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 For many, the holiday season would
be incomplete without watching “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Among the movie’s most
celebrated themes are those of generosity and second chances.
In an important – albeit less poetic – way, Illinois in 2017 has embraced second
chances for people who have been through the criminal justice system.
Two bills signed into law by Gov. Bruce Rauner in August make it easier for
ex-offenders to leave their pasts behind, successfully re-enter their
communities and provide for themselves and their families. And a new law
regarding the controversial practice of civil asset forfeiture will prevent more
Illinoisans from being unfairly deprived of their property.
One of the new laws expands record sealing eligibility, allowing ex-offenders
with felony convictions to petition a court to have their criminal records
sealed from view by the general public, including by most private employers. The
new law excludes most sexual offenses from sealing, along with certain violent
offenses such as domestic battery.
 Generally, an eligible former offender must wait three years to apply to have
his or her record sealed. The ex-offender must then file an application with the
court that convicted him or her of the offense, and must notify the state police
and the prosecutor and local police involved in the arrest and prosecution of
the crime for which sealing is sought. If no one objects and the court enters an
order granting the request for sealing, the ex-offender’s record is generally
not accessible to the public, unless someone has a court order allowing that
person to view the record.
Another bill creates protections for juveniles by expanding expungement, a
process by which a person’s criminal record is wiped clean, not merely sealed
from view. The new law provides for automatic expungement of juvenile arrest
records that do not result in delinquency. The law further mandates expungement
of records of delinquency two years after the juvenile’s case is closed, so long
as that juvenile has no other criminal cases pending against him or her and no
subsequent delinquency proceedings. Certain offenses are excluded from
expungement eligibility, such as many sex offenses and violent crimes and other
serious crimes such as residential burglary. Juvenile records not expunged are
sealed from view by the general public.
These new laws can help dismantle barriers that prevent ex-offenders, including
juveniles, from obtaining employment and successfully re-entering their
communities.
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A criminal record will
often disqualify an ex-offender from a job, even if he or she is
otherwise well-qualified. The new sealing law and the juvenile
record expungement law could help many ex-offenders apply for jobs
without fear that their years-old criminal records will prevent them
from being considered.
When former offenders are able to find work to support themselves
and their families, they are less likely to return to crime. While
almost half of ex-offenders in Illinois end up back in prison within
three years of release, when an exoffender can secure a job, the
likelihood of recidivism can drop to as low as 16 percent, according
to a study by the Safer Foundation.
In addition to the
terrible human toll crime takes on its victims and on the offender’s
ability to lead a productive life in his or her community, a report
by the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council has found the
financial costs associated with each instance of recidivism amount
to $118,746. Those costs are borne by victims and taxpayers and
manifest in foregone economic activity. At Illinois’ current rate of
recidivism, over five years, recidivism will cost taxpayers more
than $16.7 billion.
While the new laws mark an improvement in helping former offenders
re-enter their communities and the job market successfully, the
sealing law’s three-year waiting period could limit the
recidivism-reducing benefits of the measure.
In addition to promoting second chances for former offenders,
Illinois has taken a step toward fairer treatment of property owners
deprived of their belongings by law enforcement.
At a Sept. 19 signing ceremony alongside criminal justice reform
advocates from the Illinois Policy Institute and others, Gov. Bruce
Rauner signed civil asset forfeiture reform into law.
Civil asset forfeiture is a controversial practice wherein police
can seize property suspected of having been connected to a crime
without obtaining a criminal conviction against the owner. The new
law will reform this practice in Illinois through several provisions
that enhance protections for property owners and impose new
restrictions on government seeking to retain seized property.
The new law transfers the burden of proof to the government to show
it is entitled to take the property,
instead of requiring the property owner to prove that he or she is
entitled to keep it. The law also provides for new data collection
regarding seizures of property and enhanced notice procedures for
asset forfeiture proceedings, and will also protect property owners
from having to pay “cost bonds” just to get their cases before a
judge.
While Illinois still has much work to do to make its criminal
justice system fairer, the steps taken in 2017 move the state closer
to that important goal.
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