CORI reform in MA will it be a reality?

Despite years of protests, chatter, executive orders, and legislative proposals, Massachusetts remains a lousy place to be a former criminal offender. And despite a lot of talk emanating from the State House, there is no guarantee that this will change in the hothouse of an election year. Reform of the state’s Criminal Offenders Record Information law, better known as CORI, is stalled even though the governor, House speaker and Senate president all support it.

How could a law with such high-powered support be trapped in a committee? Well, because that committee is chaired by the honorable Eugene O’Flaherty, a Chelsea Democrat who has never seen a CORI proposal he could support. He has killed every attempt at meaningful reform for several years.

The proposal O’Flaherty now has bottled up is designed to strike a reasonable balance between access and disclosure. Under the plan, felony records would be sealed after 10 years and misdemeanor records after five. Unlike the current incoherent system in which some employers have access to criminal information while others don’t, most prospective employers would be able to get the information, which would be stored online.


Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/03/20/the_wait_is_also_a_crime/