Mass. bill to seal criminal records would have positive, ‘deep impacts’ on public health

MassLive

For more than half a million people in Massachusetts, a proposed bill that would automatically seal certain criminal records will improve their quality of life, public health officials say.

“Years of research shows us that having a safe and secure home and access to a job equals better health outcomes,” said Andrea Freeman, policy director at the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts.

Her organization is one of the co-leaders of Clean Slate Massachusetts, a chapter of a national organization working to change state laws around criminal records. A dozen states across the country already have passed similar bills.