Both of our mothers taught us a version of the aphorism “Let go of the past and allow each day to be a new beginning.”
This month, the Redeem Act took effect, allowing justice-involved individuals here in Montgomery County and throughout Maryland to finally have the opportunity to move beyond past mistakes and start their lives anew.
The Redeem Act is the largest criminal justice reform in almost a decade and an important step in transforming Maryland’s expungement law. Its immediate effect is expanding access to jobs, creating economic stability and fostering hope.
Without expungements, a criminal record creates insurmountable barriers to employment, education, housing, occupational licensing and public assistance—even on petty charges. Expungement is a process for certain court and police records to be removed so they are no longer visible to the public. Expungement does not erase mistakes but allows individuals who have satisfied their sentences and remained crime-free to move forward.
Additionally, expungement begins to address the discrimination in the criminal legal system resulting in wide racial disparities. As of 2021, 71% of Maryland’s prison population is Black despite Black people comprising less than 30% of the overall population.
Allowing individuals to have a clean slate also boosts the economy. Employers are reluctant to hire those with a criminal record. There are over 1,100 collateral consequences of having a criminal record, and more than 85% of employers perform background checks on all of their job applicants. Consequently, expungement is life-changing for the 25% of working-age Marylanders who have a criminal record.
Maryland actually moved early relative to other states when it comes to allowing for expungement of misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. But returning citizens needed to wait a minimum of 10 years—sometimes 15—after the completion of the sentence before being eligible to apply for expungement. These excessive wait times were longer than 42 other states for misdemeanor expungement, including Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Utah.
The Redeem Act dramatically shortens those wait times. In fact, the law cuts them in half so that expungement wait times now range from five to seven years.
In listening to the community, we also knew that for the Redeem Act to be impactful it needed to remove the financial barriers to expungement. Outstanding court fines and fees will no longer bar expungement—and the fees for cannabis expungement are fully removed.
The Redeem Act is a historic step forward in Maryland’s path to supporting rehabilitation and sustaining positive reentry. Of course, the work of justice is never complete.
In our positions with the Maryland Senate and the Office of the Public Defender, we are committed to ensuring that individuals who have served their time are afforded the opportunities they need and the resources they deserve.
Natasha Dartigue is the Maryland Public Defender. Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher (D) represents Montgomery County and serves as Vice Chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee.
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