Cleaning Up
Arrest Records
Draws
Comments
By James Drew
Thousands of Marylanders
have had their arrest records
removed from public
view because of a new state
law that requires automatic
expungement for those who
are detained and released
without charge.
Proponents say the ninemonth-
old law is working
as intended, removing potential
barriers to obtaining
employment, housing and
loans. Another major
change in state expungement
law takes effect Oct.
1, when some criminal convictions
in Maryland can be
wiped out without a pardon
from the governor.
The changes are seen as
especially important in Baltimore
City. Tens of thousands
of residents, many of
them young men, have minor
criminal records -
sometimes as a consequence
of "zero-tolerance"
policies that result in large
numbers of arrests without
charges or convictions.
But even the new laws
don't go far enough, some
advocates say. They want
the legislature to help people
with minor drug convictions
- whom the new law
would not directly benefit.
The law that took effect in
October covers all crimes
and has resulted in 7,092
automatic expungements
through May 31. More than
6,000 originated in Baltimore,
where most of the
expungements have been
triggered by police arresting
people on suspicion of
drug possession, failure to
obey a police officer, loitering
and alcohol violations -
and then releasing them
without charge after a review
by prosecutors.
Previously, when prosecutors
declined to bring
charges, a person had to
apply in writing, pay a $30
fee and waive his or her
right to sue if the person
didn't want to wait three
years to expunge a criminal
record. Many people did
not take those steps.
"Before the law took effect,
individuals would be
arrested and released without
charge and they would
have no concept that it
would show up on their
criminal record," said Natalie
Finegar, an assistant
public defender. "And it
would show up in a way
that was very confusing ...
with 'no disposition found.'
So it would make it seem
like there was an open,
pending charge."
Expungement is growing
in importance as the economy
tightens, said Robert
Guiney, president of Just
Temps Personnel, a Baltimore-
based industrial labor
staffing company.
"Jobs are scarcer, and we
see people taking a harder
look at things like criminal
records simply because
there are more people trying
to get a job. The nuisance
charge has become
more of an issue. With the
economy booming, employers
may overlook that,"
he said.
Maryland law bars employers
from requiring disclosure
of expunged criminal
charges in an application
or interview. A person's
refusal to disclose information
about criminal
charges that have been expunged
also may not be the
sole reason for an employer
to fire or refuse to hire that
person, state law says.
Neil E. Duke, a Baltimore
attorney who specializes in
employment law, said jobseekers
often have to make
a judgment call, especially
because many employers
use companies that conduct
background checks and that
have computerized criminal
records covering years before
charges are expunged.
"A prospective employee
can take two tacks," Duke
said. One is to "explain the
[charge] and the basis of
expungement. A different
mind-set is that expungement
is a cleansing of the
record and as such, there is
no record anymore. There
is no quote-unquote need to
confess."
Some advocates say additional
changes to state law
are needed to help more
people who demonstrate
they want to change their
lives.
Mark P. Matthews was
among those who urged the
legislature this year, without
success, to allow those
with minor drug convictions
to get the records removed
from public inspection
after finishing treatment
and job-preparedness
training.
"Otherwise, we will tie the
hands of hundreds, if not
thousands, of individuals
who have paid their debt,
re-evaluated their priorities
and are willing to become
productive members of society,"'
said Matthews, a
Baltimore resident with a
criminal record who conducts
expungement seminars.
"Without a clean or
'cleaner' record, they are
doomed to repeat past behaviors
in order to survive
economically," Matthews
said.
Matthews has been trying
to help Cris Keeling. At 29,
Keeling has a long rap
sheet and is trying to wipe
out charges of attempted
murder, arson and auto
theft that prosecutors didn't
pursue or that were dismissed.
"I'm trying to change my
life. I need a job. I have
four kids. It's about time for
me to put some bacon on
the table," said Keeling,
who said he has spent about
15 years in jail. "Something
has got to change."
The law that takes effect
Oct. 1 allows for expungement
of "nuisance crimes,"
including public urination,
panhandling, drinking alcohol
in a public place and
riding mass transit without
paying the fare. It also covers
nuisance crime convictions
before Oct. 1 this
year, according to the state
Department of Legislative
Services, but it does not
cover drug convictions.
Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg,
a Baltimore Democrat, said
he sponsored the measure
at the request of the nonprofit
Jobs Opportunities
Task Force.
"These offenses are the
most minor, ones rooted in
homelessness, poverty and
sometimes being in the
wrong place at the wrong
time," said Michael Pinard,
a law professor at the University
of Maryland. "Drink
a beer in the Ravens stadium,
it is fine.
Drink a
beer two blocks away, it is
not fine."
But the state police and
Baltimore City State's Attorney
Patricia C. Jessamy
told legislators that they
opposed the bill, with the
state police saying it would
"allow those criminals who
graduate to more harmful
offenses, such as robbery,
theft or assault, to avoid
progressive penalties as
their past disruptive behaviors
may have been purged
from the record."
Jessamy and then-Police
Commissioner Leonard D.
Hamm supported the automatic
expungement bill
sponsored in 2007 by Del.
Keith E. Haynes, a Baltimore
Democrat. Law enforcement
agencies noted
that they are allowed to
keep expunged records for
investigative purposes but
are barred from releasing
them to the public.
Unlike last year's law that
covers those who are released
without charge,
those who are convicted of
"nuisance crimes" are required
to apply for expungement.
They must wait
for three years after the
conviction or the sentence is completed.
