California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law on Thursday that would seal the criminal records of former offenders.
The bill is SB-731 and would allow a person who has been convicted of a felony to be eligible for “automatic conviction relief,” according to the legislation. In order for their criminal record to be hidden, ex-offenders must complete their sentence and maintain a clean record for a minimum of four years.
The bill would not apply to people who are registered sex offenders or those who have committed a serious or violent felony.
Newsom made this decision in the hope that people with previous arrests can move on from their past mistakes and cultivate a better life.
“There is no government program that is going to do anything better than a system which we give people the tools to be successful and take charge of their own lives by not being a burden and stuck with their past,” said criminal defense attorney Ambrioso Rodriguez. “The very idea of America is that we have a second act.”
Republican lawmakers have spoken out against the measure, warning about the possible issues it could raise.
California Republican Sen. Shannon Grove, who voted against the bill, said the bill would let domestic violence perpetrators take advantage of its provisions.
“These things are very violent things even though they are not listed as serious and violent in the penal code,” Grove said in August.
Frank W. Huntington, president of the California Association of Licensed Investigators, said that the organization “completely supports second chances” but added that “SB 731 was simply not the way to accomplish this goal.”
“Presently, investigators are prohibited from reporting convictions older than seven years in pre- employment background matters. We at CALI offered the same conditions, even lowering the time frame to four years for other investigations including pre-housing inquiries. This compromise would have accomplished the exact same result without sealing records that have historically been public,” Huntington wrote in a statement.
“Now, with the signing of SB 731 into law, these records are no longer public, yet still accessible to government agencies such as prosecutors and law enforcement. In other words, the government has access to information the public no longer has. That is of great concern to us at CALI, as it should be to all,” the statement continued.
