Douglas A. Berman
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January 24, 2022
CCRC releases “From Reentry to Reintegration: Legal Document Reforms in 2021”
As detailed at this post over on the web site of the Collateral Penalties Useful resource Middle, “every year since 2017, CCRC has issued a report on laws enacted previously 12 months that’s geared toward decreasing the obstacles confronted by individuals with a legal report within the office, on the poll field, and in lots of different areas of each day life.” True to kind, CCRC has now launched this 55-page report titled “From Reentry to Reintegration: Legal Document Reforms in 2021.” The CCRC submit in regards to the report present this useful evaluation of the complete doc (emphasis and hyperlinks from the unique):
The title of this submit introduces our annual report on new legal guidelines enacted through the previous 12 months, and emphasizes the continuum from reentry (for individuals who go to jail or jail) to the complete restoration of rights and standing represented by reintegration. Recent research signifies that most individuals with a conviction by no means have a second one, and that the chance of one other conviction declines quickly as extra time passes. The aim of full reintegration is thus each an financial and ethical crucial.
Previously 12 months the bipartisan dedication to a reintegration agenda has appeared greater than ever grounded in financial imperatives, as pandemic dislocations have introduced house the necessity to help, practice, and recruit employees who’re important to rebuilding the companies which can be the lifeblood of the financial system. If there may be anyone factor that can finish unwarranted discrimination in opposition to individuals with a legal historical past, it’s a recognition that it doesn’t pay.
Our 2021 report highlights key developments in reintegration reforms from the previous 12 months. It paperwork that 40 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal authorities enacted 152 legislative payments and took numerous extra govt actions to revive rights and alternatives to individuals with an arrest or conviction historical past. As in previous years, a majority of those new legal guidelines concerned particular person report clearing: All advised, an astonishing 36 states enacted 93 separate legal guidelines that revise, complement or restrict public entry to particular person legal data to cut back or eradicate obstacles to alternative. Most of those legal guidelines established or expanded legal guidelines authorizing expungement, sealing, or set-aside of convictions or arrest data. A number of states enacted judicial report clearing legal guidelines for the very first time, and numerous states licensed “clear slate” computerized clearing. Government pardoning was revived in a number of states the place it had been dormant for years.
As well as, most of the new legal guidelines enacted common provisions limiting contemplating of legal report in financial settings: 17 states enacted 26 new legal guidelines regulating employment and occupational licensing, and greater than a dozen different states enacted legal guidelines facilitating entry to housing, schooling, driver’s licenses, and public advantages.
Lastly, civil rights restoration continued to make progress: 4 states took steps to revive voting rights upon launch from jail, bringing the entire in that class to 21 (with one other two states and D.C. not disenfranchising in any respect). Three different states and the federal authorities took steps to develop consciousness of voting eligibility by these in jail or jail or after launch, and 4 states acted to revive eligibility for jury service and public workplace….
From Reentry to Reintegration, Legal Document Reforms in 2021 is offered here. It consists of our third annual legislative Report Card recognizing essentially the most (and least) productive legislatures in 2021. The physique of the report supplies topical discussions of final 12 months’s reform measures, adopted by an appendix documenting and summarizing the brand new legal guidelines by jurisdiction. Extra detailed evaluation of every state’s regulation is offered within the CCRC Restoration of Rights Project.
January 24, 2022 at 12:39 PM | Permalink
