TRENTON -- Fulfilling a pledge he made in March to craft legislation that would give some former prison inmates a better opportunity at finding a job, Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday announced a bipartisan deal on legislation that would make it easier for criminal records to be expunged.
The governor unveiled a trio of bills that prohibit employers from discriminating against people with expunged criminal records, accelerate some expungements, increase the number of convictions that can be expunged and reduce the waiting period to expunge an entire juvenile record.
The bills are the product of closed-doors discussions with state Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-Hudson), who Christie worked with three years ago on "ban the box" legislation that requires companies to wait until they have interviewed job applicants before asking if he or she has ever been convicted of a crime.
Cunningham is the prime sponsor of three new bills that Christie says will help former drug addicts and people with criminal records find jobs.
"I commend Sen. Cunningham for working with me on this legislation that will return many more recovering addicts to their families, as productive members of society and help break the costly cycle of recidivism," Christie said in a statement.
"It prevents a childhood or adolescent mistake from ruining someone's future, while still ensuring there are appropriate consequences for unlawful behavior and lessons are learned," he said. "These reforms represent a second chance at life for our family members, friends, neighbors and coworkers, and they provide the same opportunities we would desperately want for ourselves."
Cunningham, who was in the audience at a forum for prisoner reentry when Christie announced he wanted to sign reforms before leaving office, echoed the governor's comments.
"A minor criminal offense should not lead to a lifetime of punishment," Cunningham said. "These bills are about removing barriers for residents and helping them to overcome the obstacles that exist to finding employment, taking care of their families and setting their lives on the right path."
The first bill (S3306) would strengthen ban the box legislation to include language in the original bill for people who had their records expunged.
Another bill (S3308) cuts down the waiting period to expunge an entire juvenile record from five years to three years.
The other bill (S3307) in the trio would make changes to expunging criminal records, according to the governor's office. They include:
* Allowing a petitioner to expunge up to four, instead of three, offenses or multiple offenses that occurred within a short timeframe, if the petitioner has not been convicted of any prior or subsequent offense.
* Reducing the expungement eligibility waiting period from 10 years to six years, following the latest of any conviction, payment of fine and completion of probation, parole or prison sentence.
* Further reducing the expungement eligibility waiting period if satisfaction of a fine or restitution is the petitioner's only remaining barrier and the court finds that the expungement is in the public's interest.
* Aligning expungement and sentencing statutes, allowing expungement for possession of marijuana with the intent to sell up to one ounce, which is the threshold for a fourth-degree crime.
Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook.