Partner Spotlight: R Street Institute
About the R Street Institute
The R Street Institute (R Street) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization. Our mission is to engage in policy research and outreach to promote free markets and limited, effective government. In addition to our D.C. headquarters, we have offices in Georgia, Texas, Ohio and California. We work extensively on both state and national policy, focusing on issues that other groups tend to neglect. Our specialty is tackling issues that are complex, but do not necessarily grab major headlines. These are the areas where we think we can have a real impact.
Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties Program Description
R Street’s Criminal Justice policy program works across the ideological spectrum to produce research and commentary that educate policymakers, the public and other stakeholders. Our work is guided by principles that prioritize public safety, due process, individual liberty and fiscal responsibility. We strive to change policy by shifting the center-right perspective toward a reform-friendly mindset; garnering bipartisan support; targeting public opinion to educate stakeholders successfully; and influencing the adoption of administrative and regulatory reforms at the federal and state level
Our Commitment to Clean Slate Legislation
We believe that Clean Slate legislation is critical to ensure public safety and unleash thriving economies. The 45,000 collateral consequences of arrest and conviction trigger punishments into perpetuity that make it nearly impossible for the one in three Americans with a publicly available record to secure basic life necessities like stable and suitable housing, employment, education, and food for themselves and their dependents. Almost half of all children in the United States have a parent with a criminal record that erects barriers for the safety and security of their growth and development. And individuals who have only been charged but not convicted are not immune from records-based discrimination, either.
For people to remain law-abiding, it is imperative that their access to basic resources be restored, allowing them to provide for themselves lawfully and contribute to the general economy. Individuals who have remained law-abiding for five years after the completion of their sentence and have had the benefit of their record being sealed are more likely to be employed, earning almost 25 percent more than their peers with a publicly available record. They are also less likely to either quit their job or be arrested than the average adult. Our communities are safer when these individuals are able to secure legitimate employment to provide for themselves and their families.
Records-based discrimination is also extremely costly to the general public, with an estimated $87 billion annual loss to the national gross domestic product and an additional $1.2 trillion in indirect social costs. The vast majority of states already provide a process for petition-based record sealing, but fewer than 10 percent of eligible individuals pursue this for a variety of reasons. Eligibility is restricted to mitigate public safety risks and employer liability, striking a balance between offering individuals a second chance for success without compromising community safety.
Clean Slate automated record sealing bridges the gap between eligibility and opportunity and restores a pathway to prosperity for the millions of Americans who have demonstrated their ability and desire to be law-abiding, productive members of society. It is a bipartisan, bicameral policy solution that enjoys the support of more than 70 percent of American voters. We support Clean Slate legislation because our streets are safer and our economy is stronger when people who have earned a second chance are able to rejoin the workforce and our communities fully, unencumbered by the social shackles of their past.
