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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Many people believe that if they are released
3after being mistakenly arrested and the charges are dropped or
4dismissed without any court date being set, they will not have
5an arrest record; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Even in the case of a mistaken arrest, the
7damaging documents are not automatically removed; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Hundreds of thousands of innocent Americans who
9are mistakenly arrested are still haunted by arrest records;
10and
 
11    WHEREAS, An arrest record can ruin an innocent individual's
12chance to get into college or secure employment, loans, and
13housing; and
 
14    WHEREAS, An arrest record is an ugly stain for law-abiding
15citizens who, in some cases, found themselves arrested for
16circumstances beyond their control; and
 
17    WHEREAS, When an individual answers questions about an
18arrest on a job application, he or she is treated as though he
19or she is guilty no matter what the outcome was; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The process to remove an arrest record can cost an
2average of $5,000 and can take a significant amount of time;
3and
 
4    WHEREAS, The wrongful arrest rates of African Americans are
5the highest among all races; therefore, be it
 
6    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
7NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
8applaud the nationwide efforts of the #AutoErase Campaign to
9bring awareness to the fact that individuals wrongfully
10arrested may still have an arrest record even after they are
11released and to remove the burden from the individual of having
12that wrongful arrest record erased; and be it further
 
13    RESOLVED, That we call on all local, state, and federal
14agencies to automatically erase and destroy all information
15pertaining to arrest records of innocent individuals
16wrongfully arrested immediately after the individual is no
17longer being detained by the arresting agency and to ensure the
18arrest record does not appear in any local, state, or federal
19agency's database; and be it further
 
20    RESOLVED, That we call on the United States Congress,
21states, and localities, under such circumstances indicated
22above, to ensure that an innocent individual's record appears

 

 

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1as it did before the wrongful arrest occurred, at no expense
2and with no action required by the individual; and be it
3further
 
4    RESOLVED, That we support that, under such circumstances,
5the innocent individual can in the future be legally and
6factually allowed to deny the arrest under all circumstances
7and on any local, state, federal, corporate, or private form,
8including, but not limited to, applying for a state-issued
9professional license, applying for a law enforcement job,
10applying for a federal or national security clearance, applying
11for a school-related job, buying a firearm or applying for a
12concealed carry permit, running for public office, or applying
13as a candidate for a state bar; and be it further
 
14    RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be delivered to
15the President of the United States, the Vice-President of the
16United States, members of the United States House of
17Representatives and the United States Senate, and other federal
18and state government officials as appropriate.