Clean Start Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 423 To provide for the sealing of records relating to Federal nonviolent criminal offenses related to substance use disorders, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 7, 2019 Mr. MANCHIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide for the sealing of records relating to Federal nonviolent criminal offenses related to substance use dis- orders, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean Start Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. SEALING OF CRIMINAL RECORDS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 229 of title 18, United 6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘Subchapter E—Sealing of Criminal Records 9 ‘‘Sec. VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S423.IS S423 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 423 IS ‘‘3641. Definitions. ‘‘3642. Sealing petition. ‘‘3643. Effect of sealing order. ‘‘§ 3641. Definitions 1 ‘‘In this subchapter— 2 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered nonviolent offense’ 3 means a Federal criminal offense that is not— 4 ‘‘(A) a crime of violence (as that term is 5 defined in section 16); 6 ‘‘(B) a sex offense (as that term is defined 7 in section 111 of the Sex Offender Registration 8 and Notification Act (42 U.S.C. 16911)); 9 ‘‘(C) an offense involving a victim under 10 the age of 18 years; or 11 ‘‘(D) a serious drug offense (as that term 12 is defined in section 3559(c)(2)); 13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered treatment program’ 14 means a substance use disorder treatment program 15 or recovery support program that is licensed, cer- 16 tified, or accredited by a State or national accredita- 17 tion body, including peer-driven and sober-living pro- 18 grams; 19 ‘‘(3) the term ‘eligible individual’ means an in- 20 dividual who— 21 ‘‘(A) has been arrested for or convicted of 22 a qualifying offense; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S423.IS S423 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 423 IS ‘‘(B) in the case of a conviction described 1 in subparagraph (A)— 2 ‘‘(i) has fulfilled each requirement of 3 the sentence for the qualifying offense, in- 4 cluding— 5 ‘‘(I) completing each term of im- 6 prisonment, probation, or supervised 7 release; and 8 ‘‘(II) satisfying each condition of 9 imprisonment, probation, or super- 10 vised release; 11 ‘‘(ii) has satisfactorily completed a 12 covered treatment program; and 13 ‘‘(iii) has rendered service for a period 14 of not less than 180 days— 15 ‘‘(I) as a peer mentor in a sub- 16 stance use disorder peer mentorship 17 program; or 18 ‘‘(II) if service described in sub- 19 clause (I) is not practicable, as a vol- 20 unteer; 21 ‘‘(C) has not been convicted of more than 22 2 felonies that are covered nonviolent offenses, 23 including any such convictions that have been 24 sealed; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S423.IS S423 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 423 IS ‘‘(D) has not been convicted of any felony 1 that is not a covered nonviolent offense; 2 ‘‘(4) the term ‘petitioner’ means an individual 3 who files a sealing petition; 4 ‘‘(5) the term ‘protected information’, with re- 5 spect to a qualifying offense, means any reference 6 to— 7 ‘‘(A) an arrest, conviction, or sentence of 8 an individual for the offense; 9 ‘‘(B) the institution of criminal pro- 10 ceedings against an individual for the offense; 11 or 12 ‘‘(C) the result of criminal proceedings de- 13 scribed in subparagraph (B); 14 ‘‘(6) the term ‘qualifying offense’ means— 15 ‘‘(A) a covered nonviolent offense com- 16 mitted by an individual whose substance use 17 disorder is a substantial contributing factor in 18 the commission of the offense, as determined by 19 a court reviewing a sealing petition with respect 20 to the offense under section 3642(b)(3)(A)(i); 21 or 22 ‘‘(B) in the case of an arrest for an offense 23 that does not result in a conviction, a covered 24 nonviolent offense with respect to which the act 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S423.IS S423 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 423 IS that would have constituted the offense is com- 1 mitted by an individual whose substance use 2 disorder is a substantial contributing factor in 3 the commission of the act, as determined by a 4 court reviewing a sealing petition with respect 5 to the offense under section 3642(b)(3)(A)(i); 6 ‘‘(7) the term ‘seal’— 7 ‘‘(A) means— 8 ‘‘(i) to close a record from public 9 viewing so that the record cannot be exam- 10 ined except by court order; and 11 ‘‘(ii) to physically seal the record shut 12 and label the record ‘SEALED’ or, in the 13 case of an electronic record, the sub- 14 stantive equivalent; and 15 ‘‘(B) has the effect described in section 16 3643, including— 17 ‘‘(i) the right to treat the offense to 18 which a sealed record relates, and any ar- 19 rest, criminal proceeding, conviction, or 20 sentence relating to the offense, as if it 21 never occurred; and 22 ‘‘(ii) protection from civil and criminal 23 perjury, false swearing, and false state- 24 ment laws with respect to a sealed record; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S423.IS S423 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 423 IS ‘‘(8) the term ‘sealing hearing’ means a hearing 1 held under section 3642(b)(2); 2 ‘‘(9) the term ‘sealing petition’ means a petition 3 for a sealing order filed under section 3642(a); and 4 ‘‘(10) the term ‘substance use disorder peer 5 mentorship program’ means a peer mentorship pro- 6 gram at a covered treatment program. 7 ‘‘§ 3642. Sealing petition 8 ‘‘(a) RIGHT TO FILE SEALING PETITION.— 9 ‘‘(1) DATE OF ELIGIBILITY.— 10 ‘‘(A) CONVICTED INDIVIDUALS.— 11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—On and after the 12 date that is 3 years after the applicable 13 date under clause (ii), an eligible individual 14 who was convicted of a qualifying offense 15 and has not been arrested for or convicted 16 of a substance use-related offense since 17 that applicable date may file a petition for 18 a sealing order with respect to the quali- 19 fying offense in a district court of the 20 United States. 21 ‘‘(ii) APPLICABLE DATE.—The appli- 22 cable date— 23 ‘‘(I) for an eligible individual who 24 was convicted of a qualifying offense 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S423.IS S423 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 423 IS and sentenced to a term of imprison- 1 ment, probation, or supervised release 2 is the date on which the eligible indi- 3 vidual has fulfilled each requirement 4 under section 3641(3)(B)(i); and 5 ‘‘(II) for an eligible individual 6 who was convicted of a qualifying of- 7 fense and not sentenced to a term of 8 imprisonment, probation, or super- 9 vised release is the date on which the 10 case relating to the qualifying offense 11 is disposed of. 12 ‘‘(iii) VIOLATION OF 3-YEAR GOOD BE- 13 HAVIOR REQUIREMENT.— 14 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—An eligible 15 individual who is prohibited from fil- 16 ing a petition for a sealing order with 17 respect to a qualifying offense under 18 clause (i) because the individual is ar- 19 rested for or convicted of a substance 20 use-related offense on or after the ap- 21 plicable date under clause (ii) may file 22 such a petition on or after the date as 23 of which not less than 3 years have 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S423.IS S423 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 423 IS elapsed since the last such arrest or 1 conviction. 2 ‘‘(II) RULE OF CONSTRUC- 3 TION.—Nothing in subclause (I) shall 4 be construed to allow an eligible indi- 5 vidual to file more than 1 petition for 6 a sealing order with respect to a par- 7 ticular qualifying offense. 8 ‘‘(B) INDIVIDUALS NOT CONVICTED.—An 9 eligible individual who is arrested for but not 10 convicted of a qualifying offense may file a peti- 11 tion for a sealing order with respect to the 12 qualifying offense in a district court of the 13 United States on and after the date on which 14 the case relating to the offense is disposed of. 15 ‘‘(2) NOTICE OF OPPORTUNITY TO FILE PETI- 16 TION.— 17 ‘‘(A) CONVICTED INDIVIDUALS.— 18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If an individual is 19 convicted of a covered nonviolent offense 20 and will potentially be eligible to file a 21 sealing petition with respect to the offense 22 upon fulfilling each requirement under sec- 23 tion 3641(3)(B), the court in which the in- 24 dividual is convicted shall, in writing, in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S423.IS S423 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 423 IS form the individual, on each date described 1 in clause (ii) of this subparagraph, of— 2 ‘‘(I) that potential eligibility; 3 ‘‘(II) the necessary procedures 4 for filing the sealing petition; and 5 ‘‘(III) the benefits of sealing a 6 record, including protection from civil 7 and criminal perjury, false swearing, 8 and false statement laws with respect 9 to the record. 10 ‘‘(ii) DATES.—The dates described in 11 this clause are— 12 ‘‘(I) the date on which the indi- 13 vidual is convicted; and 14 ‘‘(II) the date on which the indi- 15 vidual has fulfilled each requirement 16 under section 3641(3)(B)(i). 17 ‘‘(B) INDIVIDUALS NOT CONVICTED.— 18 ‘‘(i) ARREST ONLY.—If an individual 19 is arrested for a covered nonviolent of- 20 fense, criminal proceedings are not insti- 21 tuted against the individual for the offense, 22 and the individual is potentially eligible to 23 file a sealing petition with respect to the 24 offense, on the date on which the case re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S423.IS S423 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 423 IS lating to the offense is disposed of, the ar- 1 resting authority shall, in writing, inform 2 the individual of— 3 ‘‘(I) that potential eligibility; 4 ‘‘(II) the necessary procedures 5 for filing the sealing petition; and 6 ‘‘(III) the benefits of sealing a 7 record, including protection from civil 8 and criminal perjury, false swearing, 9 and false statement laws with respect 10 to the record. 11 ‘‘(ii) COURT PROCEEDINGS.—If an in- 12 dividual is arrested for a covered non- 13 violent offense, criminal proceedings are in- 14 stituted against the individual for the of- 15 fense, the individual is not convicted of the 16 offense, and the individual is potentially el- 17 igible to file a sealing petition with respect 18 to the offense, on the date on which the 19 case relating to the offense is disposed of, 20 the court in which the criminal proceedings 21 take place shall, in writing, inform the in- 22 dividual of— 23 ‘‘(I) that potential eligibility; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S423.IS S423 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 423 IS ‘‘(II) the necessary procedures 1 for filing the sealing petition; and 2 ‘‘(III) the benefits of sealing a 3 record, including protection from civil 4 and criminal perjury, false swearing, 5 and false statement laws with respect 6 to the record. 7 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURES.— 8 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION TO PROSECUTOR AND 9 OTHER INDIVIDUALS.—If an individual files a peti- 10 tion under subsection (a) with respect to a quali- 11 fying offense, the district court in which the petition 12 is filed shall provide notice of the petition— 13 ‘‘(A) to the office of the United States at- 14 torney that prosecuted or would have pros- 15 ecuted the petitioner for the offense; and 16 ‘‘(B) upon the request of the petitioner, to 17 any other individual that the petitioner deter- 18 mines may testify as to the— 19 ‘‘(i) conduct of the petitioner since the 20 date of the offense or arrest; or 21 ‘‘(ii) reasons that the sealing order 22 should be entered. 23 ‘‘(2) HEARING.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S423.IS S423 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 423 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 1 days after the date on which an individual files 2 a sealing petition, the district court shall— 3 ‘‘(i) except as provided in subpara- 4 graph (D), conduct a hearing in accord- 5 ance with subparagraph (B); and 6 ‘‘(ii) determine whether to enter a 7 sealing order for the individual in accord- 8 ance with paragraph (3). 9 ‘‘(B) OPPORTUNITY TO TESTIFY AND 10 OFFER EVIDENCE.— 11 ‘‘(i) PETITIONER.—The petitioner 12 may testify or offer evidence at the sealing 13 hearing in support of sealing, including 14 evidence of ongoing sobriety. 15 ‘‘(ii) PROSECUTOR.—The office of a 16 United States attorney that receives notice 17 under paragraph (1)(A) may send a rep- 18 resentative to testify or offer evidence at 19 the sealing hearing in support of or 20 against sealing. 21 ‘‘(iii) OTHER INDIVIDUALS.—An indi- 22 vidual who receives notice under paragraph 23 (1)(B) may testify or offer evidence at the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S423.IS S423 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 423 IS sealing hearing as to the issues described 1 in clauses (i) and (ii) of that paragraph. 2 ‘‘(C) MAGISTRATE JUDGES.—A magistrate 3 judge may preside over a hearing under this 4 paragraph. 5 ‘‘(D) WAIVER OF HEARING.—If the peti- 6 tioner and the United States attorney that re- 7 ceives notice under paragraph (1)(A) so agree, 8 the court shall make a determination under 9 paragraph (3) without a hearing. 10 ‘‘(3) BASIS FOR DECISION.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In determining wheth- 12 er to enter a sealing order with respect to pro- 13 tected information relating to a covered non- 14 violent offense, the court shall— 15 ‘‘(i) determine whether the offense is 16 a qualifying offense based on evidence that 17 the petitioner suffered from an active sub- 18 stance use disorder at the time of the com- 19 mission of the offense; 20 ‘‘(ii) consider— 21 ‘‘(I) the petition and any docu- 22 ments in the possession of the court; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Feb 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S423.IS S423 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 423 IS ‘‘(II) all the evidence and testi- 1 mony presented at the sealing [Text truncated for display. 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