June 1, 2021

Rep. Irene Haines on “Clean Slate” Legislation

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Last week, I voted no on the so-called “Clean Slate” bill (SB 1019), which sought to erase all criminal records for those who have been convicted of misdemeanors after seven years and all class D or E felonies after ten years. This would have included the erasure of heinous crimes such assault of an elderly, blind, disabled, pregnant or intellectually disabled person, possession of child pornography, criminal use of a firearm, and others.

Fortunately, another bill (SB 1093) was passed to remove these crimes from the bill. However, dangerous crimes such as possession of a firearm on school grounds, certain hate crimes, and criminal violations of civil protection and restraining orders remained. Several amendments to remove these crimes were called but failed to pass.

I believe in second chances for those who do their time, and there is a process for to them to achieve erasure if they submit an application to the Board of Pardons and Paroles; 80% of applications were granted last year. It must be demonstrated that they are not a threat to society and that they have taken steps to better themselves following conviction. Automatic erasure does not require for any of these steps to be taken, and leaves potential for offenders to commit repeat offenses at the risk of others.

In the end, I took pause mainly out of concern for the victims of these crimes. The bill doesn’t include automatic protective orders or allow victims to appeal their offender’s erasure. We would effectively be silencing victims who may still feel their safety is at risk or deal with the ramifications of the crimes committed against them. I couldn’t support this bill, for their safety and peace of mind as well as the scope of crimes included.

On a positive note, SB 1093 also included additional provisions that I was proud to support. Namely, there were several provisions that made adjustments to the Police Accountability Bill passed last summer. One establishes a process by which an officer can perform a consent search on a pedestrian. This practice, which will increase our officers’ ability to safely assess a situation and do their job more effectively, was banned in last year’s bill.

At the time of writing, both bills have passed the House and Senate and are awaiting action from the governor. You can read more about them at www.cga.ct.gov.