EXAMINER.COM
Officials: Expunge arrest records
Jaime Malarkey, The Examiner
Jan 31, 2007 3:00 AM
BALTIMORE - Criminal defense attorneys and advocates for the working poor Tuesday
endorsed a statewide proposal to automatically expunge records of arrests that
don’t lead to formal charges — a move some said could slash the
number of needless arrests in Baltimore City.
Members of the House of Delegates’ judiciary committee heard testimony
on a proposal that would entitle anyone arrested or detained then released without
charges to expungement if they sign a waiver promising not to file a lawsuit
related to the incident.
Del. Keith Haynes, D-Baltimore, unsuccessfully sponsored a similar measure.
He said this version would be effective retroactively, as long as the arrestee
initiates the process.
In 2005, city police arrested more than 98,800 adults and released 26,870 without
charges, according to department statistics. That figure dropped about 29 percent
in 2006.
Tuesday, committee member Del. Jill Carter, D-Baltimore, called the statistics
“astounding.”
“But a better solution might be to make sure there is a valid arrest before
they process and put these people through the system,” she said.
Natalie Finegar, assistant public defender for Baltimore, said many are unaware
that the fruitless arrests remains on their record until they apply for a new
job that requires a background check. The flawed policy affects not only the
city, she said, but any jurisdiction with an automated booking system.
Melissa Chalmers Broome, a policy advocate for the Job Opportunities Task Force,
said the bill is “simply about fairness.”
“We’re not talking about people who are arrested and later found
not guilty,” she told lawmakers. “We’re talking about people
who have never been charged with a crime and yet are forced to carry this burden
of a blemished record.”
One lawmaker asked if the bill could extend to cases when government attorneys
decline to prosecute cases. One worried the bill would “open the floodgates”
for lawsuits against police officers.
A police union and member of the Montgomery County Police Department testified
against the bill, saying it would interfere with detectives’ ability to
collect information.
“This could impact gang investigations, narcotics investigations,”
said Officer J. Cunningham.