PA To Seal Criminal Records Today

| June 28, 2019

The WESA in Pittsburgh reports that in a historic move, Pennsylvania will seal millions of criminal charges starting today when a ‘Clean Slate’ law is to take effect.

Forty million.

That’s the number of criminal charges in Pennsylvania that will be eligible for automatic sealing when the second phase of the state’s Clean Slate law kicks in Friday.

While law enforcement will still be able to pull up arrests and convictions, the public — including landlords and most employers — will not. They’ll be hidden — as if they never happened, potentially giving thousands of Pennsylvania residents a second chance.

The law applies to non-convictions, summary offenses, and most nonviolent misdemeanor convictions, including drunk driving, shoplifting, and prostitution.

So, this means that if you want to know if the woman you are thinking of proposing to used to be a prostitute, you won’t be able to find out.  Bad example.

If you want to know if the person you are hiring has been convicted of a crime, you will just have to take that chance.  Bad example.

This is a personal opinion, but most of us are OK with giving people a second chance, but this option is now taken away from us.  You are not to be trusted to give someone a second chance.

As with a lot of these type of stories, they always cherry pick the example where a poor, misunderstood petty criminal can’t be a do-gooder because his past is holding him/her back.

I look forward to fair reporting on the other side and bring to light stories where someone got robbed or physically hurt because they let someone into their lives without knowing their past.  I look forward to that day, but won’t hold my breath.

For the purposes of Stolen Valor, we may not be able to tell if Stolen Valor is only the cherry on top… in Pennsylvania.

Ah, I can see it now – criminals will flock to Pennsylvania with the promise of a new life.  Discussions will take place in prison much like folks on the outside discuss where they will retire.   Pennsylvania has the potential to become a sanctuary state.

To be clear – I’m not saying criminals should not be given a second chance.  I just think WE should be able to decide that having full knowledge of their background.

Then again, maybe I’m wrong.

Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Crime

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Eden

This will end badly. Note to self–stay away from Pennsylvania, and don’t do business with anyone from Pennsylvania.

ChipNASA

Jesus just another fucked up state to add to my list of fucked up states. California, Florida, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts….

AW1Ed

PDRofMD…

ChipNASA

Yep, that goes without saying, but I can’t do much about my home state, employment and such. I just stay the hell outta Bawl’more, as much as I am able.

AW1Ed

Copy that. I would take my Mom to her eye appointments at Johns Hopkins, which while a world-class teaching hospital is in the Body-More DMZ. I always had my .45 near at hand on those trips, not that she knew it.
But I did, and now there is no reason to go there. So I don’t.

AW1Ed

Then when the new hire decides to graduate to the big leagues by (fill-in-the-blank), the proprietor who unknowingly hired a criminal will be reimbursed for any and all damages incurred. Straight from the tax dollars of the people of Pencil-tucky, right?

What a fooking great idea.

Former EM1/SS

Hey! Some of those tax dollars will be mine. Hate to admit it, but I do live in PA. On the bright side, I guess that speeding ticket from 1981 wont be an anchor on my future anymore…..

AW1Ed

Sarcasm is only one of the services I provide.

As for the rest, I hope the PDRofMD doesn’t get wind of this. Seems like something Annapolis, aka Mordor on the Severn, would come up with.

Hondo

Mordor? Given it’s socialistic bent, I’d have said “Moscow”.

AW1Ed

Tah-MAY-toe, Tah-MAH-toe.

I’d say Mordor OTS is more like Pyongyang, anyway.

5th/77th FA

Seems like they’ll be getting a second chance to add to their criminal career resume’.

More votes for the dims?

gitarcarver

Frankly, this is a natural extension of the “ban the box” legislation that is making its way around for employment applications.

There is another side to this as well…..

Down here in my Florida County, there has been a big kerfuffle over the criminal records of politicians. Should people know the criminal history of a politician before they cast a vote?

Of course, the same politicians who passed the Pennsylvania law will tell constituents how they support government transparency and open records.

If only lying to the people by politicians was a crime……

Ex-PH2

“…misdemeanor convictions, including drunk driving….”

Oh, that is SO very thoughtful!! So wunnafulla (**_**)
that the state of PA wants to keep drunk drivers on the road!!! How enlightened can you be?

A Proud Infidel®™

That’s going to do wonders for Trucking Companies wanting to screen Driver applicants!

A Proud Infidel®™

Next we’ll see another push to let felons vote because the D-rats will stop at nothing to throw an election!

Grunt

Love the histrionics here. Next up, cats and dogs are going to start fucking while the sky falls just because some folks can no longer be denied housing or a decent job because of that DWI five years ago.

It’s about time we stopped branding people with scarlet letters for the dumb shit they’ve done in the past

AW1Ed

So you’re fine with your new neighbor setting up his meth lab right next door? Man’s gotta make a living, after all.

11B-Mailclerk

Let’s take all the stigma out of crime. It’s not like most crime is committed by repeat offenders.

It’s not the criminals’ fault, after all. Someone else is to blame for their choices. Criminals, of all people, should not bear any burden for crime.

gitarcarver

Grunt,

I know you won’t accept this, but this is not about histrionics or anything other than information to help people make decisions that affect their lives, their property, their jobs and their businesses.

As someone who has hired a more people than most people work with in their lives, I can tell you that knowing more about a person gives them a better chance at getting a job. Not a lesser chance.

In essence you seem to support the government taking over another part of a right of people in a business to choose based on non-discriminatory factors. You support the government determining who I may or may not hire.

Sorry, but if I am responsible for what my employees do, I want the right to hire them – and that includes discerning whether the “stupid shit” they did years ago will affect my firm.

Hondo

Bingo.

If I ran a business in Pennsylvania, I’d require any employee to sign a release giving me the right to view their criminal history as a condition of employment – and I’d ask the local police for such a report. If the local police refused to provide one, at least I could prove I’d done my due diligence to attempt to screen out those with a relevant and disqualifying criminal history.

It’s not just about getting a job, Grunt. It’s also about potential employer liability if someone he hired injures or defrauds customers.

NHSparky

Or that kid with the drug convictions and DWI won’t get his CDL pulled, so he can go wipe out seven bikers, one of whom was an officer for my Legion post.

GFY, Grunt.

Mason

So their example is a poor, downtrodden man who pled guilty to domestic assault, terroristic threats, and weapons possession after getting into a physical altercation with his ex in which she got cut by a knife.

So admitted wife beaters will now have their records cleaned? Brilliant. Should make it easier to find prey.

They couldn’t find someone who was legitimately impacted with a life long stigma by a petty crime like shoplifting? Surprise, because people don’t care about stupid mistakes you make when you’re young. Now being a convicted criminal of a violent crime, yeah it’s going to follow you for life. And it should.

Ex-PH2

Yeah, that easy-going person in Chicago who has been convicted of the murder of a Chinese student and has admitted that he raped her, killed her, and then dismembered her, and is being investigated for other, similar episodes of violence is just a misunderstood person, right? Right?

Think that sealing records like that won’t happen? Hah!
]
I live in a nice, quiet neighborhood, with families that feel it’s safe enough for their kids to play outside without fear of bad stuff happening to them. I do NOT WANT TO SEE THAT CHANGED by something like this, and I don’t live in PA.

Jeff LPH 3, 63-66

I Wonder how this is going to affect my old alma mater Brink’s. Would the fingerpints be closed to the company. An applicant also has to be bonded.

james comrey

I feel that this is going to be a big problem because now we have all the gangs members come in way to go PA

USMCMSgt (Ret)

The backlog of adjudicating security clearances for folks from Pennsylvania is probably going to get bigger.

I guess we’ll see.

Anonymous

Democrats at work. They’ll miss civilization (and the lattes, iPhones, safety, etc.) when it’s gone and not one moment sooner.

A Proud Infidel®™

ONLY the lower echelon will miss that while the upper echelons reside in their mansions still protected by armed Guards like Venezuela today.

FatCircles0311

The government suppressing information from citizens, but they’ll be able to access the information when they want. Yay this is going to work out well and not be abuse or result in obvious preventative crimes.

Those tucking commies in PA. No better friend to criminal scum than politicians, confirmed!