Committee hears concerns that draft sealing bill leaves defense access and dissemination undefined

Members of the Judiciary Committee heard extended testimony raising legal and practical questions about draft legislation that would replace expungement with sealing and expand who can access sealed criminal-history records.

Marshall Paul, testifying to the committee, said the bill’s provision on page 26 "allows for access to sealed records by a defense attorney who may use sealed criminal history records in representing a defendant" but left too many questions unanswered about what "use" means. "This idea of use, which this allows, is just so undefined that it doesn't tell us what we can and can't do," Paul said.

Paul told the committee the uncertainty has consequences: "If you do something that a judge finds falls outside of the word use, then you're subject to a thousand dollar bond." He said that threat would deter attorneys from testing unclear points in court, such as whether a defense…