Articles

The Diversionary Unit of the Philadelphia District Attorneys Office is looking for participants to  join a pilot program for defendants charged with non-violent felony crimes into a year-long program operated in conjunction with the Community College of Philadelphia. Specifically they are seeking: Philadelphia residents; Age 24 or older; No violent offenses associated with past or […]

A few months ago, we posted about how United States District Judge John Gleeson of the Eastern District of New York ordered a federal fraud conviction to be expunged.  Now, the New York Times Editorial Board, based on Judge Gleeson’s decision is urging action to confront the frightening fact that more than a quarter of […]

We wrote a few months ago of how the State Senate had passed a bill to liberalize expungement in Pennsylvania.    As you’ll recall, expungement is the process by which someone convicted of certain crimes may be able to have governmental records of that event wiped clean from the system (for more on expungement generally, […]

Earlier this week, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office announced it had agreed with all 40 local municipal police forces to purchase a third-party DNA database.   The BodeHITS database, costing approximately $600,000 per year, will allow  individuals to enter evidence and check for matches.    The results are then shared between the various municipal […]

Under the Criminal History Record Information Act, those with criminal convictions, who have already fully paid their debt to society, cannot be discriminated against unreasonably through a company’s employment practices.  The Act covers arrests and convictions unrelated to the position sought.    You may recall that back in May, we described the process and importance of […]