One in seven adults in D.C. has a publicly available criminal record. Only half of these 68,000 people have actually been convicted of a crime, and yet they have arrest records that follow them through life.

The RESTORE Act will solve this problem.

The Need

85%

Black people make up 44% of D.C.’s population but 85% of people arrested by MPD. This means that a significant and disproportionate number of publicly available criminal records belong to Black people.

Black people, already seven times as likely as White residents to be unemployed in D.C., are further hindered by the burden of a criminal record.

In the U.S., formerly incarcerated people are five times more likely to be unemployed than people who have never been incarcerated.

Having a criminal record leads to stigma-based discrimination. Sealing or expunging a record reduces recidivism and barriers to quality jobs, housing, and government aid. Expungement and record-sealing are also predicted to decrease the negative mental health effects associated with discrimination, police stops, unemployment, and recidivism for people who once had criminal records.

Despite adopting “Ban the Box” laws for employment (and later, housing) applications, a study found that employers in DC are unaware of the law or still use criminal records in final hiring decisions. We’ve heard countless stories from people who were denied security clearances for new positions, barred from volunteering at their kids’ schools, and ostracized. 

A remarkable study in contrasts: D.C. has extraordinarily progressive laws in civil areas like voting, employment, housing, and occupational licensing, and among the most regressive laws in the Nation in every category of criminal record relief...

Collateral Consequences Resource Center, The Reintegration Report Card DC’s non-conviction sealing law is uniquely complex and restrictive

It’s as though the weight of the world is on my shoulders. Constantly pressuring me, trying to drag me down and giving up on me. It's, it's sad to say, but I'm only one of the millions of adults and you've worldwide that this issue affects am issue with effects and my own experience. I've been on multiple job interviews where I was denied a job because I was deemed unqualified to become a waiter or to become a janitor. The average person may feel as though that's not a big issue, but to youth like myself, it's devastating. It's, it's discouraging and cruel.

Sunny Kuti

So a lot of times there's an already implicit bias upon them knowing that an individual as at some point being incarcerated. So there's, there's, there's many things to consider, you know, but at, at present, I stand before you, an exonerated man who still, you know, feels the effect, you know, in the stain of, of a record.

Troy Burner

The Bill

According to the Collateral Consequences Resource Center’s Reintegration Report Card, D.C.’s current record sealing and expungement scheme ranks 40th in the nation, placing it among the most restrictive.

The RESTORE Act is a bold step forward in DC’s commitment to welcoming our returning neighbors home and fostering an environment where they can thrive.

DC Justice Lab and Councilmember Christina Henderson developed the RESTORE Act in consultation with returning citizens, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and local and national justice reform organizations. It is comprehensive, community-informed, and easy to understand. It dramatically increases access to record relief by expanding eligible offenses, using plain language, and expanding options for relief through expungement. It carefully accounts for the criminal legal system’s practicalities and due process considerations while providing real, timely relief to people with criminal records.

The Difference

The RESTORE Act includes five key elements not found in the other record sealing and expungement bills being considered by DC Council.

1

A clear, consistent scheme for eligibility that is easily understandable without the assistance of an attorney.

2

Automatic sealing for non-convictions, with eligibility for expungement upon a motion.

3

Automatic expungement for decriminalized offenses and offenses held to be unconstitutional.

4

Eligibility for all convictions to be sealed after shorter, simplified waiting periods.

5

Completion of automatic sealing and expungement within 30 days of case disposition; all judicial decisions to seal or expunge issued within 180 days of motion.

None of these provisions are groundbreaking. For instance, in Illinois, most misdemeanor and felony convictions are eligible for sealing three years after a person completes their sentence. Both New York and Vermont have authorized automatic relief for non-convictions.