GACDL writes to offer the following response to the March 28, 2024, “Commentary: Change to First-Offender Law Would Enable Corruption Cover-Ups.”

The legislative watch team of the First Amendment Foundation should be commended for its many efforts to keep the public apprised of the goings on at the Capitol, but raising alarm about HB 909′s updating of the First Offender Act was not warranted. HB 909 would have provided for sealing the record of a first-time offender at the time of sentencing instead of waiting until the end of the sentence sometime years later—the rationale being to avoid permanently damaging a person’s reputation and employment opportunities in the interim.