Despite popular belief, there is no such thing as a person’s “official criminal record” — it’s neither official, nor criminal, nor a record. But some believe that removing from public view information about past criminal justice involvement will reduce recidivism, housing insecurity, and unemployment. The A2J Lab investigates the veracity of these claims.
Current Projects
The Final Stage Reentry Project: Expungement
The Setting: Direct evidence establishes that the existence of a criminal record, even a record devoid of convictions, constitutes an impediment to stable housing and employment. Equally direct evidence establishes that lack of stable housing and employment are risk factors for recidivism. Together, these two truths establish that the existence of a criminal record is a barrier to the finalization of a successful reentry strategy for justice-involved individuals. The unresolved question is, what if anything can be done about it? One proposal that has gained recent momentum is the destruction or suppression of official records of an individual’s criminal justice involvement. Popular across the political spectrum, this concept of “expungement” has drawn the attention of state legislatures, who are extending eligibility criteria and the scope of records subject to suppression or destruction, and legal aid providers, who are dedicating more of their scarce resources to record-clearing.
The Problem: But does expungement work? Can it serve effectively as the final stage of successful reentry by reducing housing insecurity, employment insecurity, and thus recidivism? There is reason for hope, but there is also reason for doubt.
The Questions: Does expungement of a criminal record induce stabilization of housing and employment with concomitant reductions in recidivism? Should oversubscribed legal services providers dedicate their scarce resources to meeting the vast demand for assistance in obtaining an expungement under state law?
The Study: A randomized control trial will assign individuals eligible for expungement under state law to different levels of service (self-help materials or attorney representation) from oversubscribed legal services providers. If, as anticipated, expungement outcomes differ based on service level, the study will employ an instrumental variables design to infer the effect of expungement on recidivism, housing stability, and employment.
What We’ll Learn: We do not have clear evidence of the effect of record-clearing on recidivism, nor studies based in randomized field operations that show the effectiveness of record-clearing on housing stability outcomes. This study will show those effects.
Research Team:
D. James Greiner, Faculty Director, Access to Justice Lab; S. William Green Professor of Public Law, Harvard Law School
Renee Danser, Associate Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships, Access to Justice Lab
Marilyn Harp, Kansas Legal Services (ret.)
Resources:
D. James Greiner, Matthew Stubenberg, Renee Danser, “Criminal Justice Record Clearing: An Analysis from Two States,” North Dakota Law Review, Vol. 100:1, 2025
D. James Greiner, Hannah Crowe, Renee Danser, “Record Clearing as a Rite of Passage to Engage in the Justice System,” Kansas Law Review (forthcoming)
Projects In Development
Community College Expunction Services
The Setting:
What We Hope to Learn:
Research Team:
Access to Justice Lab
Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas
American Gateways
Conflict Analytics Lab
Queens University
Restorative Justice Diversion
The Setting:
What We Hope to Learn:
Research Team:
Access to Justice Lab
Raphah Institute