For some time now I have been urging Idaho criminal defense lawyers to team up with prosecutors to sponsor model expungment legislation. My premise has been that expungment law in Idaho is a mess and the only solution is legislative intervention. Impossible, you say? That liberal blue state of Utah has come up with a comprehensive scheme: http://www.utcourts.gov/howto/expunge/. (Child molesters never are eligible for expungment). You can get on the Utah State Court website and with a few clicks get the following questions answered:
- Who Can Get Their Adult Record Expunged?
- Who Can Get a Juvenile Record Expungement?
- When is Expungment Allowed?
- How Much Does an Expungment Cost?
- Will my Offenses Remain on My Driving Record?
- Is There a Time Requirement for Dismissal?
- What Must I Bring When I Apply for an Expungment?
- Where Will My Petition be Filed?
- What if I Fail to Appear at the Hearing on my Petition?
- If I Complete my Petition at Home, what are the Requirements?
- What If My Motion of Expungment is Granted?
We can continue to flail with inconsistent expungment triage or work towards a real solution – like Utah’s.
Tim: I contacted Heather Reilly, who is an Ada County DPA and the lobbyist for the prosecutors, right after U.S. v. Sharp came out. I never got a response, but after reading your posting I called again. Maybe, if they're interested, IACDL and the prosecutors could do a joint proposal. I have an idea about which Legislator might be willing to carry such a bill.
ReplyDeleteThe Libertarian streak in many legislators will be receptive to the notion that big government has countless ways to get a citizen's information into a database, but no clear way, after complete rehabilitation, to get it out.
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