State Senators María Elena Durazo and Steven Bradford are convinced of second chances. Therefore, they have pushed very hard to move the SB731 petition.
This bill allows some Californians with criminal convictions to have those records sealed if they maintain a clean record, a move cheered by criminal justice reform advocates and harshly criticized by law enforcement.
“About 75% of formerly incarcerated individuals are still unemployed after a year of their release,” Durazo told the LA Times. “So something’s wrong there. We expect them to get back on their feet, but we’re not allowing them the resources to get jobs and [have] careers.”
In addition, record sealing would only occur after the defendant appears to have completed all terms of incarceration, probation, mandatory supervision, post-release community supervision, and parole, and a period of 4 years has elapsed during which the defendant was not convicted of a new felony offense, except as specified. The bill would specify that conviction record relief does not release the defendant from the terms and conditions of unexpired criminal protective orders.
This bill would state that conviction record relief does not affect the authority to receive, or take adverse action based on, criminal history information for purposes of teacher credentialing or employment in public education, as specified. The bill would prohibit disclosure of information relating to a conviction for possession of specified controlled substances when the conviction is more than 5 years old and when relief has been granted under these provisions.
This bill would require the department to also provide that information to school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, private schools, state special schools for the blind and deaf, or any other entity required to have a background check because of a contract with any of those entities. The bill would prohibit the department from disseminating information for a conviction for possession of specified controlled substances if that conviction is more than 5 years old and relief has been granted.
Others oppose.
“By expanding the relief of penalties for all felonies, we are placing our communities at risk,” noted the Peace Officers Research Association of California. “By allowing violent criminals back on the street, with their record dismissed, they will have less deterrent to commit another crime.”
According to recent figures, the Latino community is overrepresented in the prison population. They make up about 32 percent of the population but their prison percentage is 37 percent.
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