James McGreevey, statement before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

I am most grateful to Senator Vitale, Chairman, Health and Human Services Committee, for moving Senate Bill S-3205. Senate Bill S-3205 sponsored by Senator Cunningham, Senator Ruiz and Senate President Sweeney, is a strong and discernible step in the right direction toward ensuring employment opportunities for court involved persons. Our present expungement laws are woefully antiquated. Indeed, then Governor Pence passed a far more aggressive expungement bill in Indiana than what we have presently in New Jersey.

This legislation would enable our clients to engage in a more robust and expansive expungement process, which will afford them a greater opportunity to compete in the market place. Particularly, the “Cunningham Cleanser” will permit clients to expunge their record after have been law abiding for a ten-year time frame. This bill is common sense and has received bipartisan support for enabling court involved persons to gainfully return to productive work.