Criminal past harder than ever to conceal

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07/20/2006

Appeals court continues to stymie efforts to seal records

BY SHANNON PRATHER
Pioneer Press
Jly 20, 2006

Minnesotans who want to erase a youthful mistake from the public record may be too late.

A series of Minnesota Court of Appeals rulings has reined in the power of judges across the state to seal criminal conviction records. The latest decision Tuesday comes as more people are rushing to courthouses to erase old offenses. With employers and landlords increasingly running criminal background checks, many job and housing applicants are being dogged by their criminal pasts.

A Washington County prosecutor involved in this week’s ruling by the appeals court praised the string of decisions.

“The effect of decisions like these is to say once you’ve been convicted, your record is a permanent public record,” said Assistant Washington County Attorney Richard Hodsdon.

“The problem is an expungement doesn’t undo a criminal conviction. All it does is allow someone to lie to a prospective employer or a landlord. It’s not like a pardon.”

But attorneys and nonprofit groups that help people seal conviction records say the consequences of the recent rulings could hurt those who have turned their lives around.

“It seems to me that we are creating a permanent underclass of people,” said Martha Delaney of the Volunteer Lawyers Network. “When someone has a criminal record, they are not able to get a job. Then they are not able to get housing. According to studies, the most predictive factor whether someone is going to re-offend is whether or not they can get a job.”

The recent rulings affect judges’ ability to seal records related to convictions. They don’t limit judge’s ability to seal police and court records from arrests that don’t lead to a conviction.

In 2004, the Court of Appeals took up the issue of sealing conviction records. The court ruled that although judges could seal conviction records held at a courthouse, they couldn’t force police and prosecutors to seal their corresponding files in most convictions. So the records could still be publicly accessible.

In addition, the Court of Appeals reversed two cases this summer in which offenders successfully sealed conviction records, signaling that judges may have even less latitude in sealing files tied to criminal convictions.

The second of those reversals came Tuesday. The court reversed an expungement for a woman convicted of misdemeanor theft for stealing $450 in merchandise from an outlet store in Woodbury. The woman, identified in the court case only by her initials, later trained as a certified nursing assistant, but is now barred from the position because of her criminal record.

“I know I have made mistakes, but I am older and wiser and have learned from those mistakes,” the woman told the court. “I am a single mother and have two children who deserve a better life.”

However, the appeals court ruled that the judge who granted the expungement misinterpreted the statute.

The effects of this latest ruling is a further worry to those looking for a fresh start.

“There have been a number of court of appeals opinions that have started to close the door,” said attorney Lloyd Moosbrugger, who volunteered to handle the woman’s case in Washington County. “It’s frustrating for those of us who try to help people get a second chance, if they are deserving.”

Despite the greater obstacles to sealing records, Debra Swaden, a staff attorney at the Hennepin County District Court self-help center, said people continue to file.

“People say, ‘I have to try anyway.’ They’re desperate,” Swaden said.

Ramsey County Assistant Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin said the cases are difficult to decide, and the law surrounding sealing conviction records has become thornier. She said the appeal court is reversing more expungements.

“You see some sad cases. People really want to get a job. They’ve gotten education, but they can’t get a job because of their conviction. Personally, you feel for the people who you believe are really sincerely making efforts to get jobs, provide for their families and clean up their lives,” Gearin said. “At the same time, you can understand the law enforcement and county attorneys desire to keep that information available.”

But Hodsdon argues that employers and the public have a right to know about past convictions.

He points to the case of after-school instructor Richard Parnell Rucker Sr., who was charged in May with molesting two junior high girls in the South Washington County School District.

Rucker passed a background check, but Cottage Grove police say he had a low-level sex offense from Hennepin County expunged from his record.

“If that school had done a criminal history record check, they couldn’t find his record,” Hodsdon said. “That’s the tradeoff we’re talking about.”