Delaware Becomes Fifth State in the Nation to Offer Clean Slate, Reducing Barriers for People with Arrest and Conviction Records
Update: Since November 2021, two additional states - Oklahoma and Colorado - have passed additional Clean Slate laws. Learn more about state-level efforts to enact Clean Slate laws here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2021
CONTACT: Sheena Meade, press@cleanslateinitiative.org
DOVER, DE - With Governor Carney’s signature, Delaware is now the fifth state – joining Pennsylvania, Utah, Michigan, and Connecticut – to enact clean slate automated record-clearing legislation. In the 2021 legislative session, Clean Slate campaigns advanced record clearance reform efforts in Louisiana, Texas, Oregon, New York, Colorado, North Carolina, and Missouri. Numerous other states explored expansion and automation of record clearance, part of a growing national Clean Slate movement.
In Delaware, up to 400,000 people are saddled with records that block their access to jobs, housing, education, starting a business, or participating fully in social and civic community life. Delaware’s Clean Slate Act (SB111, SB112 (Brown)) will automatically expunge eligible misdemeanors and felonies from the records of people who have lived crime-free for a certain number of years, creating opportunity and removing barriers for tens of thousands.
Sheena Meade, Executive Director of the Clean Slate Initiative, said this about Delaware’s new Clean Slate law:
“The Clean Slate Initiative is thrilled to see Delaware join the wave of states providing automatic record clearance to individuals in need of real second chances. A group of directly impacted Delawareans, elected champions, advocates, business leaders, and key stakeholders from across the political spectrum and state-supported this smart policy and helped it cross the finish line. Thanks to their leadership and the ongoing efforts of our partners in the Clean Slate Delaware campaign, a criminal record will no longer be a life sentence to poverty in Delaware. ”
Read more about Clean Slate Delaware and its supporters here.
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The Clean Slate Initiative, a member of the Clean Slate Delaware coalition, is a national bipartisan movement to automate the clearing of criminal records that block second chances for tens of millions of Americans. Following decades of overcriminalization, 70 - 100 million people in America have some type of record — and nearly half of all children in America have a parent with a record. In the digital era, with 94% of employers now using background checks, any record — no matter how old or minor — can be a life sentence to poverty.
Learn more at cleanslateinitiative.org
Editor's Note: Clean Slate laws are gaining popularity in states across the country. Since this was published, the number of states that have passed Clean Slate policies may have changed. For the most up-to-date number of Clean Slate states, please check cleanslateinitiative.org/states.
