Pennsylvania Legislators, Advocates, Business Groups Call for Clean Slate Expansion

Representative Jordan Harris (D-Phila.) introduces fellow lawmakers, criminal justice advocates, and Pennsylvania stakeholders at a press conference on Clean Slate expansion in the state (April 26, 2023)

A bipartisan coalition of criminal justice advocates, national policy experts, and state lawmakers gathered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, April 26 to call for passage of legislation that would expand Pennsylvania’s groundbreaking automated expungement system.

In 2018, Pennsylvania became a national leader in bipartisan criminal justice reform when state lawmakers passed the country’s first Clean Slate law. Since then, nine other states have followed suit, eleven more are considering legislation now, and recent studies prove automated expungement policies create significant economic opportunities wherever they are passed without compromising public safety.

Recently-filed bill HB 689, sponsored by Representatives Jordan Harris (D-Phila.) and Sheryl Delozier (R-Cumberland), would build on that 2018 framework to expand automated expungements to more Pennsylvanians who have proven they can remain crime free.

Recent polling conducted by Susquehanna polling and research on behalf of the Justice Action Network found that an overwhelming majority of Pennsylvania voters — 81% — support the provision in HB 689 which would add low-level drug-related felonies to the list of offenses eligible for automated record sealing, including 81% of Republicans, 82% of Democrats, and 80% of people who identified as Independents.

Bipartisan support for expanding Clean Slate in its birthplace is not limited to legislative leaders or Pennsylvania voters however, the event calling for its passage was attended by a broad bipartisan coalition of stakeholders and advocates traditionally known to occupy spaces across the political spectrum.

Sponsors of the bill, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Tim Briggs (D-King of Prussia), State Senator Anthony Williams (D-Phila.), Executive Director of the Justice Action Network Jenna Bottler, Greg Rowe with the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry’s Alex Halper, and Sharon Dietrich of Community Legal Services offered comments in support of the measure, and answered questions on the bill, Pennsylvania’s history of leadership on expungement, and the state’s current expungement framework.

The group’s call for bipartisan action comes as the vast majority of Pennsylvanians — 85% — believe the justice system requires change. That includes more than half — 52% — who believe the system, which the poll defined as police, jails, courts and prisons, requires major overhaul. Just 5% of respondents said the system is already working as it should.

The full press conference can be viewed on YouTube.