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Public Safety Act 2006 Common Language Summary

Proposed Legislative Goals

To help create a safer Massachusetts, the Public Safety Act of 2006 would build upon legislation filed by Chairman Eugene O’Flaherty — HB 727 "An Act Relevant to the Expungement of Records in Certain Criminal Cases." The working group embraces the spirit of HB 727 and proposes the following legislative recommendations that will further enhance HB 727 and make Massachusetts communities safer places to live, work, and raise families.

 

1. The purging of criminal records where the defendant was erroneously charged.
2. Individuals who make decisions based on CORI’s should be trained on how to read and understand CORI reports.
3. The Certification of Commitment to Rehabilitation (as part of the CORI) — which will allow individuals who are incarcerated or on community supervision to document for prospective employers or landlords their participation in treatment and other rehabilitative services within the correctional system and community.
4. Individuals who are serving mandatory minimum sentences shall be eligible for parole after 2/3 of their maximum sentence has been served, allowing them access to rehabilitation prior to release.
5. CORI reports for felony offenders will be sealed after 7 years, and CORI reports of misdemeanor offenders will be sealed after 3 years through a quasi-automatic process. This will also include, a quasi-automatic process of sealing non-convictions.
6. Only convictions and open cases will be reported to non - Criminal Justice entities, (ie. employers, landlords, etc.)
7. An individual’s criminal history cannot be checked until the applicant is deemed appropriate for a particular employment or housing opportunity.

Honorary Working Group Chair

Senator Joseph Timilty

Participating Organizations

Cambridge Continuum of Care Program

Community Change

Criminal Justice Policy Coalition

Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts

Episcopal City Mission

Ex-prisoners & Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement

Massachusetts Alliance to Reform CORI

Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

Swedenborg Chapel Friends – In – Transition

Union of Minority Neighborhoods

 

For More Information

 

Brandyn Keating

(508) 982-2247

bkeating@cjpc.org

 

Public Safety Act of 2006- Committed to making Massachusetts communities safer!