expungement of felony conviction

SESSION SUMMARY AND VOTING RECORDS 2007 INDIANA GENERAL ASSEMBLY Joan Laskowski, VP for Legislation For civil libertarians, the main achievements of this session were the bills that did not p ass. Deferral of the marriage a me ndm ent wa s the m ost climactic. It’s well known that the provisions of SJR 7 ban sam e-sex m arriage. Less acknowledged is that they also threaten the rights, health and safety of all unm arried couples. The House and Senate overwhelmingly passed the proposed amendment to the Indiana Constitution in 2005, and the Senate passed it with ease this year. Only the House Rules Com m ittee stood in th e pa th to Hou se ap prov al. The comm ittee heard extensive testimony about the dam age the amen dm ent would inflict on the recruitm ent efforts of m ajor India na co rporation s, abou t the jeop ardy to dom estic partnersh ip benefits offered by un iversities an d ind ustries, an d ab out th e harm to dom estic viole nce law s oth er states w ith sim ilar co nstitutio nal am end m ents ha ve su ffered. A ma jority is nee ded to pass legislation out of com m ittee. The R ules C om m ittee’s 5-5 vo te blocked House floor action for the 2007 session. This is cause for jubilation, but our work is not ove r. SJR 7 will und oubted ly be back nex t yea r. Pow erful grou ps are ea ger to pu t this m easu re on th e India na 2 008 election ballot. Another significant protection for civil liberties was the derailing of every bill that wou ld have substituted legislators’ beliefs and politics for the finding s of ph ysicians, scien tists, ed uca tors and theolo gian s, and for the au tonom y of wom en. Su ch bills dealt with fetal deve lopm ent, fetal pain, fetal viability, the beginning of life, abandon ed emb ryos, and access to birth control and abortion. This is not the first time w e hav e seen these b ills, nor w ill it be the last. And next year, in the pre-elec tion sh ort session , legislative action will be zealou s and fast. As usua l, civil libert ies d id n ot fare we ll in th e area of crim ina l justi ce, w here sex o ffend ers we re aga in the target. The sex offender registry underwent a predictable expansion. It is now the “sex and violent offender registry”, and the ranks of those required to register have been increas ed to in clud e person s conv icted of m urder or v olun tary m ansla ugh ter. For a start. One overdue but favorable change in the registry requirements was enacted. Youths who are dating and whose ages are within four years of each other may, with court approval, avoid sex offender registration. Con cern for privacy was not strong enough to keep Indiana from becoming one of the states agreeing to comply with the federal Real ID Act. Real ID requires states to standardize their drive r’s licenses and identification cards into a single national identity card and database . If the federal standards are not met, the cards will not be accepted for boarding airplanes or entering a federa l facility. 1 To mee t the standard s, states must issue n ew licenses. They mu st verify and retain a digital scan of identity docu m ents including photo ID, birth certificate, proof of social security number and documentation of principal address. And they must make their data base electronic ally accessible to all other states. It is the consolidation of data and the consequent ease of tracking that will have a destructive imp act on privacy. It remains to be seen whether a sufficient num ber of states will refuse to comply with Real ID and force Congress to revisit the Act. As of now, fifteen states have passed legislation to oppose Real ID. Indiana is not amon g them. Civil libert ies is a wo rk eternally in prog ress. Yo u’ve writt en a nd spoken . Thank you. Now urge you r friend s to join th e gro win g Bill of Righ ts Lob by. Sub scribe at joanlas@aol.com. And to keep up w ith im portan t civil liberties d evelop m ents, con tinue to wa tch ou r web site www.aclu-in.org. The reco rd of yo ur leg islators’ votes on this sessio n’s civ il libe rties b ills follo ws . KEY TO VOTING RECORDS + 0 E A vote in favor of the position of the ACLU of Indiana A vote contrary to the position of the ACLU of Indiana Absent or not voting Excused from voting 2 INDIANA SENATE 2007 BILLS CRIMINAL JUSTICE #1 FEDERAL SEX OFFENDER BILL (HB 1386) Auth or: Lawson Co-Authors: Foley, Ulmer, W elch Sponsors: Bray, Drozda Co-S p o n s o r s : S t e el e, Z ak a s , D e l ph , Weatherwax, M.Young Adds a num ber of additional offenses requiring sex offender registration, including possession of child pornography as a first offense. Ch ang es the n am e of the reg istry to the “sex and violent offender registry” and requires persons convicted of murder or voluntary m anslau gh ter to reg ister. Provides, however, that a person not more than four years older than the “victim”, who was in a dating relationsh ip, did not use violence and me ets othe r cond itions is n ot a sexu ally violen t predator, need not register, and under certain conditions may have the sentence suspended. Passed by the Senate 44-5. Signed into law. The ACLU of Indiana opposed the significant expansion of the registry but suppo rted the elimin ation of the registration requirem ent for dating you ths. #2 HABITUAL OFFENDER (SB 264) Auth or: Walker Co-Authors: R.Young, Drozda Spo nsor: Go od in Co-S pon sor: Koch Provides that the state may seek to have a person sentenced as a habitual offender if the person has accumulated at least two prior unrelated felony convictions. The person’s entire criminal history may be introduced at the hearing. Passed by the Senate 47-0. Died in th e House (n o Courts & C rimina l Code Co mm ittee hearing). The ACLU of Indiana opposed the incarceration extension. JUDICIAL DISCRETION AND SEXUALLY VIOLENT PREDATORS (SB 45) Authors: Bray, Bowser Co-Authors: Delph, Zakas, Drozda, W yss Spo nsor: Lawson Co-S pon sor: Foley Removes judicial discretion from the determination that a sex offender is a sexually viole nt p reda tor. Passed by the Senate 45-1. Stripped of all sex offender/sexually violent predator provisions in conference. The A CLU of Indian a opp osed th e origin al bill th at proh ibited judicia l inpu t. PROTECTION FROM SELF-INCRIMINATION FOR JUVENILES (HB 1339) Auth or: C .B ro w n Co-A utho r: Ulmer Sponsors: Lawson, Simpson Provides that the information provided by a child in the course of a juvenile court mental hea lth screenin g m ay no t be ad m itted as e viden ce aga inst the child unless it relates to #3 #4 3 facts of a hom icide, the child’s intention to com mit a crim e, or the child and legal guardian consent to disclosure. Passed by the Senate 46-2. Signed into law. The ACLU of Indiana supported the Fifth Amendment protection. #5 SEX AND VIOLENT OFFENDERS (SB 78) Authors: M.Young, M rvan, Weatherwax Co-Authors: Dr oz da , Za ka s, H ow ard , Stee le Spo nsor: Kuzm an Co-Sponsors: M cC lain , H err ell, G utw ein Chang es the name of the sex offender registry to the “sex and violent offender registry” and req uires pers ons con victe d of m urd er or vo lun tary m anslau gh ter to reg ister. Passed by the Senate 48-0. Amended into HB 1386 (Federal Sex Offender Bill) and signed into law. The ACLU of Indiana opposed the expansion of the registry. EQUALITY #6 PUBLIC SCHOOL TRANSFERS (SB 262) Auth or: Kenley Spo nsor: W elch Co-S pon sor: Behning Establishes a pub lic school transfer program th at allows a student’s parent to requ est a transfer for the student to enroll in a different public school in the district or one in a different district. Provides for an allocation of pub lic funds for transfer students. Passed by the Senate 32-17. Died in th e House (n o Educa tion Com mittee he aring). The ACLU of Indiana opposed the inequality of opportunity. FREE SPEECH #7 PETITION AND REM ONSTRANCE PROCEDURES (SB 132) Authors: Mrvan, Kenley, Weatherwax Co-A utho r: Gard Spo nsor: Kuzm an Co-S pon sor: Espich Perm its registered voters, not just property owners, to participate in a petition and rem onstra nce p rocess to ap prove a bon d issu e or a lease rental. Passed by the Senate 47-1. Amended into SB 287 (Various Property Tax Matters) and signed into law. The ACLU of Indiana supp orted the right of petition of non-owners of property. GAY AND LESBIAN RIGHTS #8 DEFINITION OF MARR IAGE (SJR 7) Authors: Hershm an, Heinold, Bray Co-Authors: Jackman, Waterman, Kruse, Nugent, Dillon, M.Young, Delph, Weatherwax, Riegsecker Spo nsor: Turner Co-S pon sor: Pelath 4 Provides that marriage in Indiana consists only of the union of one man and one woman. Provides that Indiana law may not be construed to require that marital status or the legal inciden ts of marriage be con ferred upon un ma rried couples or groups. Passed by the Senate 39-10. Died in th e House (failed 5 -5 in the R ules Com mittee). The ACLU of Indiana opposed the denial of equal protection. REPRODUCTIVE LIBERTY #9 H O SPITAL PRIVIL EGE REQ UIRE ME NT FO R PH YSICIAN S PER FOR MIN G ABORTIONS (SB 194) Authors: Miller, Steele, Mrvan Spo nsor: Cheatham Co-Sponsors: Bis ho ff, W elch, T .H arris Requires a ph ysician wh o perform s an a bortion to have privileges at a hospital in the coun ty in w hich the ab ortion is perform ed an d to notify the patient of the hos pita l wh ere the patient can receive follow-up care by the physician. Passed by the Senate 37-10. Died in th e House (n o Public Hea lth Com mittee he aring). The ACLU of Indiana opposed the additional unnecessary impedim ent to abortion access. VOTING RIGHTS #10 ABSENTEE VOTING (SB 138) Authors: M .Yo un g, H ein old Co-A utho r: Landske Spo nsor: Pierce Co-S pon sor: Richardson Requires a voter applying for an absentee ballot to provide proof of the voter’s identity. Passed by the Senate 35-13. Died in th e House (n o Rules C om mittee he aring). The ACLU of Indiana opposed the chilling of the fundam ental right to vote. 5 INDIANA SENATE 2007 VOTING RECORDS SENATE AVERAGE: 32% 1 + + E + + + 2 E E E 3 E + E E E 4 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + E + + + + + + + + + + E + + + 5 E E 6 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + E + + + 7 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + E + + + + + + + + + E + + + + + + + + + + + + 8 + + + + + + + + + E + 9 + E + + 0 + + + + + + + E 10 E + + + + + + + + + + +` + E + % 20 * 30 10 100 20 70 50 30 20 20 10 60 20 20 20 20 44 60 20 20 20 67 20 20 40 20 20 11 20 20 20 40 30 20 13 70 60 55 55 44 20 70 20 20 13 20 17 25 40 20 Alting-R Arnold-D Becker-R Boots-R Bowser-D ** Bray-R Breaux-D Broden-D Deig-D Delph-R Dillion-R Drozda-R Errington-D Ford-R Gard-R Heinold-R Hershman-R Howard-D Hume,L.-D Jackman-R Kenley-R Kruse-R Lanane-D Landske-R Lawson,C.-R Lewis-D Long-R Lubbers-R Meeks-R Merritt-R Miller-R Mishler-R Mrvan-D Nugent-R Paul-R Riegsecker-R Rogers-D Simpson-D Sipes-D Skinner-D Smith,S.-D Steele-R Tallian-D Walker-R Waltz-R Waterman-R Weatherwax-R Wyss-R Young,M-R Young,R.-D Zakas-R Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman, President-R * Percentages are based on at least three votes. ** The ACLU of Indiana mourns the passing of Senator Bowser, brave champion of liberty. The District 8 seat is now held by Senator Jim Arnold. 6 INDIANA HOUSE 2007 BILLS CRIMINAL JUSTICE #1 EXPUNGEMENT OF FELONY CONVICTION RECORDS (HB 1230) Auth or: Sum m ers Co-A utho r: Porter Allows a sentencing court to expunge the records of certain felony convictions comm itted before a person was 25 years old if 20 years have passed since completion of the sentence an d satisfaction of any other senten cing obliga tions. Defeated by the House 30-64. Died in the House. The AC LU of Ind ian a su pp orted the a id to reha bilita tion and reentry into the comm unity. FEDERAL SEX OFFENDER BILL (HB 1386) Auth or: Lawson Co-Authors: Foley, Ulmer, W elch Sponsors: Bray, Drozda Co-Sponsors: Steele, Zakas, Delph, Weatherwax, M.Young Adds a number of additional offenses requiring sex offender registration, including possession of child pornography as a first offense. Changes the nam e of the regis try to the “sex and violent offender registry” and requires persons convicted of murder or volun tary m anslau gh ter to reg ister. Provides, however, that a person not more than four years older than the “victim”, who was in a da ting rela tionsh ip, did not use violence and m eets o ther conditions is not a sexually violent predator, need not register, and under certain conditions may have the sentence suspended. Conference report adopted by the House 97-0. Signed into law. The ACLU of Indiana opposed the significant expansion of the registry but suppo rted the elimin ation of the registration requirem ent for dating you ths. #3 JUDICIAL DISCRETION AND SEXUALLY VIOLENT PREDATORS (SB 45) Authors: Bray, Bowser Co-Authors: Delph, Zakas, Drozda, W yss Spo nsor: Lawson Co-S pon sor: Foley Rem oves jud icial discretion from the d eterm ina tion that a sex offende r is a sexu ally viole nt p reda tor. Passed by the House 88-0. Stripped of all sex offender/sexually violent predator provisions in conference. The A CLU of Indian a opp osed th e origin al bill th at proh ibited judicia l inpu t. PROTECTION FROM SELF-INCRIMINATION FOR JUVENILES (HB 1339) Auth or: C .B ro w n Co-A utho r: Ulmer Sponsors: Lawson, Simpson Provides that the inform ation provid ed by a child in the co urse of a ju venile court mental hea lth screening may not be adm itted as e viden ce aga inst the child u nless it rela tes to facts of a homicide, the child’s intention to commit a crime, or the child and legal 7 #2 #4 guardian consent to disclosure. Passed by the House 97-0. Signed into law. The ACLU of Indiana supported the Fifth Amendment protection. #5 SEX CRIME VICTIMS AND POLYGRAPH EXAM INATIONS (HB 1654) Auth or: Dembowski Co-Authors: C.Brown, Elrod, Lawson Sponsors: Steele, Lanane Prohib its a law enforcem ent officer from requiring a n alleg ed victim of a sex crim e to sub m it to a p olyg raph ex am ina tion . Passed by the House 97-0. Signed into law. The ACLU of Indiana supported the due process protection. DRUG POLICY #6 DRUG TESTING OF PUBLIC WORKS EMPLOYEES (HB 1608) Auth or: Van Haaften Co-A utho r: Crouch Sponsors: Hers hm an , Deig Reen acts the statute that requires the em ploye es of pu blic w orks con tractors to subm it to drug testing. Ap plies to public w orks contracts of all public entities. Passed by the House 88-9. Died in conference committee. The ACLU of Indiana opposed infringemen t of the individualized suspicion require m ent. PRIVACY AND TECHNOLOGY #7 BUREAU OF MOTO R VEHICLES MATTERS (SB 463) Authors: Wyss, Heinold, Paul Spo nsor: Tincher Co-S pon sor: Ruppel Makes changes concerning standards for the contents of and application procedure for a driver’s license, le arn er’s permit or identification card to comply with the federal Real ID Act. Sta nda rds requ ire valida tion an d doc um enta tion of pro of of nam e, gen der, date of birth, So cial Se curity num ber, principal residence and signature. Cards not meeting these standards will not be considered as sufficient proof of identity for boarding comm ercial aircraft, entering a federal building or accessing federal services. The federal Real ID Act was passed without hearings as part of the “must-pass” Iraq War/Tsunami Relief supplemental bill in 2005. Conference report adopted by the House 69-22. Signed into law. The ACLU of Indiana opposed the intrusion on individual liberty and privacy and the establishment of what will be used as a national ID card. REPRODUCTIVE LIBERTY #8 BIRTH PROBLEMS REGISTRY (HB 1457) Auth or: Klinker Co-Authors: Day, Thompson, Walorski 8 Sponsors: Law son, R oge rs Co-Sponsors: Miller, Sipes, Gard, Errington Rep eals the sunset on the b irth p roblem s regi stry and estab lishes a prenatal su bstance abuse comm ission to develop and reco mm end a coordin ated p lan to im prove e arly intervention and treatm ent for pregnan t wom en wh o abuse a lcohol or drugs or use tobacco. Conference report adopted by the House 95-0. Signed into law. The ACLU of Indiana supported but with reservations. The support is for volu nta ry treatment of pregnant addicts. The conc ern is that th e m em bersh ip of the prenatal su bstance abuse comm ission includes one prosecuting attorney who practices in a drug court and one drug court judge. Pregnancy policing may discourage the wom en who n eed it most from seeking any kind of prenatal care. STUDENTS’ RIGHTS #9 TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY SCHOLARSHIPS (HB 1266) Auth or: Avery Co-Authors: Summ ers, Stutzman, Noe, Klinker, Bardon, Dickinson Sponsors: Lubbers, Sipes Co-S pon sor: Lawson Provides that a student who is in foster care or in the home of a relative or other unlicensed caretaker may en roll in the program at any time before high school graduation; is not required to be eligible for free or reduced price lunch; and is not required to have a custodial parent or guardian agree to the student’s participation. Passed by the House 92-0. Signed into law. The AC LU of Indiana supported th ese equal righ ts provisions. VOTING RIGHTS #10 VOTING SYSTEMS (HB 1808) Auth or: Pierce Sponsors: Dillon, Broden Requires that a voting system perm it a voter to ex am ine th e pap er record of the vote for verification. Rem oves all other qualifications for voting by absentee ballot except for a voter w ith certain disab ilities. Req uires all ele ctions to be con duc ted by ma il beginning with the elections in 2 01 2. Establishes a v ote b y m ail tra nsition adv isory comm ittee. Passed by the House 51-47 on a pa rty-line vote. Died in th e Sena te (no Local Gov ernm ent & Elections C om mittee he aring). The ACLU of Indiana supp orted th e vote verification requirement and facilitation of the fundam ental right to vote. 9 INDIANA HOUSE 2007 VOTING RECORDS HOUSE AVERAGE: 53% 1 Austin-D Avery-D Bardon-D Battles-D Bauer-D *** Behning-R Bell-R Bischoff-D Borders-R Borror-R Bosma-R Brown,C.-D Brown,T.-R Buck-R Buell-R Burton-R Cheatham-D Cheney-D Cherry-R Cochran-D Crawford-D Crooks-D Crouch-R Davis-R Day-D Dembowski-D Denbo-D Dermody-R Dickinson-D Dobis-D Dodge-R Duncan-R Dvorak-D Eberhart-R Elrod-R Espich-R Foley-R Friend-R Frizzell-R Fry-D GiaQuinta-D Goodin-D Grubb-D Gutwein-R Harris,E.-D Harris,T.-R Herrell-D Hinkle-R Hoy-D Kersey-D Klinker-D Knollman-R + 0 0 E + + + + + + + + + + + + + 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 E E 4 + + + + 0 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 0 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 5 + + + + 0 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 6 0 + + + + 7 0 + 0 + 0 + + + + + + + + 0 + 8 + + + + 0 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + E + + + + + + + + + + + + + + E + + + + + E + + + + + + + + + + 9 + + 0 + 0 E + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 0 + + + + + + + 10 + + + + + E + + + + + + + + + + + + + 0 + + + + + + + + + % 50 60 67 60 **** 33 50 50 50 40 40 78 50 40 40 40 50 70 40 60 100 55 44 40 78 50 50 40 78 50 40 44 70 40 50 37 40 40 40 70 50 44 60 40 63 40 50 60 70 50 60 40 10 INDIANA HOUSE 2007 VOTING RECORDS 1 Koch-R Kuzman-D Lawson,L.-D Lehe-R Leonard-R Lutz,J.-R Mays-D McClain-R Micon-D Moses-D Murphy-R Neese-R Niezgodski-D Noe-R Orentlicher-D Oxley-D Pelath-D Pflum-D Pierce-D Pond-R Porter-D Reardon-D Reske-D Richardson-R Ripley-R Robertson-D Ruppel-R Saunders-R Smith,M.-R Smith,V.-D Soliday-R Stemler-D Stevenson-D Stilwell-D Stutzman-R Summers-D Thomas-R Thompson-R Tincher-D Torr-R Turner-R Tyler-D Ulmer-R Van Haaften-D Walorski-R Welch-D Whetstone-R Wolkins-R + + 0 0 + + + 0 + + + + + + + + + + + - 2 - 3 0 0 E 0 0 E - 4 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + E + + + + 5 + + + + + + + + + + + + + E + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 0 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 6 E + + + + 0 + - 7 + E + + + + + + + 0 + + 0 E 0 + 8 + E + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 9 + + + + + + + + + 0 + + + + + + + + + E 0 + + E + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 10 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - % 50 71 67 40 50 50 55 40 50 55 44 50 50 50 70 55 60 50 80 33 86 75 50 33 40 50 40 60 40 70 40 50 55 71 40 70 50 40 60 40 55 50 50 63 40 60 50 50 *** As Speaker, Representative Bauer votes or not at his discretion. **** Percentages are based on at least three votes. 11