In this time of divided state government — where Gov. Tony Evers’ budget and proposed building projects are declared dead on arrival — there is one area of broad, bipartisan agreement: that you are too stupid and too mean to be trusted with information about what happens in our courts.
Okay, maybe not you personally, but a big-enough share of the public to drive policy.
A bill now speeding through the Legislature — a vote could come as early as next week — will greatly expand the availability of expungement for people convicted of minor offenses. The bill, SB-39, would end Wisconsin’s rule, unique among the states, that expunction can only be granted if it is sought at the time of sentencing. It would allow expungement to be sought by anyone, not just those under 25. And it clarifies that an expunged case cannot be considered a conviction for employment purposes.
Having served on two Legislative Council committees that studied expungement-related issues, in 2006 and 2011, I support these changes, and hope some version of this bill passes. My only quarrel is what happens when a conviction is expunged. The court files are sealed — the clerk of court cannot even confirm they exist — and the case is purged from the state’s online court records system, Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, or WCCA, often incorrectly called CCAP.
Supporters of this change want these records to disappear. They believe this must happen for the people involved to have any chance of a normal life, because employers and landlords will otherwise reject them.
No study has ever nailed down how often this happens. Legislators never check out the stories of people who accuse “CCAP” of ruining their life. No one questions claims that people with criminal records cannot get jobs or housing, no matter how minor the offense or how long ago it happened.
“In Wisconsin, an estimated 1.4 million individuals have criminal records, which may pose a major impediment to securing a job.” That’s the first line of the executive summary of “A Fresh Start,” Wisconsin Policy Forum’s recent report urging changes to Wisconsin’s expungement laws.
Um, let’s do the math. Wisconsin has a workforce of around 3.1 million people and an unemployment rate of 3 percent, or about 94,000 workers. If there are 1.4 million people with criminal records and only 94,000 workers without jobs, that means at least 1.3 million people with records have jobs.
Maybe that’s because employers need workers. Maybe it is because they are reasonable people. Maybe the vast majority of Wisconsin residents are reasonable, and will not immediately discriminate against others based on criminal conviction.
The proponents of purging records think that is crazy talk.
Last year, the director of state courts ordered the removal of records of dismissed cases from WCCA after two years, a change prompted by a study committee on which I served. I was among the minority in opposition. One committee member in favor was state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who said he regularly hires ex-cons in his various businesses, and finds them to be excellent workers.
But Vos pushed for purging records — and even dumping WCCA altogether — because he does not believe other people can behave as exemplary as himself.
And that, however ridiculous, is the essence of purgemania: “I am a good person who believes people deserve second chances and should not face bias for minor criminal convictions; but other people are not nearly as good as I am and will discriminate brazenly and illegally. Thus we must keep them from knowing about these convictions.”
The bill to increase the eligibility of expungement has backing from Democratic and Republican lawmakers as well as groups ranging from the Wisconsin ACLU to the Koch Brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity. Committees in both houses of the Legislature have held hearings and overwhelmingly voted to support passage.
Meanwhile, Gov. Evers wants to allow expungement for small-time pot convictions. And lawmakers are pushing to extend this privilege to first-time drunk drivers who do all the right things for a period of time — because God forbid that the guy applying to drive your kids’ school bus should have that hanging over his head. (Employers can refuse to hire people convicted of crimes substantially related to a given job, if they know about them.)
And as more records are sealed and purged, the more pressure there will be from others to join this club. In time, WCCA will no longer be a comprehensive source of information about what happens in our courts. Rather, it will become a compendium of guilty people — those unable to get their names and case information removed.
I believe the people of Wisconsin — that is, you — can be trusted to know the truth about what happens in our courts. You should even be allowed to know that some convictions are expunged, because a court decided that was in the public interest.
But state lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans alike, don’t think you are good enough.
Bill Lueders is editor of The Progressive and president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council.
