Is it possible to expunge a federal felony conviction

Under 18 U. C may have their record expunged. But, if your federal felony conviction was not a minor drug offense, you still have an opportunity to limit people's ability to view your criminal record online. That is through our Criminal Records Removal Service program.

And when you combine our Criminal Records Removal Service with our Restore Your Online Reputation Program, you get your criminal records removed from public viewing in the top 41 internet databases and you get the public internet articles about you buried deep in the internet so no one sees them.

See information on these two programs in our website. Not all states allow state records to be expunged. See U. Townsend, F. Federally-regulated occupations: See the various laws described in Part IV, infra, which give varying effect to state relief in connection with employment in federally-regulated occupations:. Diversionary pleas and deferred adjudication: Even though many states have authorized and promoted deferred adjudication and other diversion dispositions to avoid the consequences of a conviction, certain federal laws nonetheless treat such cases as a conviction if the person was required to plead guilty or admit facts sufficient to establish guilt as part of the program, even if the plea has been withdraw and the case dismissed.

RentGrow, Inc. Department of Justice , F. Gomez , 24 F. Teamsters Local , F. As a result of the effect of a plea on deportation, some states have eliminated the requirement of pleas in diversion programs, see, e. Kentucky , U. The confusing and inconsistent approach by federal law and policy to state relief merits a closer analysis, which we plan to undertake in the future, if only to clarify terminology.

Certain types of employment would be excepted, including employment that otherwise requires inquiry into criminal history, and employment in the military, in law enforcement, and in national security. The law contains provisions for complaint and appeal procedures, and for sanctions. It is effective two years after signing, in December Post-offer, it would appear that non-conviction records could continue to be the subject of inquiry by federal hiring and contracting authorities, as well as any records that have been sealed or expunged — but only if they are available to criminal justice agencies for background checks.

CCRC has collected an extensive archive of materials relating to federal assistance to employers and small businesses during the pandemic, through the Paycheck Protection Program and EIDL, and to individuals through tax rebates. The National Employment Law Project has also published a fact sheet on how individuals with a criminal record are treated by federal pandemic recovery efforts.

There is no general provision in federal law that prohibits consideration of a criminal conviction in connection with employment or licensure. Consequently, the Commission has held and continues to hold that such a policy or practice is unlawful under Title VII in the absence of a justifying business necessity.

EEOC , No. See 15 U. However, convictions of any age may be reported. Additional notice and other procedural protections required by the FCRA also apply directly to an employer, as discussed in FTC advisory letters. Federal law now authorizes or requires criminal history background checks, and mandates disqualification based on certain convictions, for a wide variety of state-licensed occupations and employments. Some of these regulatory schemes contain time limits or provide for administrative waiver, as described below.

Starting with the USA Patriot Act, a progression of federal laws and regulations have been enacted to screen workers employed in the air, sea, and ground transportation industries. Although the laws themselves vary in specificity, by regulation and policy the Transportation Security Administration TSA has attempted to harmonize the different screening policies, though the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of imposes more stringent limits on airport employment than those applicable to maritime employees and commercial drivers.

Airport Employment. Major categories of workers covered by the ATSA include airport screeners, mechanics, flight attendants and pilots, fleet service workers, and workers handling commercial or passenger cargo in secured areas. TSA has proposed regulations to extend a separate level of screening to workers who handle cargo in unsecured areas. In addition, some misdemeanors may also be disqualifying.

Baer , F. In contrast to the Hazmat regulations below , the TSA regulations make felony simple possession of a controlled substance a disqualifying offense also. If there is no disposition, or if the disposition did not result in a conviction or in a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity of a disqualifying offense, the individual is not disqualified.

Waiver : Unlike the regulations applicable to commercial drivers and maritime employees, the TSA regulations implementing the ATSA do not provide for waiver. Convicted means any plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or any finding of guilt, except when the finding of guilt is subsequently overturned on appeal, pardoned, or expunged. In addition, where an individual is allowed to withdraw an original plea of guilty or nolo contendere and enter a plea of not guilty and the case is subsequently dismissed, the individual is no longer considered to have a conviction for purposes of this subchapter.

Hazmat Licenses for Commercial Drivers. Unlike the ATSA, the Patriot Act does not list disqualifying offenses or impose any time limits on their consideration. These offenses, whether felonies or misdemeanors, will be considered disqualifying no matter how dated. An applicant disqualified because of a criminal offense may within 60 days appeal that determination within the TSA and, if unsuccessful, then seek review in a court of appeals.

If he does not appeal within 60 days, or if his administrative appeal is unsuccessful, then the Initial Determination of Threat Assessment becomes a Final Determination. Should his waiver request be denied, he may seek review of that decision as well, first before an Administrative Law Judge, then before the Deputy Administrator, and then by petitioning a court of appeals for review.

As to pardoned or expunged convictions, see infra. Maritime Employees. Privacy protections are written into the law — individual employers may be informed only of the results.

See 46 U. The TSA must also establish an appeals process that requires notice and a hearing. For all maritime and land transportation security employments subject to regulation by TSA, the rules on expunged and pardoned offenses are contained in 49 C.

Examples of restrictions specifically mentioned in TSA advisory memoranda include limitations on ownership of a firearm, and limitations on employment as law enforcement officer, teacher, or health care provider. See id. If a record fails to indicate the disposition of an arrest, the credentialing authority may take into account convictions outside the year period in making a suitability determination.

Procedures on expungements vary from state to state, and may change at any time. Therefore, TSA hopes to avoid inconsistent application of the law against hazmat drivers by providing the new definition. Thus pardons and some expungements will be given effect even prior to the waiver stage.

In , the FDIC issued regulations, effective September 21, , codifying which criminal records require a waiver and which do not. Somewhat anomalously, the waiver requirement extends to all drug crimes except for simple possession, unless the offense is de minimis see below. The regulation also sets out criteria under which several other minor convictions insufficient funds checks, small-dollar simple theft, false ID will be regarded as de minimis.

Finally, convictions that have been pardoned do require a waiver. The National H. Network reports that institutions rarely seek a waiver, except for higher level positions when the candidate is someone the institution really wants to hire. See www. See Id. Other banking agencies charged with administering laws regulating real estate and mortgage brokerage licensing may defer to FDIC for waivers.

Care Providers for Vulnerable Populations. Federal law authorizes or requires states to conduct background checks for a variety of employments affecting vulnerable populations. Child care: Criminal history background checks are required for individuals who provide care for children in any Federal agency or facility operated by the Federal government.

It authorizes states to institute mandatory or voluntary fingerprinting of prospective employees in childcare fields in order to facilitate criminal background checks. Labor organizations. Federal defense contractors. Mortgage Lending. Other federal courts will grant a judicial expungement only under specific and extraordinary circumstances, when they determine that it is necessary in all fairness.

Each of these circuit courts decides how the law should be interpreted within that circuit, which the district courts below must follow. This means that there are often discrepancies in the law at the federal circuit level—in other words, the same law can mean different things depending on where you live.

These differences persist until the Supreme Court rules on which interpretation is correct. This is the current state of federal expungement law. Several federal circuit courts have ruled that the courts should be allowed to order expungements based on their inherent equitable powers—their duty to make things fair. The Supreme Court has not resolved the dispute. See U. Mitchell, F.

Courts of Appeal in the First, Third, Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits, as well as some district courts in the Eleventh Circuit, do not allow expungements based on equitable grounds i. Meyer, F. Coloian, F.