New England Public Media

Criminal justice advocates in Massachusetts are asking state lawmakers to make the process of sealing criminal records an automatic one, arguing that the move could open up economic opportunities for people who have brushed against the justice system.

The Clean Slate Massachusetts Campaign aims to make it easier for people with criminal records to get them sealed, once they're eligible. That's three years after a misdemeanor conviction, seven years after a felony. Massachusetts current sealing system is petition-based, where a person has to reach out to the state to begin the process of removing records from public view.

The Boston Globe: Those who have paid their debts deserve a clean slate.

Thank you for Yvonne Abraham’s article on automated record sealing legislation (“A step we should take,” Feb. 27) for reiterating the obvious. Massachusetts is spending taxpayer funds on reentry programs for youth and adults in the belief that the justice system is about giving second chances.

Without reforming the records system, Massachusetts is giving with one hand and taking away with the other. Studies show any record, no matter how old or minor, leads to job rejections.

Being needed, having a role, and becoming competent and part of a productive community is why work experience is so often transformative. But Massachusetts laws are routinely denying these avenues of opportunity.

The Boston Globe: Thirteen states have adopted a simple criminal justice reform. It’s time for Mass. to join them.

Some problems are really hard to solve. This isn’t one of them.

Right now, about 500,000 people in Massachusetts are eligible to have their criminal records sealed. They’ve made their mistakes, done their time, paid their debt to society. And mercifully, they live in a state that allows them to move on, so that their worst moments won’t follow them for the rest of their lives.

State law lets people with misdemeanor convictions seal their records three years after completing their sentences, as long as they stay out of trouble. For felonies, the waiting period is seven years. There are exclusions in the law for sex offenses and other serious crimes.

That law is not just right. It’s also smart. But we have been lousy about putting it into practice.

Boston Business Journal: Legal clinics, legislation help residents seal records, gain employment.

In Massachusetts, more than 1 million residents live with a criminal record. In Springfield alone, tens of thousands of people carry records that limit their ability to get a job, rent an apartment or volunteer at their child’s school — even when the offense is decades old or no longer illegal. These records don’t just follow individuals; they shadow entire families and neighborhoods, deepening inequities across generations.

As local business owners in the cannabis industry, we see the lingering effects of criminalization every day. Long before Gov. Healey’s historic pardons for marijuana possession, we met customers and applicants whose lives were stalled by outdated convictions. Today, some still can’t access opportunity because the process to seal their record is confusing, costly and slow.

Boston Orange: Virtual gatherings will unite advocates, share updates, and build momentum for criminal record reform.

Clean Slate Massachusetts (CSMA) has launched a new quarterly statewide coalition meeting series - the State of the Slate: A Quarterly Huddle for Clean Slate MA Advocates - to bring together advocates, impacted individuals, and supporters working to expand access to criminal record sealing across the Commonwealth.

The first meeting took place on Monday, October 28, 2025, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. via Zoom. This interactive virtual gathering served as a hub for updates, inspiration, and action, as well as a chance to connect beyond email and social media.

In June, nineteen students and staff from the WilmerHale Legal Services Center (LSC) advocated at the Massachusetts State House through Clean Slate Massachusetts for two pending bills that will help people get a fresh start by making it easier to have criminal records sealed, as provided by current law. 

Mass Live: Saying people shouldn’t be punished twice for the same crime, city officials are pushing for legislation to automatically seal records for those who committed nonviolent crimes three to seven years after conviction.

The Clean Slate Initiative, which is now being debated in the Legislature’s Joint Committee on the Judiciary, would automatically seal records of misdemeanor crimes three years after conviction and after seven years for a felony.

Citizen Portal: ‘Clean Slate,’ or [automated] record sealing, is a simple and effective solution that will help get justice-impacted talent back to work, strengthen local businesses, and unlock economic opportunity for our entire state.

Boston Business Journal: ‘Clean Slate,’ or [automated] record sealing, is a simple and effective solution that will help get justice-impacted talent back to work, strengthen local businesses, and unlock economic opportunity for our entire state.

MassLive: For more than half a million people in Massachusetts, a proposed bill that would automatically seal certain criminal records will improve their quality of life, public health officials say.

“Years of research shows us that having a safe and secure home and access to a job equals better health outcomes,” said Andrea Freeman, policy director at the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts.

Her organization is one of the co-leaders of Clean Slate Massachusetts, a chapter of a national organization working to change state laws around criminal records. A dozen states across the country already have passed similar bills.