Records Sealing & Expungement
“The non-punishment principle is a legal norm that has increasingly gained legitimacy over the past quarter-century within international, regional, and domestic law on human trafficking. At its core, this principle opposes the punishment of human trafficking victims for unlawful conduct they engage in as a consequence of their trafficking victimization. Little is known about the…
This amicus brief from over 26 juvenile justice amici, including the Gault Center, , argues 1) the spirit and text of New York’s passage of landmark Raise the Age Law rejects the attitudes that underlay the Juvenile Offender Act of 1978, 2) New York’s Raise the Age Law and its legislative history demands a youth subject to adult prosecution only in “extremely rare and exceptional cases”, 3) before courts…
Abstract: “Records generated by youth legal systems—or “juvenile justice systems”—are increasingly being used against young people in immigration proceedings. This practice undermines the core purpose of these youth-focused systems and can have devastating, life-altering consequences, including the denial of immigration benefits or deportation. Juvenile justice systems in the United States are founded on the recognition…
The 8th District Ohio Court of Appeals vacated a trial court’s judgment denying a youth’s application for expungement by finding that the trial court lacked authority to order the youth to submit to a drug test. The appellate court offered the following language in support. “We presume that “the General Assembly acts intentionally and purposely…
Professor Kris Henning and Rebba Omer authored a law review article on decriminalizing normal adolescent behaviors, race, and disabilities. This article maps a way forward for all system actors in the juvenile legal system to mitigate and buffer against the harms of juvenile legal system involvement for youth with disabilities. Specifically, this article outlines youth…
From the abstract: “The ever-expanding yet increasingly amorphous nature of criminal records is a driver of inequity in America. Criminal records are a significant barrier to community participation. They impact whether you can vote or serve on a jury, where you can live, and if you can work. And as criminal records become more easily…
From the abstract: “Automatic criminal record restriction laws, which suppress records at the initiative of the state, rather than the individual, present a promising new way to provide second chances to the one in three American adults that live with a criminal record. Buoyed by the success of drug legalization measures and the “Clean Slate”…
This 2024 Impact report from Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ) focuses on the organization’s accomplishments, including the opening of CURYJ’s Youth Power Zone, a physical space that provides community-led, community-owned direct-service programming, advocacy and culturally-rooted healing. CURYJ also highlights the acquisition of a second physical space for community peace, healing, and resilience. Further,…
This guide is meant to help young people in Oregon understand the collateral consequences to juvenile court involvement and adjudications, and what they can do to overcome those consequences. Written in youth-friendly language, this guide walks through how young people should talk about their juvenile court record, the impact of their record on school, jobs,…
From the Introduction: “This Article will focus on the difficulties ex-juvenile offenders face when seeking expungement of their juvenile records to prevent collateral consequences. Specifically, I will argue that a person under the age of eighteen should not be subject to the same statutory expungement bar as adults when seeking an expungement in New Jersey.…
From the introduction: “One of our goals in producing this report is to inform school administrators, board members, and parent and student stakeholders, giving details about which groups of students are disproportionately arrested and about the gaps that exist in data reporting. We also want to provide guidance on how to address these issues. We…
From the conclusion: “Washington, DC has severe racial disparities in its justice-involved population. That should alarm local leadership and its residents. These disparities are rooted in policing practices that target communities of color, a lack of investment and opportunity in historically disadvantaged neighborhoods, and an overly punitive sentencing, parole, and corrections system. The current system…
Report to Colorado General Assembly on the State of the Youth Defense System in Colorado pursuant to House Join Resolution 13-1019, whose purpose was to “examine and make recommendations on current laws, procedures and practices for the appointment of counsel, advisement of rights and waivers of counsel for children in juvenile delinquency court.” This report…
