The New Jersey Office of the Public Defender has recently filed a class action under the New Jersey Civil Rights Act seeking to compel the New Jersey State Police to promptly process court-ordered expungements of criminal records of people who have been convicted of a criminal offense and have satisfactorily paid any financial assessments, completed a period of probation or parole or have been released from incarceration after the passage of a specific number of years without having committed any further offenses. The complaint does not ask for financial damages but only a declaration that the State Police did not comply with orders of the courts, and to require that expungements be processed within a reasonable and appropriate amount of time. The merits of the case are indisputable. The attorney general should assent rather than litigate to avoid further delays.

With the exception of a limited number of specific serious crimes, the Legislature has determined that individuals should be given a second chance. Criminal records limit the opportunities for prior offenders who have been rehabilitated from obtaining employment, housing, financial aid and other benefits because of their criminal histories. When a judge orders an expungement, the criminal records are required to be removed from their files and the records should not be released for any reason or referred to for any purpose. When there is a request for a person’s criminal offense history, the law enforcement agency must respond that there is no record information. The New Jersey State Police and the State Bureau of Identification has been tasked to ensure that the process is accomplished. There has been a $15 million appropriation for this purpose.