Yet once an individual received an expungement, his or her income rises by 20 percent. This is why a recent study found that so few individuals have their records expunged, even when they are eligible. This process is cumbersome and expensive to navigate, and often requires a lawyer.
Many states, including Connecticut, have expungement statutes on the books, but these require individuals to petition a court or board to obtain relief. The bill is particularly powerful because it would make expungement automatic. Once a person has paid their debt to society and has stayed crime-free for several years, he or she should have a fighting chance at finding employment. If there is one policy solution we can pass to help individuals find jobs and improve our economy, it is to automatically expunge their criminal records after a certain period has elapsed. That is a huge loss of economic activity.
The Center for Economic and Policy Research has estimated that in terms of cost to the economy as a whole, the United States loses about $78 billion to $87 billion in gross domestic product every year, with Connecticut’s portion being between $1 billion and $1.2 billion. With so many Connecticut residents burdened by criminal records, our economy suffers. Yet when those with a record do obtain employment, they are often underemployed in low-wage, insecure jobs. Most individuals who have a record do wish to work and are actively looking for a job. Even when these records are for minor crimes and many years have passed since they were committed, their stigmatizing effect continues. The rate of unemployment among the formerly incarcerated is a staggering 27 percent - higher than the unemployment rate during the Great Depression. In fact, given that as many as one out of every three Americans - or around 1.2 million people in Connecticut - have criminal records, it has the potential to result in major economic benefits for the state and its residents.Ī criminal record severely hinders a person’s ability to find productive work.
While SB 691 is primarily a criminal justice bill, if passed, it will have effects that ripple out far beyond the justice system. Senate Bill 691 aims to change that by automatically erasing criminal records after an individual has remained crime-free for a certain number of years. However, too often individuals in Connecticut who have criminal records are released from the system only to find themselves locked out of job opportunities. In many ways, it is a leader of justice reform in our country. Connecticut has made major progress in reforming its criminal justice system.
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