Shared Prosperity Roundtable Criminal Records: From Barriers to Solutions Sharon M. Dietrich, Litigation Director Community Legal Services, Inc. Philadelphia, PA September 29,

Background on Criminal Record Issues 2

How Many People Have Criminal Records?  Believe it or not, no one knows for sure.  USDOJ: est. 100 million American adults, or 1 of 3.  Applying this ratio to Philadelphia, conservative estimate of 400,000 people.  Any way you measure it, it’s a LOT of people and a large percentage of the population. 3

Racial Disparities in Arrests  African Americans are 14% of the population, but 28% of all arrests.  Hispanics are arrested on federal drug charges 3 times the proportion of the population.  African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to be arrested for drug offenses than Whites, despite similar rates of use. 4

Many Collateral Consequences  Employment  Housing (public and private)  Public benefits (in PA, mostly around BWs/probation violations/criminal debt payments)  Immigration (removal for “aggravated felonies”)  Student loans  Parental right termination (under ASFA)  Debt (criminal debt and child support) 5

Rise in Background Screening  Background checks are now easily obtainable.  Est. 87% of employers check backgrounds  Commercially prepared reports are replete with errors: mismatches, reporting expunged cases, wrong grade of offense, etc. 6

Huge Impact on Employment  Recent NIJ study: Any lifetime arrest decreases employment opportunities more than any other employment-related factor.  Earnings loss estimated at 10-40%.  No case too old or too minor to have an effect on employment. 7

Criminal Record Problems Drive CLS’s Employment Work 8

Disconnect between Desistence and Life-Long Consequences  Social science research supports a point of “redemption” (when a former offender presents similar risk as others) – around 7 years.  But many of the collateral consequences are life-long bans. 9

Conflation of Reentering People/People Who Have Desisted  Focus on “reentry” of people from prison is overly simplistic.  Different needs, different policy and legal implications depending on time since offense.  But all share the burden of their criminal records. This includes people with arrests not leading to conviction. 10

Incarceration Increases Poverty  2009 Villanova paper: had mass incarceration not occurred, the poverty rate would have fallen by more than 20% between  Possible reasons: Removing breadwinners from the family; depressed wages afterward. 11

Legal Framework: Record-Clearing and Employment Rights in PA 12

Why Does Record-Clearing Matter?  Because the best record is NO record.  The next best record? Less of a record.  A person doesn’t have employment and other barriers if the record doesn’t exist.  In PA, the mechanisms are expungements and pardons. 13

14 What Can Be Expunged in PA?  Arrests on which there are not convictions  Cases in which diversionary sentences have been successfully served (such as for ARD or Probation Without Verdict/Section 17)  Convictions for summary offenses after five years without arrest  Convictions for underage drinking  Convictions of persons who are 70 years old or older and who have not been arrested in ten years.

15 What Cannot Be Expunged in PA?  Most convictions cannot be expunged.  Convictions go through the pardon process – possible, but extremely long-term.  Bills in Harrisburg that would allow some misdemeanors to be expunged were promising but have stalled.

How Does PA Compare to Other States?  30 states have broader expungement laws.  19 states allow some felony convictions to be expunged.  23 states allow some misdemeanor convictions to be expunged. 16

Employment Law Protections for People with Criminal Records  Race discrimination law (Title VII)  State law – “Section 9125”  City “Ban the Box” Ordinance – focuses more on timing of background check than employer consideration of a criminal record 17

Nature of Race Discrimination Claim  Title VII prohibits discrimination that is unintentional if a neutral rule has a racially disparate impact (i.e., background checks disproportionally exclude people of color).  EEOC has new 2012 policy guidance that specifically deal with the disparate impact of arrest and conviction records. 18

Title VII: Arrests  The fact of an arrests which has not led to a conviction MAY NOT be considered by an employer (i.e., can’t just reject for an arrest on a background check).  An employer MAY evaluate the likelihood that the person engaged in the conduct for which s/he was arrested. 19

Title VII: Considering Convictions EEOC policy says that an employer is to consider the following factors: 1.The nature and gravity of the offense/conduct; 2.The time that has passed since the offense and/or the sentence completion; 3.The nature of the job held or sought. 20

Title VII: Individualized Assessments of People with Convictions  Not legally required, but EEOC strongly recommends employers to do this to avoid liability.  Process:  Employer notifies applicant of possible rejection;  Applicant has opportunity to respond;  Employer considers what applicant said. 21

Individualized Assessments: Factors to be Considered 22

Title VII: Some Implications about Convictions  Across-the-board exclusions usually violate Title VII (i.e., an employer cannot demand “clean” criminal records).  So does the firing of current employees who are performing well but have criminal records.  So do on-line applications that kick out people with a record. 23

State Law Limitations Title 18 Pa. Statutes Sect says: “Felony and misdemeanor convictions may be considered by the employer only to the extent to which they relate to the applicant’s suitability for employment in the position for which he has applied.” 24

Some Implications of Section 9125 Employers should not consider:  Arrests without conviction;  Summary offense convictions;  Juvenile adjudications of delinquency. 25

Local Issues Regarding Criminal Records 26

Philadelphia’s “Ban the Box” Ordinance  Applies to private employers of 10 or more.  Can’t ask applicant to disclose convictions before the first interview.  Can’t ask about arrests not leading to convictions.  Enforced by Phila. Comm. on Human Relations. 27

RISE (Mayor’s Office of Reintegration Services) Case management; Substance misuse treatment; Behavioral health services; Educational services; Vocational training; Computer literacy; Employment services. 28

PREP Tax Credits  Hire an individual who has an Agreement with R.I.S.E. in a full- time position working at least 37 and ½ hours a week or in a part-time position working at least 20 hours a week, but no more that 37 and ½ hours.  Employee must be employed for at least a 6 month period.  Request a maximum amount of $30,000 in tax credits against the business privilege tax for any 1 employee over all tax years and $15,000 for any 1 part-time employee. 29

Prosecution of Minor Crimes  Decriminalization of marijuana. Possessing fewer than 30 grams of marijuana is a civil offense; violators face a $25 fine, but no arrest or criminal record. Public use of the drug is civil offense with a penalty of a $100 fine or up to nine hours of community service.  But rash of summary citations for “quality of life” offenses. City Paper: 13,323 in 2009 to 23,458 last year. 30

Collection of Criminal Debt  Starting in 2011, the City has aggressively tried to collect $1.5 billion in fines, costs, restitution, supervisory fees, and forfeited bail from more than 320,000 Philadelphians, about 21% of the City’s population.  Film: “Pay Up! Criminal Justice Debt in Philadelphia” FF8A914F87F246 FF8A914F87F246 31

Solutions??? 32

Solutions, In My Humble Opinion  Expanded expungement: broader expungement law; more methods to expunge.  Greater enforcement of law against employers.  Transitional work programs.  More access to City jobs.  More reasonable policies on criminal debt. 33