Our Study
The Impact of Automated Record Clearance on Individuals, Families, and Communities
Automated record clearance is the process in which folks with eligible criminal records can have their records automatically cleared without having to go through the petition based process. Having your record cleared can help secure housing, jobs, and reduce barriers to other key aspects of living a dignified life.
To determine the individual effects of automated record clearance, we are interviewing people with expungeable or expunged criminal records from selected states. Follow-up interviews will be conducted to determine if there are additional benefits over time. We want to examine the impact of record clearance on communities and society and how policies and their implementation can be improved. We will also interview representatives from communities and local/state agencies.
As advocates and policymakers create and implement new automated record clearance policies, it’s important to understand whether and how these changes affect people with criminal records, their families, and their communities. Your experiences and insights will deepen our understanding of the benefits and shortcomings of automated expungement policies, and how they can be improved. We will share our research findings with the academic community as well as with policymakers and practitioners.
Learn About Participating in Our Study
Compensation will be provided:
$40 gift card for a store of your choice for an initial interview
$40 gift card if selected for a follow-up interview
You will first take the survey linked below to make sure you are eligible for our study.
If you are eligible based on your survey responses, a member of our team may reach out to you to set up an interview.
Interviews will last approximately 45-60 minutes and be conducted via phone or video (Zoom) and you will be sent a $40 electronic gift card for a store of your choice following the interview.
You may then be contacted again for a follow-up interview where you will receive another $40 gift card for your participation.
CA eligibility:
People 21 years of age or older convicted of a cannabis offense in California before July 1, 2019
OR
People who have been arrested, but not convicted or incarcerated, for a misdemeanor after January 1, 2021.
PA eligibility:
People 18 years old or older with a misdemeanor conviction from over ten years ago or who have been arrested (but never convicted) of a crime or those who have had their record expunged
Utah eligibility:
People 18 years of age or older with misdemeanor records who are eligible for Utah’s new Clean Slate law, click here to check if you’re eligible
New Jersey eligibility:
People 18 years of age or older, arrested or convicted of a cannabis offense
OR
People who have an arrest record or conviction record and have attempted or received a criminal record expungement
Research Team
Additional Resources
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Twitter: @cleanslatestudy Facebook: @RecordClearanceResearch