[20200227]LSB10413_记录刮痕：删除联邦犯罪记录和国会考虑.pdf

CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Record Scratch: Expunging Federal Criminal Records and Congressional Considerations February 27, 2020 Although states in recent years have enacted legislation concerning the expungement of criminal recordsthat is, the “process of sealing or destroying” an individuals criminal record to restore the person to the position he occupied before his involvement in the criminal justice systemfew such laws exist at the federal level. While federal law does permit expungement as a remedy for those who were invalidly or illegally arrested or convicted, it rarely does so for individuals whose arrests and subsequent dispositions were lawful, even if they ended in acquittal. Federal appellate courts disagree over whether they possess any general authority to expunge federal criminal records in such instances. This split of authority suggests there may be a role for legislation to the extent Congress is interested, and Members have introduced legislation on this front in the 116th Congress. The question of whether federal law should provide expungement for those rightfully arrested or convicted takes p