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1 1 (February 19, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/goveauy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: S Congressional ______ *.a Research Service - Informing the legislative debate since 1914___________________ Record Scratch: Expunging Federal Criminal Records and Congressional Considerations February 19, 2020 Although states in recent years have enacted legislation concerning the expungement of criminal records-that is, the process of sealing or destroying an individual's criminal record to restore the person to the position he occupied before his involvement in the criminal justice system-few such laws exist at the federal level. While federal law does permit expungement as a remedy for those who were invalidly or illegally arrested or convicted, it rarely does so for individuals whose arrests and subsequent dispositions were lawful, even if they ended in acquittal. Federal appellate courts disagree over whether they possess any general authority to expunge federal criminal records in such instances. This split of authority suggests there may be a role for legislation to the extent Congress is interested, and Members have introduced legislation on this front in the 116th Congress. The question of whether federal law should provide expungement for those rightfully arrested or convicted takes place against a backdrop of broader discussions surrounding still-recent criminal justice reform legislation. And just like those discussions, an ongoing policy debate exists over the merits of expungement as an additional reform. Some academic research suggests that expungement reduces recidivism and improves employment prospects among those with criminal records. Although many commentators share this view, law enforcement values criminal records for their public safety function. In light of these issues, this Sidebar begins by exploring what it means to expunge a criminal record before examining relevant federal law and addressing some considerations for Congress. Expunging a Criminal Record What it means to expunge a criminal record is unclear because the term criminal record has various potential meanings. While a criminal record generally includes individual identifiers and describes an individual's arrests and subsequent dispositions, such as a conviction or an indictment, a record will differ depending on (1) the entity that maintains it, (2) the type of information that it includes, and (3) the extent to which the information is accessible. With regard to the first consideration, there is an important distinction between criminal records controlled by the judiciary, such as court records of criminal proceedings, and those controlled by the executive branch, such as millions of criminal records maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) through its National Crime Information Center, Interstate Identification Index, and Criminal Justice Congressional Research Service https://crsreports. congress.gov LSB10413 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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