Amicus Brief: Doe v. United States (Second Circuit Court of Appeals)

SUMMARY

The Civil Rights and Corrections & Community Reentry Committees submitted an amicus brief in support of the Petitioner-Appellee in Doe v. United States, an appeal that is currently pending in the Second Circuit. The case stems from EDNY District Court Judge John Gleeson’s decision to expunge the petitioner’s criminal record, upon a showing that her 13 year-old fraud conviction had created an undue hardship that was preventing her from getting, and keeping, jobs. The judge concluded that the public’s interest in Ms. Doe being employed and a contributing member of society far outweighed its interest in her old conviction being a matter of public record. The government appealed. In its amicus brief in support of Ms. Doe, the City Bar argues that a court may, in extraordinary circumstances, exercise its discretion to expunge a petitioner’s record where it has proven to be a persistent obstacle to employment. Drawing upon the sentencing court’s obligation to consider the statutory purposes of sentencing (including opportunities for rehabilitation), the City Bar takes the position that, in considering an application to expunge, a court should similarly analyze whether the goals of sentencing are being met in the petitioner’s case.