Criminal Justice Reform Proposal Would Allow Ex-Cons to Sue if Their Sealed Records are Released

Gov. Nathan Deal’s criminal justice reform council will present a slew of policy changes to the state Legislature next month aimed at making it easier for rehabilitated ex-convicts to obtain jobs and housing.

Many of those proposals would affect the practice of law in Georgia.

The Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform unanimously voted Wednesday to support creating a private cause of action for citizens so they can sue reporting agencies and other private companies that publish incorrect or sealed criminal histories. The impetus behind the proposal is protection of offenders who have satisfied their sentencing requirements, completed mandatory treatment programs and been deemed to present a low risk of re-offending, including those convicted under the state’s first offender statute.

Initially, the council entertained allowing citizens to sue consumer reporting agencies if they disclosed sealed or incorrect criminal histories to prospective employers. After discussion Wednesday, the members decided to broaden the proposal to encompass for-profit websites that publish mug shots and other criminal records, some of which the council deemed predatory because they charge citizens to remove posts.

“It’s a way to use the private, civil process as opposed to the bureaucratic or criminal process to regulate those activities, thus making the private agencies more cautious and limiting [dissemination] to what the state says should be in the public record,” said council member Paul Bolster, executive director of the Georgia Supportive Housing Association.

via Criminal Justice Reform Proposal Would Allow Ex-Cons to Sue if Their Sealed Records are Released.