And don’t count on the “Clean Slate” law to be of much help. We advise anyone who has been arrested for any offense which did not lead to a conviction to have that arrest record expunged. Though serving time is certainly hard, there are many who say that it’s harder still to turn your life around, only to find that the years-old conviction is still haunting you and keeping you from pursuing your dreams. Your purchase includes access to the course and course materials for 90 days.

This course includes video recorded from a live Lycoming Law Association CLE presentation. And to further emaciate the law, the legislature requires that the person be crime free for ten years before the conviction is sealed.Īn Expungement completely obliterates a criminal arrest record and allows the person to answer “NO” to the question “Have you ever been arrested for…….?” One of the most challenging aspects of being convicted of a crime comes long after sentencing. The course also includes information about Pro Bono opportunities related to the Clean Slate Act and an overview of the Rules of Professional Conduct relating to Pro Bono work. They are still visible to law enforcement, government agencies and employers required to do FBI background checks.

Here is the difference: although Expungements can be undertaken only when there is a dismissal or acquittal and the “Clean Slate” law can erase actual convictions, only low-grade (M3 and M2) convictions are affected, worse, these convictions are not truly expunged (or destroyed) but are simply hidden from ‘public” view.

The law in no way takes the place of Expungements. It should not come as any surprise that Pennsylvania’s highly touted “clean slate” law is a lame effort. The Clean Slate amendments, generally speaking, were designed to increase the number of felony and misdemeanor convictions that could be set aside.

Pa clean slate law