By The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 8, 2007; 3:53 PM

-- Text of a proposed American Bar Association resolution urging state and federal officials to close public access to criminal court records.

RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, territorial and local governments to limit access, to the extent permitted by the First Amendment, except by agencies and employers that are engaged in law enforcement, to:

(I) Records of closed criminal cases in which charges were dismissed, nol prossed, or otherwise not pursued; cases that resulted in acquittal; cases in which the judgment of conviction was reversed or vacated; or cases in which a guilty plea was set aside; and

(II) Records of misdemeanor and felony convictions after the passage of a specified period of law-abiding conduct, which may vary depending upon the seriousness of the offense, unless the conviction involves substantial violence, large scale drug trafficking, or conduct of equivalent gravity.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, territorial and local governments to adopt the following policies in connection with limits on access to criminal records:

(I) Any limitation on access to conviction records may have the effect of lifting collateral sanctions and disqualifications, but it should not preclude reliance on the conviction in a subsequent prosecution or sentencing;

(II) Any person or entity may file in the court in which the conviction occurred or in any other court specified by statute or regulation a petition seeking access to a conviction record to which access has been limited, and for good cause shown the court may give the moving party access to the record;

(III) Any person or entity may file in the court in which the conviction occurred or in any other court specified by statute or regulation a petition seeking to revoke an order limiting access to the record, and the court may revoke that order when the interests of justice and the public welfare support revocation, which may be the case when the person whose record is at issue is convicted of another offense; and

(IV) Appropriate remedies should be made available when unauthorized disclosure of a record to which access has been limited occurs.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, territorial and local governments to require that applications for employment or licensure, or other benefit or opportunity, other than an application for employment with a law enforcement agency, state that the applicant is neither required nor expected to report a prior arrest or conviction record to which access has been limited. Employers and other decision-makers should be prohibited from:

(I) Requiring as a condition of employment, or other benefit or opportunity, that an individual produce a copy of or otherwise disclose an arrest or conviction record to which access has been limited; and

(II) Denying employment, or other benefit or opportunity, based on any arrest or conviction record to which access has been limited.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, territorial and local governments to clearly indicate that, where access to a criminal record has been limited, the subject of the record may state in response to any inquiry, other than an inquiry from a law enforcement agency, that the arrest or conviction in question did not take place.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, territorial and local governments to prohibit credit reporting agencies, including any company providing background screening services, from disseminating any arrest or conviction record to which access has been limited, and to provide appropriate penalties for prohibited dissemination of such a record.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, territorial and local governments to require that, where access to a criminal record has been limited, all public agencies authorized to retain criminal records (including state records repositories) should impose similar limits on any records in their possession. National government databanks like the FBI III system should be promptly notified of any limits on access to records.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, territorial and local governments to make evidence of an individual's conviction inadmissible in any action alleging an employer's negligence or wrongful conduct based on hiring as long as access to a criminal record has been limited.