Long-lingering expunction bill heads back to NC House floor

The Second Chance Act, one of several criminal justice reforms proposed in recent years, passed the Senate unanimously in May 2019. In the months that followed, the bill went to the House floor several times, but it never got a vote.

It's been sitting without action in the House Rules Committee since last August.

Democrats on that committee called on the Republican majority Monday to hear the bill.

"The Second Chance Act is an important piece of legislation to improve North Carolina's expunction laws," Democrats said in their email. "Its passage would be but one small step to address racism, but we need to start somewhere, and the Second Chance Act is a good place to start."

After a brief hearing Tuesday, the committee voted unanimously in favor of the measure, sending it back to the House floor, where it could be voted on as early as Wednesday.

The bill would make it easier to expunge most misdemeanors and the lowest classes of felonies from publicly available criminal records. It wouldn't apply to violent crimes, impaired driving or offenses that require registration as a sex offender, and prosecutors could still access expunged records in the future.

Lynn Burke told lawmakers Tuesday that a nonviolent crime she committed 20 years ago continues to haunt her. She went to law school and passed the bar exam, but she cannot be licensed or practice law in North Carolina because of her conviction.

"If this [bill] goes through, my life will be changed," Burke said. "Many people like this will be able to have dreams again. ... I just want to thank you for caring about us and giving us a chance to give back to society."

Both the American Conservative Union and the liberal North Carolina Justice Center also spoke in favor of the measure.

House Rules Chairman David Lewis, R-Harnett, said the bill is one of many steps lawmakers are taking to reform North Carolina's criminal justice system in the wake of recent protests.

"This legislation is an opportunity for us to bring people together and move our state forward," Lewis said.