Mathew Higbee, Chairman of the Foundation for Continuing Justice, testified in favor of changes to California’s expungement law in front of the California State Assembly Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, June 25th. Higbee was speaking in support of Senate Bill 530 (SB 530), authored by Senator Roderick Wright.
Higbee told the committee that California’s current expungement law does not achieve the public policy goals often associated with expungement, because some employers still discriminate on the basis of expunged cases. “It is an incredible waste of human capital,” says Higbee.
The current version of the bill (which Higbee says will probably be amended prior to implementation) would increase the protections provided to those who have had their record expunged by preventing expunged convictions from appearing on most categories of the California Department of Justice Criminal Record Reports (commonly called Live Scan reports).
Senate Bill 530, which has already been approved by the Senate, was passed on Tuesday by the Assembly Judiciary Committee by a vote of 6 to 3. The bill must now be approved the Assembly Appropriations Committee before being forwarded to the floor for a vote by the full Assembly.
Mathew Higbee testifying before the California State Assembly’s Public Safety Committee.