Buta Biberaj is the Loudoun County commonwealth’s attorney. Steve Descano is the Fairfax City and Fairfax County commonwealth’s attorney. Bryan Porter is Alexandria’s commonwealth’s attorney.
Among our justice system’s primary defects are the collateral consequences that follow community members for a lifetime after they are charged with a crime. Unfortunately, a bill that would have allowed many such community members to eventually expunge their records died in conference committee at the end of the special session. Thousands of residents of the commonwealth struggling to find employment and live full lives are now counting on the General Assembly to take action on this issue as the legislature convenes.
Study after study has demonstrated that a draconian approach to fighting crime only fuels recidivism by making it harder for those seeking to move beyond a past offense to reintegrate into society. Still, it is nearly impossible for Virginians with a record to seal or expunge that record, even if they have gone years without committing a subsequent offense. Virginia is among the eight states that do not allow expungement or record sealing for misdemeanors and 13 states that do not allow expungement or record sealing for some felony offenses. As a result, a simple background check prevents many of our neighbors from sustaining consistent employment, attaining stable housing and otherwise fully participating in our communities.
Hardly a week passes in our roles as the chief prosecutors for our communities without us hearing from one of these community members.
Take the local mother whose son has found it nearly impossible to find a job after being charged with simple drug possession. He was camping outside of Luray when a friend offered him less than half of a pill of Adderall. The son, who had a prescription for a different ADHD drug, accepted the medication. A park ranger apprehended the duo, and he ended up with a possession charge on his record. Suddenly, at age 25, this young man’s lifelong aspiration of mentoring kids began to slip out of reach. After a fingerprint background check revealed the charge — even though he had availed himself of diversionary services offered by the commonwealth that staved off a conviction — he lost his dream job as an administrator at a youth summer camp. Now that his most recent employer of seven years (who was willing to look past his record) had to shut down because of the coronavirus, this young Virginian is faced with fewer professional opportunities and struggling to find another employer who will accept his record. “It’s like it’s haunting him,” reflected his worried mom.
Unfortunately too many Virginians are similarly “haunted.”
Our commonwealth is less safe and our justice system is less fair when we throw away lives in this manner. It’s past time we fairly and equitably provide for second chances in Virginia, in a manner that accounts for our justice system’s legacy of embedded racial and socioeconomic biases. That’s why the General Assembly should enact free and automatic expungement for most offenses after community members have maintained a clean record for an amount of time corresponding to the severity of their offense. This will mitigate financial and logistical barriers, providing for equal access to a fresh start.
And, though detractors may claim that such a policy is soft on crime, the evidence tells a different story. In Michigan, where the governor recently signed a sweeping expungement policy, researchers found that 96 percent of state residents had not reoffended within five years of having their record sealed. Further, economists have projected that barring those with a record from the workforce results in a staggering $78 billion to $87 billion in lost gross domestic product annually.
The bottom line is that free and automatic expungement will make Virginia safer, our justice system more equitable and our communities more whole. We urge the General Assembly to take this critical step on behalf of the thousands of Virginians “haunted” by a past offense and eager to reclaim their future.
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