Elise Larsson, “Massachusetts is weighing a ‘Clean Slate’ bill. Here’s what that would mean.,” Huntington News, July 20, 2026.
“We don’t want past history to be a roadblock for employment, for housing and for many other things where having a record can often lead to people being prohibited,” said Jonathan Cohn, the policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide organization dedicated to advancing racial and social justice and strengthening democracy.
Unlike petition-based record-sealing laws in states like California and New York, which often take years to complete, Cohn said the Clean Slate bill aims to minimize delays. By automatically sealing records after a period of law-abiding conduct, the bill shifts the focus from procedural hurdles to demonstrated rehabilitation.
“Society is able to benefit from this process better … if we’re able to offer better employment opportunities, better housing opportunities,” Cohn said. “We should just streamline the process.”
