Pritzker sides with criminals once again, signing controversial 'Clean Slate' bill into law

Despite an appalling violent crime problem in Chicago, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has signed a bill protecting convicts, making it easier for them to get past hiring filters and find jobs in Illinois.

On Saturday, Pritzker signed the Clean Slate Act, which will enable officials to seal non-violent criminal records for over 1.7 million people in Illinois, Fox 32 Chicago reported.

Just last month, Gov. Pritzker fortified the state's sanctuary laws.

The new law will require eligible records to be sealed by 2029.

The law applies only to non-violent convictions and dismissed or reversed charges and arrests. More serious crimes, such as sexual violence, DUI, or any crimes that require sex offender registration, are not eligible for automatic sealing.

While this particular law excludes violent felonies, it comes at a time when violent incidents on Chicago trains are making national headlines.

Moreover Pritzker has a long history of siding with suspected law-breakers over victims. In 2023, cashless bail became the law of the state, thanks to the SAFE-T Act he signed previously. Just last month, he fortified the state's sanctuary laws, prohibiting federal immigration agents from conducting operations near courthouses, hospitals, university campuses, and day-care centers.

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John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

The Clean Slate Act is celebrated by the Democrats as a jobs initiative, since many businesses use background checks to filter out candidates with prior convictions. Once the records are sealed, that traditional filter will be less robust, allowing potential former convicts to remain in the running.

"There is no reasonable public safety justification for making it hard for returning citizens to get a job or housing or an education," Pritzker said, according to Fox 32. "It's a policy guided by punishment rather than rehabilitation."

The Clean Slate Initiative lists Pennsylvania, Utah, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, Delaware, Virginia, California, Oklahoma, Colorado, Minnesota, and New York as states that have passed legislation that meets their criteria for Clean Slate laws. Washington, D.C., is also listed.

The criteria include automation of record sealing, including arrest and misdemeanor records. The Clean Slate Initiative also includes a "strong recommendation for laws to include eligibility of at least one felony record."

Sheena Meade, CEO of the Clean Slate Initiative, stated: “Our coalition partners — including Live Free Illinois, the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments, the Workers Center for Racial Justice, Impact for Equity, and Code for America — and bill sponsors Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth and Sen. Elgie Sims have shown the resolve, persistence, and heart needed to drive real change."

The new law will take effect June 1.

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