The Clean Slate Act allows former prisoners to get their records sealed so they can get jobs and/or homes. This bill would allow people who have committed misdemeanors to have their records sealed after 3 years and people who have committed felonies records after 7 years. Without the Clean Slate Act, ex-convicts have to wait 10 years to get their records sealed, even if they're released early for good behavior and are off parole. New York State's sealing law as of now allows ex-convicts records to be sealed under certain conditions. However, far too many people didn't know how to apply or have the resources to do so. More than 400,000 New Yorkers are arrested on criminal charges each year and the exclusion of people with conviction records from employment opportunities via background checks and other barriers hurts productivity and deprives the workforce of crucial talent. The ACLU estimates that, nationally, excluding individuals with conviction histories from the workforce costs the economy between $78 billion and $87 billion in lost GDP. There are also many racial disparities in the prosecutions of these convicts or ex-convicts. In New York City, for example, 48 percent of those arrested for marijuana possession in 2017 were black, 38 percent were Latinx, and only 9 percent were white. This is where the Clean Slate Act comes in. The Clean Slate Act automatically clears a New Yorker's conviction record once they're eligible. The civil damage a conviction record can inflict is often wide-ranging and enduring—permanently barring many individuals from basic opportunities like stable jobs, licenses to practice trades, and safe, secure housing. Clean Slate NY is about strengthening our communities by ensuring that New Yorkers are not punished beyond their sentences and can be full and fair participants in economic and civic life. 

Sign this petition to show our elected officials that this bill is something that matters in our community and is something we need!