carolina and Michigan—two states currently considering clean slate legislation during the same period. The findings presented here are for the national survey only. All three surveys are on file with the authors.
There’s a reason videos catch our attention as we scroll on our phones. Videos can be effective storytelling tools that can create connections and inspire us to take action.
Check out some of the Clean Slate videos that can help us spread the message about the need to pass Clean Slate policies.
VIDEOS
For The Record: A Clean Slate Public Service Announcement
Stigma surrounding arrest and conviction records marks people with a scarlet letter on people long after they’ve paid their debt to society — but we are not defined by those records.
The Clean Slate Initiative invited people who have a past arrest or conviction to share the records that have truly defined them.
These are their stories: For the record.
Clean Slate Storytellers
CSI’s storyteller series showcases real-life people across the country who have, or had, an arrest or conviction record. Hearing first-hand experiences is one of the most impactful ways we can build support for Clean Slate.
Conversations, Events, Webinars, and More
CSI does not provide legal services, record sealing services, or offer legal advice. If you are in need of information, services or legal advice related to your record, we encourage you to reach out to resources in your state that will be able to provide more information about record sealing. Here are some resources that are a good place to start:
RECORD SEALING RESOURCES
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Locate legal service providers in a state or territory. Please note that contact information for legal aid organizations, bar associations, and other organizations that engage in record clearance work is provided for informational purposes only. The NRRC and CSI do not endorse or recommend any organization or individual referenced on the site.
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This compilation of expungement laws and forms is a great overview if you’re looking for information about the types of records that may be expunged or sealed in your state, as well as forms to apply for record relief.
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A comprehensive resource from the Collateral Consequences Resource Center that lists information about expungement, sealing, and other record relief in all 50 states.
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Many states have active Clean Slate campaigns that may have connections to record clearance resources. To see if your state has an active campaign, and find a campaign website, visit our Clean Slate in States page.
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FICPFM is a national network of civil and human rights organizations led by people with conviction histories and their family members. Visit their website’s network page to find resources and movements near you.
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The Clean Slate Clearinghouse provides people with juvenile and adult criminal records, legal service providers, and state policymakers with information on record clearance policies in all U.S. states and territories.
Bill Wallace founded Tomorrow's Promise Foundation in 2017 with the mission of empowering youth by providing access to programs that enhance life skills. After being tried as an adult and sentenced to prison as a juvenile, Bill transformed his life through determination and hard work. Today, he leads Tomorrow's Promise Foundation, shaping the next generation of community leaders.
Bill Wallace founded Tomorrow's Promise Foundation in 2017 with the mission of empowering youth by providing access to programs that enhance life skills. After being tried as an adult and sentenced to prison as a juvenile, Bill transformed his life through determination and hard work. Today, he leads Tomorrow's Promise Foundation, shaping the next generation of community leaders.