Clean slate legislation would seal records, expand workforce opportunities across Mass.

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 Healey’s historic pardons for marijuana possession, we met customers and applicants whose lives were stalled by outdated convictions.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.