Time to Beg Your Pardon

Have you been convicted of a crime in Pennsylvania? There are complicated rules that apply to minor misdemeanors and summary offenses, those who have completed an ARD program, and those who won their cases at trial or had the charges dismissed – which permit expungement (erasure) of criminal records. But if you were convicted of a felony, more serious misdemeanor, or have multiple convictions, a pardon may be your only option to erase your criminal record. If you fall into this category, there is great news for you – courtesy of Governor Tom Wolf.

Governor Wolf has long promised to make it easier to get pardons in Pennsylvania. Not too long ago he promised that he would streamline the process, make sure more pardons are granted, and reduce the time to get a pardon from roughly four years to one year. It appears that he’s made good on 2 of the 3 promises (and reduced the time to get a pardon from 4 years to 2 years). The Philadelphia Inquirer recently reported that the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons now recommends pardons for 84% of the petitions heard. This puts the state on a pace ahead of last year’s record of 458 pardons granted. Governor Wolf signs over 98% of the pardons that make it to his desk. These numbers are a bit misleading, as some pardons are denied without a hearing – so those applications are not included in the aforementioned statistics. But the message is clear – pardons are not encouraged and will be granted if they are even remotely appropriate.

Traditionally, people were encouraged to apply for a pardon if more than a decade had passed since the conviction and the person had a good “backstory.” For instance, the offense occurred 10 years ago when the person was 18, still in high school, and had no family. Now he has a family, a job, he is a more mature 28 year old, and the conviction is keeping him from getting better employment. If he could show that the state didn’t really need to track his conviction he had a very good argument for a pardon. Now, with standards being loosened, it might be a good gamble for someone even less deserving of a pardon to try for one. There are no clear standards for who gets a pardon and who doesn’t – it is entirely up to the discretion of the Board of Pardons and the Governor. The cost to hire a lawyer for a pardon is not cheap, but it’s probably a fraction of the increased earning potential most people will have when they can apply for and get jobs that are currently precluded for them due to background checks. This makes the cost-benefit analysis well worth it for most individuals.

We strongly recommend that anyone considering this process give us a call and run their situation past us (at no charge). We do find that many people have no idea what factors are relevant – many who look to have a good chance think they have a poor chance and vice-versa. It’s definitely worth a call to one of our attorneys to ask about the details of your particular case. We now handle pardon applications anywhere across the state of Pennsylvania (for convictions that occurred in Pennsylvania only). Call us at (215) 997-1000.