Massachusetts debate

Erase charges of unconvicted juveniles?

An effort to clear the records of juveniles who are arrested but never convicted has pitted some lawmakers, worried about the long-term stigma of arrest, against the state's top prosecutors, who say the change could weaken the criminal justice system.
Fearing racial profiling of teens, state Representative Gloria L. Fox, Democrat of Roxbury, and Senator Dianne Wilkerson, Democrat of Boston, have filed bills to expunge the juvenile court records of those who are found by a judge or jury not guilty of the crimes for which they were arrested.
The two lawmakers say the purging of juvenile criminal records in instances where they are not guilty would give teens a better chance at jobs, higher education, and housing.

“This would allow them to put those kinds of actions behind them and move on with their lives, whereas right now these records are haunting these kids from day one and it's impeding their ability to secure public scholarship money,” Wilkerson said. “There's so many of us who ourselves had second chances — this bill is about providing second chances to a group of young people to go on and lead productive lives.”
Yet the idea of expunging juvenile records makes law enforcement leaders uneasy. The Massachusetts District Attorneys Association argues that destroying any criminal records would hinder public safety by putting “blinders” on police and prosecutors if the individual gets into trouble later on.
“What this bill would do in certain circumstances is take away the ability of law enforcement to know what the full criminal history of the juvenile is, and that is not good for public safety,” said Geline Williams, executive director of the District Attorneys Association.

The bill, discussed last week by the Legislature's Joint Committee on the Judiciary, would give judges the power to decide whether to purge juvenile records. It also requires judges to make sure families know about the option to expunge the court records of their children.
State law identifies juveniles in Massachusetts as state residents under the age of 17. Those who are found not guilty or whose cases are dismissed can now ask the commissioner of probation to seal their criminal records three years after the court proceedings end — as long as they do not have any more run-ins with the law, said Ann Lambert, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts.
But the pending legislation aims to expunge all records of those found not guilty or whose cases are dismissed, removing any trace of the juvenile's arrest record, said Lisa Thurau-Gray, managing director of the Juvenile Justice Center at Suffolk University Law School.

At the hearing last week, the legislation was endorsed by several parents, young adults affected by their criminal records, and groups including the Massachusetts Alliance to Reform CORI. CORI stands for Criminal Offender Record Information. At least seven lawmakers have backed it.
“It's ironic and very frustrating for us as a society to on the one hand say that we need to ensure that criminal records are as well dispersed as possible, and at the same time we find it outrageous that people in the community can't get jobs, aren't doing things that are constructive, and we wonder why,” said Representative Michael E. Festa, a supporter of Fox's bill and a former assistant district attorney.
But the 11 district attorneys of Massachusetts are unanimously opposed to moving toward expungement. They think the ability to purge records would put “blinders” on police and courts, and the protection of juvenile records is strong enough, Williams said.

Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley agreed: “If everyone who goes before a juvenile court comes in knowing that whatever the court does could be expunged, aren't you actually making the juvenile court just a joke?”
The state's chief justice of the Juvenile Court, Martha P. Grace, said that she would support a measure that offered expungement as an alternative to sealing their records.
“If something like this is passed, there's a public fear that terrible criminals are going to get their stuff expunged,” Grace said. “That is so unlikely to happen ... and there's no reason why a juvenile should have to drag along with him that for which he was not responsible.”
Although several thousand juveniles are arrested each year, the state's Commissioner of Probation does not track acquittals or dismissals of juvenile cases, said Coria Holland, a spokeswoman for the department.
Sixteen states have passed laws to either seal or expunge the records of juveniles whose cases were dismissed, according to the National Council on Juvenile Justice, but the victims' rights movement discourages such legislation.

Janette Neuwahl
26 June 2005

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/06/26/bill_would_erase_charges_of_
unconvicted_juveniles/

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