[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3156 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3156

 To provide for the expungement and sealing of youth criminal records, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 2015

   Ms. Jackson Lee (for herself, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Bass, Ms. Brown of 
   Florida, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Clay, Ms. 
Clarke of New York, Mr. Cohen, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Danny K. Davis 
   of Illinois, Mr. Deutch, Ms. Edwards, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Hahn, Mr. 
Jeffries, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Lee, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Nadler, Ms. 
    Norton, Mr. Payne, Mr. Pierluisi, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Richmond, Mr. 
 Serrano, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. 
 Veasey, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Peters, Ms. Maxine Waters of California, Mr. 
 Hinojosa, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Al Green of Texas, and Mr. Castro of Texas) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the expungement and sealing of youth criminal records, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Chance for Youth Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. YOUTH SEALING AND EXPUNGEMENT.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 229 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

   ``SUBCHAPTER D--EXPUNGEMENT AND SEALING OF YOUTH CRIMINAL RECORDS

``Sec.
``3631. Youth Offense Expungement and Sealing Review Board.
``3632. Expungement and sealing for youth.
``3633. Definitions.
``3634. Reporting.
``Sec. 3631. Youth Offense Expungement and Sealing Review Board
    ``(a) In General.--The Chief Judge for each Federal District shall 
establish--
            ``(1) a Youth Offense Expungement and Sealing Review Board 
        (hereinafter in this section referred to as the `Review Board') 
        to review petitions for discretionary expungement and sealing 
        of youth offenses; and
            ``(2) the rules and procedures governing the operation of 
        the Review Board in the exercise of its powers under subsection 
        (c).
    ``(b) Composition.--The Review Board shall include one 
representative, selected by the Chief Judge to serve without 
compensation, from each of the following:
            ``(1) The Department of Justice.
            ``(2) The United States Probation and Pretrial Services 
        System.
            ``(3) The Office of the Federal Defender or a designated 
        Criminal Justice Act panel attorney or private criminal defense 
        attorney.
    ``(c) Powers.--The Review Board shall--
            ``(1) review petitions under this subchapter to determine 
        whether the youth, and the offense on which the petition is 
        based, meet the eligibility requirements for expungement or 
        sealing consideration;
            ``(2) for petitions meeting the eligibility requirements, 
        evaluate those petitions on the merits in order to make a 
        recommendation on the advisability of granting the petition; 
        and
            ``(3) convey its recommendation, with a written 
        explanation, to the Chief Judge in each Federal District, or a 
        designee of the Chief Judge, for consideration.
    ``(d) Recommendation.--In making its recommendation, the Review 
Board--
            ``(1) shall consider all the evidence and testimony 
        presented in the petition and any hearings held on the 
        petition;
            ``(2) may not consider any arrest or prosecution that did 
        not result in a conviction and that took place prior to the 
        conviction or arrest the petitioner is seeking to expunge or 
        seal; and
            ``(3) shall balance--
                    ``(A) the public safety, the interest of public 
                knowledge, and any legitimate interest of the 
                Government in maintaining the accessibility of the 
                protected information; against
                    ``(B) the interest of the petitioner in having the 
                petition granted, including the benefit to the 
                petition's ability to positively contribute to the 
                community, and the petitioner's conduct and 
                demonstrated desire to be rehabilitated.
    ``(e) Court To Consider and Decide Upon Petitions.--The Court shall 
consider and decide upon each petition for which the court receives a 
recommendation from the Review Board. The Court's decision to grant or 
deny the petition shall give significant weight to the Review Board 
recommendation. The Court shall grant the petition unless the 
Government shows the interests described in subsection (d)(3)(A) 
outweigh the interests of the petitioner described in subsection 
(d)(3)(B).
    ``(f) One Opportunity.--A youth may only file a petition for 
expungement or sealing under this subchapter once and the decision of 
the district court on the petition shall be final and is not 
appealable.
    ``(g) Online Forms for Petitions.--The Director of the 
Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall create and make 
available to the public, online and in paper form, a universal form to 
file a petition under this section, and establish a process under which 
indigent petitioners may obtain a waiver of any fee for filing a 
petition under this section.
    ``(h) Making Available Standard Forms for Court Orders.--The 
Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall 
create and make available to the Chief Judge of every Federal district 
standard expungement and sealing orders that empower the petitioner to 
seek destruction of records in accordance with the order.
``Sec. 3632. Expungement and sealing for youth
    ``(a) Expungement Petition Eligibility.--A youth may petition a 
district court of the United States for expungement--
            ``(1) of the record of any misdemeanor or nonviolent felony 
        drug conviction 3 years after the youth has completed every 
        term of imprisonment related to that misdemeanor or nonviolent 
        felony drug conviction;
            ``(2) of the record of any person who has not attained the 
        age of 18 at the time of committing the conduct resulting in 
        conviction for any misdemeanor or nonviolent offense 3 years 
        after the person has completed every term of imprisonment 
        related to that misdemeanor or nonviolent offense conviction; 
        and
            ``(3) of the record of an arrest or prosecution for any 
        nonviolent offense on the date on which the case related to 
        that arrest or prosecution is disposed of.
    ``(b) Sealing Petition Eligibility.--A youth may petition a 
district court of the United States, for sealing--
            ``(1) of the record of any nonviolent conviction 5 years 
        after the youth has completed every term of imprisonment 
        related to that nonviolent conviction;
            ``(2) of the record of any person who has not attained the 
        age of 18 at the time of committing the conduct resulting in 
        conviction for any offense 10 years after the person has 
        completed every term of imprisonment related to that offense 
        conviction; and
            ``(3) of the record of an arrest or prosecution for any 
        nonviolent offense on the date on which the case related to 
        that arrest or prosecution is disposed of.
    ``(c) Notice of Opportunity To File Petition.--A youth shall be 
informed of the eligibility to, procedures for, and benefits of filing 
an expungement or sealing petition--
            ``(1) by the District Court on the date of conviction;
            ``(2) by the Office of Probation and Pretrial Services on 
        the date the youth completes every term of imprisonment; or
            ``(3) if the arrest or prosecution does not result in a 
        conviction, then by the Department of Justice on the date the 
        case is disposed of.
    ``(d) Grant of Petition.--If a court grants a petition under this 
section--
            ``(1) the person to whom the record pertains may choose to, 
        but is not required to, disclose the existence of the record, 
        and the offense conduct and any arrest, juvenile delinquency 
        proceeding, adjudication, conviction, or other result of such 
        proceeding relating to the offense conduct, shall be treated as 
        if it never occurred;
            ``(2) the court shall destroy each paper and electronic 
        copy of the record in the possession of the court;
            ``(3) the court shall issue an expungement or sealing order 
        requiring the destruction of any paper and electronic copies of 
        the record by any court, law enforcement officer, law 
        enforcement agency, treatment or rehabilitation services 
        agency, or employee thereof in possession of those copies;
            ``(4) any entity or person listed in paragraph (3) that 
        receives an inquiry relating to the record shall reply to the 
        inquiry stating that no such record exists; and
            ``(5) except as provided in subsection (f), no person shall 
        not be subject to prosecution under any civil or criminal 
        provision of Federal or State law relating to perjury, false 
        swearing, or making a false statement for failing to 
        acknowledge the record or respond to any inquiry made of the of 
        petitioner or the parent relating to the record, for any 
        purpose.
    ``(e) Civil Actions.--
            ``(1) In general.--If an individual who has a record 
        expunged or sealed under this section brings an action that 
        might be defended with the contents of the record, there shall 
        be a rebuttable presumption that the defendant has a complete 
        defense to the action.
            ``(2) Showing by plaintiff.--In an action described in 
        paragraph (1), the plaintiff may rebut the presumption of a 
        complete defense by showing that the contents of the record 
        would not prevent the defendant from being liable.
            ``(3) Duty to testify as to existence of record.--The court 
        in which an action described in paragraph (1) is filed may 
        require the plaintiff to state under oath whether the plaintiff 
        had a record and whether the record was expunged or sealed.
            ``(4) Proof of existence of record.--If the plaintiff in an 
        action described in paragraph (1) denied the existence of a 
        record, the defendant may prove the existence of the record in 
        any manner compatible with the applicable laws of evidence.
    ``(f) Attorney General Nonpublic Records.--The Attorney General 
shall--
            ``(1) maintain a nonpublic database of all records expunged 
        or sealed under this subchapter;
            ``(2) disclose, access, or utilize records contained in the 
        nonpublic database only--
                    ``(A) in defense of any civil suit arising out of 
                the facts contained in the record;
                    ``(B) to determine whether the individual to whom 
                the record relates is eligible for a first-time-
                offender diversion program;
                    ``(C) for a background check that relates to law 
                enforcement employment or any employment that requires 
                a Government security clearance; or
                    ``(D) if the Attorney General determines that 
                disclosure is necessary to serve the interests of 
                national security; and
            ``(3) to the extent practicable, notify the individual to 
        whom the record pertains of the disclosure unless it is made 
        pursuant to paragraph (2)(D).
``Sec. 3633. Definitions
    ``In this subchapter--
            ``(1) the term `youth' means an individual who was 21 years 
        of age or younger at the time of the criminal offense for which 
        the individual was arrested, prosecuted, or sentenced;
            ``(2) the term `nonviolent felony' means a Federal criminal 
        felony offense that is not--
                    ``(A) a crime of violence; or
                    ``(B) a sex offense (as that term is defined in 
                section 111 of the Sex Offender Registration and 
                Notification Act);
            ``(3) the term `record' means information, whether in paper 
        or electronic form, containing any reference to--
                    ``(A) an arrest, conviction, or sentence of an 
                individual for an offense;
                    ``(B) the institution of juvenile delinquency or 
                criminal proceedings against an individual for the 
                offense; or
                    ``(C) adjudication, conviction, or any other result 
                of juvenile delinquency or criminal proceedings;
            ``(4) the term `expunge'--
                    ``(A) means to destroy a record and obliterate the 
                name of the person to whom the record pertains from 
                each official index or public record; and
                    ``(B) has the effect described in section 3631(g), 
                including--
                            ``(i) the right to treat an offense to 
                        which an expunged record relates, and any 
                        arrest, juvenile delinquency proceeding, 
                        adjudication, conviction, or other result of 
                        such proceeding relating to the offense, as if 
                        it never occurred; and
                            ``(ii) protection from civil and criminal 
                        perjury, false swearing, and false statement 
                        laws with respect to an expunged record;
            ``(5) the term `seal'--
                    ``(A) means--
                            ``(i) to close a record from public viewing 
                        so that the record cannot be examined except by 
                        court order; and
                            ``(ii) to physically seal the record shut 
                        and label the record `SEALED' or, in the case 
                        of an electronic record, the substantive 
                        equivalent; and
                    ``(B) has the effect described in section 3631(g), 
                including--
                            ``(i) the right to treat an offense to 
                        which an expunged record relates, and any 
                        arrest, juvenile delinquency proceeding, 
                        adjudication, conviction, or other result of 
                        such proceeding relating to the offense, as if 
                        it never occurred; and
                            ``(ii) protection from civil and criminal 
                        perjury, false swearing, and false statement 
                        laws with respect to an expunged record;
            ``(6) the term `conviction'--
                    ``(A) means a judgment or disposition in criminal 
                court against a person following a finding of guilt by 
                a judge or jury; and
                    ``(B) for the purposes of this section--
                            ``(i) multiple convictions shall be deemed 
                        to be one conviction if the convictions result 
                        from or relate to the same act or acts 
                        committed at the same time; and
                            ``(ii) multiple convictions, not to exceed 
                        3, that do not result from or relate to the 
                        same act or acts committed at the same time 
                        shall be deemed to be one conviction if the 
                        convictions result from or relate to the same 
                        indictment, information, or complaint, or plea 
                        of guilty; and
            ``(7) the term `destroy' means to render a file unreadable, 
        whether paper, electronic, or otherwise stored, by shredding, 
        pulverizing, pulping, incinerating, overwriting, reformatting 
        the media, or other means.
``Sec. 3634. Reporting
    ``Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this 
subchapter, and each year thereafter, the Attorney General shall issue 
a public report that--
            ``(1) describes--
                    ``(A) the number of expungement and sealing 
                petitions granted and denied; and
                    ``(B) the number of instances in which the office 
                of a United States attorney supported or opposed an 
                expungement or sealing petition; and
            ``(2) includes any supporting data that the court 
        determines relevant but does not name any petitioner.''.

SEC. 3. RETROACTIVE EFFECT.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act apply with respect to 
youth without regard to whether they become involved in the Federal 
criminal justice system before, on, or after the date of the enactment 
of this Act.
                                 <all>