From Gov. Janet Mills' message Friday "vetoing L.D. 1911, An Act to Automatically Seal Criminal History Record Information/or Certain Crimes":
This bill would direct the Judicial Branch to review decades of criminal docket files—much of this work by hand—to identify those that are to be removed from the public record. The sealing of these records would occur without regard for whether the subjects of the files have requested that they be sealed, whether victims have objected, or whether a compelling public interest exists in the records remaining accessible.
There are several significant problems with the legislation. First, as drafted, L.D. 1911 would mandate the sealing of records for Class D domestic violence assault—a result that is plainly contrary to the public interest. Second, a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit strongly suggests that categorically sealing criminal records without conducting a case-by-case review of the circumstances violates the First Amendment.
