Why is confidentiality for juvenile records so important?
The consequences of a record can follow young people into adulthood. These records can mean life-long barriers to employment, education, and housing. They can prevent young people from growing up to become foster parents or having a career in the military.
Juvenile records are not a good measure of public safety risk.
95% of youth arrests nationwide are for nonviolent offenses.
A young person who has not been re-arrested four years after their last juvenile arrest is no more likely to re-offend than someone in the general population.
Records can contain incorrect information.
Young people can change.
Why isn’t sealing sufficient?
Sealing does not provide adequate protection against the harmful impact of a permanent juvenile court record. Summer jobs for teens have been tied to a 43% reduction in juvenile arrest, yet juvenile court records, including non-conviction information, are accessible to certain teen employers and a three year wait for sealing non-convictions could prevent a young person from getting a summer job. Since sealed records are not destroyed, they can still be accessed in limited situations. When they are accessed, sealed records are reported to police and court agencies as “sealed delinquency record over three years old.” Because this indicates nothing about the case, individuals may assume that the child was adjudicated delinquent for a serious offense. For this reason, attorneys often advise clients against sealing a juvenile record that contains minor offenses or charges that were dismissed. Sealing provides little protection against the harms of a permanent juvenile court record.
Expanding expungement would offer a second chance to many across Massachusetts. It would mean fewer lifelong barriers to employment, housing, and education for those who made mistakes as children and teenagers. It would be an opportunity to tackle high rates of recidivism, especially for young adults, who return to courts and prisons more often than any other age group. States where there are minimal administrative barriers to sealing and/or expunging juvenile records have significantly reduced re-arrest/recidivism rates and increased college graduation rates and incomes as these young people transition to adulthood.