In this third post about the Final Stage Reentry Project, we focus on the impact expungement has on housing and on identity and overall life satisfaction. Despite our hypothesis that a clear record would clear the way for housing and happiness, expungement once again had no impact. We dig into these results and the potential reasons for the findings.
“My criminal record doesn’t reflect who I am anymore.”
This sentiment overwhelmingly topped the list of reasons why expungement study participants wanted to clear their record that it seemed plausible to predict that clearing one’s criminal record would lead to higher levels of life satisfaction. Likewise, it did not seem far-fetched to assume individuals without a criminal record would fare better in obtaining housing than those with one. In both cases though, the A2J Lab and Kansas Legal Services found surprising results to refute these assumptions.
Criminal record clearing may help individuals attain jobs, housing, and life satisfaction, according to many criminal justice system reformers. This week, we look at the A2J Lab’s long-running expungement study and the impact of record clearing on employment–a reason 84 percent of our study participants cited for wanting an expungement. The results surprised researchers and clarified policy needs for effective expungement outcomes.
The A2J Lab’s randomized control trial on expungement examined the uptake and obstacles of criminal record clearing while also looking into its effect on various socio-economic outcomes. This week’s Proof Over Precedent episode gathers study researchers to discuss the “surprising and depressing” findings on expungement’s effect on employment. They also dive into explanations for the stark difference between individuals’ optimism and reality in the experiment.
Would-be criminal justice system reformers have long believed that a criminal record inhibits the search for secure employment, housing, and life happiness, and those problems in turn lead to increased recidivism. For reformers, the answer to these challenges has been some kind of criminal justice record clearing. But that theory has only some evidence to support it. In this first of three posts, the A2J Lab dives into its long-running randomized controlled trial in Kansas studying expungement’s impact on reentry outcomes.
Is the form-filling expungement process as easy for unrepresented individuals as some believe? In this week’s Proof Over Precedent episode, host Jim Greiner welcomes the A2J Lab team involved in our long-running Kansas-based study looking at the current record-clearing process and its obstacles. The results offer clear evidence for what it takes for a successful expungement.
This episode of Proof Over Precedent looks at predictive modeling research that could be used alongside policy research to answer the question, “What can we do to increase the number of criminal records cleared?” Researchers examined existing data on automatic record sealing in Pennsylvania and petition-based expungements in Kansas and adjusted criteria that could contribute to more effective record clearing. In the process, they made surprising discoveries on the state and future of criminal record clearances.
What if thousands, perhaps millions, of people could stop their past—their criminal record, that is—from following them in job interviews and housing applications? What if some barriers to record clearing could be improved by policy, and not by an individual’s circumstances? Would that improve uptake in expungement? A 2025 article in the North Dakota Law Review addresses the possibilities by examining the current state of record clearing in Pennsylvania and Kansas and potential policy reforms in both states that would produce the greatest number of eligible records for clearing.
Expungement appears to have all the signs of promising policy including better job and housing outcomes for individuals whose criminal records have been cleared; low recidivism rates; and subsequently better societal outcomes. Where it falls short, researchers in a Michigan study found, is with accessibility and uptake. This episode of “Proof Over Precedent” looks at the findings and dives into the challenges of studying expungement and the areas where the record-clearing process could be improved.
