Arrest and court conviction records are available to the public for good reason — these documents provide transparency about how the criminal justice system operates and about individuals’ conduct. An attempt by Colorado lawmakers to have more of these records sealed automatically — while well-intentioned — will lead to gaps in both of those important records of conduct.
We agree with the sponsors of House Bill 1214 that many arrest records and even conviction records should be sealed, if not expunged. Everyone in America is innocent until proven guilty and too often arrest records are treated as guilty convictions by employers, landlords and even by judges considering parental custody.
But the solution to that problem is not the rapid, immediate and unvetted sealing of arrest records.
There can be a compromise on this bill.
“This bill is about second chances,” state Rep. Mike Weissman said last week when presenting the bill. “1.8 million people in our state have some kind of criminal record. That’s over a third of all adults. I think we should find that pretty striking.”
Weissman’s bill would have several effects.
The most concerning provision is that arrests without conviction or charges occurring after Jan. 1, 2022, would automatically be sealed after a year has passed without a criminal charge being filed. For arrests occurring before that date, the records would be sealed after three years if no charges were filed for felony crimes and after 18 months for misdemeanors and smaller crimes.
The exception would be for crimes where the statute of limitation is longer than three years.
The bill also allows for the sealing of records when a person has been given a full and unconditional pardon by the governor and when someone has multiple convictions that don’t involve victims, if they petition the court.
We agree with Rep. Terri Carver that it is not appropriate to seal those records of multiple convictions, and we think the bill’s author should consider striking that from the bill as Carver suggested during the House Judiciary Committee hearing.
Colorado’s journalists use these arrest records in multiple ways. We can show a pattern of lawbreaking when reporting and we can show a pattern of police misconduct in arrests, or even comparing the details of cases where charges were not brought highlight prosecutorial biases.
We do not take this position lightly. We too believe people deserve a second chance, especially when they were never convicted of a crime. We can think of examples where arrest records have been abused, including the GOP’s attempt during the last election to discredit a state representative using an arrest record, that once read, clearly indicated the lawmaker had not violated any laws.
But we can also think of important stories that would have been missed had arrest and conviction records been sealed. In fact, The Denver Post’s David Migoya wrote an entire series of articles – “Shrouded Justice” – highlighting the unintended consequences of allowing judges to suppress criminal cases, which is different than sealing a case, but in many ways similar, in that it removes the record from public view.
At this juncture in history, when the actions of judges, lawyers, cops, prosecutors and defense attorneys are finally being held under a microscope, now is not the time to eliminate one important tool of scrutiny.
To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.
