Shannon Dorvall process. • Sealing makes records unavailable to the public but allows some agencies and individuals to access records. • Confidentiality laws generally only apply to juvenile records and require that states make juvenile records confidential, allowing access to schools, crime victims, the media, and the public in specific instances. Could you please explain the basic premise behind expungement? Who it is meant for and what does it entail? The general idea behind an expungement is a do-over or reset. It is meant for people who committed a minor crime like shoplifting, minor What distinguishes ‘expungement’ from ‘sealing’ or ‘confidentiality’? Expungement, sealing and confidentiality are three legally distinct methods of dealing with criminal records. • Expungement is the process of destroying and eliminating records. The goal of expungement is to make it as though the records never existed. While this is the goal, its results vary widely depending on the state where the expungement is requested. Often, the term ‘expungement’ is used where the process is actually ‘sealing’, whereas a true expungement requires destruction of the record. For example, Kentucky uses expungement and sealing interchangeably in practice. Other states like Idaho explicitly permit the use of the two terms for the same My Legal Life A Close Look at Expungement Expungement and other methods of criminal record elimination provide a vital role in allowing their recipients a fresh start at life. However, truly erasing such records is not straightforward and often has to be fought for through legal channels. Shannon Dorvall, general counsel at Imhoff & Associates, shares her specialised knowledge of expungement and its uses in this article. MY LEGAL LIFE 21
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