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‌Issue 2, 2019 Issue 2, 2019 newsletter of the administrative office of pa courts Wiping the slate clean The Clean Slate Law, designed to automatically seal certain criminal history data, goes into effect in Pennsylvania this summer. (continued on page 2) Wiping the slate clean By Josh Wilson Last session, legislation creating the Implementation of the new law is rather Access (as provided in Act 5 of 2016), “Clean Slate Law” passed the General complicated and won’t be achieved which was expanded in December of Assembly by an overwhelmingly through a simple flip of the switch. last year. bipartisan vote and was signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf. The ability for the commonwealth to The Pennsylvania Bar Association automatically seal eligible records is and Community Legal Services This new law is designed to accomplished in large part through the have partnered to provide free legal automatically seal certain criminal efforts of AOPC/IT, in consultation with consultation to Pennsylvanians to history information. It goes into effect the Pennsylvania State Police— who help determine if they are eligible for this summer and is the first program-of- maintain the state’s official criminal these provisions. “My Clean Slate” can its-kind in the nation. history repository. be accessed via https://clsphila.org/ mycleanslatepa. Under this new protocol, criminal “AOPC and the Pennsylvania State history record information pertaining Police have worked cooperatively to Additionally, AOPC recently designed to eligible “non-violent” criminal and effectively create complex mechanisms a webpage that details the various summary records and non-conviction to identify and verify the cases provisions of the new law and records will be automatically shielded and offenses that will be subject to outlines the basics of criminal history from public view. automatic sealing under the Clean information, including background Slate law,” said Amy Ceraso, director checks and the expungement of of AOPC/IT. records. Individuals will need to have “Processing the enormous backlog of been free from conviction of cases that are eligible for Clean Slate offenses punishable by a year treatment over the next year will be more INFORMATION or more in prison for 10 years, a challenge, but with the assistance http://www.pacourts.us/learn/learn- of county judicial officials and Clerks about-the-judicial-system/clean-slate- and have completed all court- of Courts, we are confident that we’ll expungement-and-limited-access ordered obligations. be able to identify and seal millions of cases to meet the stated purpose of the Clean Slate act,” added Ceraso. (Josh Wilson is the director of legislative affairs) It is important to note, these records Other provisions of the law are already will not be expunged, and will still be in effect – specifically, the list of accessible to law enforcement and individuals who can petition a Court of judicial officers. Common Pleas for an Order of Limited 2 Although this was a simple task on the surface, most found it difficult to find the best writing samples that they were Improving willing to submit for inspection. “When I received the invitation to attend the effective writing skills writing course, I knew I had to accept,” said Don Powers, district court administrator in Clinton County. for judicial The last time I consciously diagramed a sentence was 1976 and I was nervous about attending this workshop. As it professionals happens, there was nothing for me to be nervous about.” Throughout the workshop, class participants were reminded Contributors: Don Powers, Christy Beane about the difference between active and passive voice, and Mark Singer how to identify and avoid nominalizations and expletives, and how to identify the subject, verb and object in each sentence. Pennsylvania Association of Court Management (PACM) board members along with AOPC/Judicial District Operations staff went back to school to take a crash course “Never pass up an in “Writing Skills for Judicial Professionals.” opportunity to grow Professor Ronald R. Hofer, a distinguished professor at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada, led the your knowledge.” professional development workshop. – Don Powers, Clinton County district “Ship sails tomorrow.” Ask yourself, what does this mean? court administrator You are likely thinking that it means the boat leaves the dock tomorrow. However, according to Professor Hofer, According to Mark Singer, district court administrator for this was actually a note from a manager to an employee Franklin/Fulton counties, Professor Hofer taught a “hands- reminding them to ship (mail) the boat’s sails to the on, four-step editing process that was easy to comprehend. customer tomorrow. This was a practical application that can be used in daily writing.” He reminded participants not to leave inferences for your readership to fill in, otherwise confusion and Powers shared that “the proofreading part of the curriculum misinterpretation of the written word will occur. was of greatest interest to me. I guarantee that I’ll be a stronger editor after this course.” Professor Hofer told participants jokingly about “Hofer’s Rule of Confusion”—the idea that every time you read a “This conference was one of the best experiences I’ve sentence that you can’t get your head around, it is usually had outside of my courthouse since I became DCA,” said because the actor is not defined. Powers. “Never pass up an opportunity to grow your knowledge.” “Your writing gets better when you say who (actor) is doing what (action),” said Hofer. “When deciding what message you want to send through your writing, focus on information that is important to the Four-step guide to edit reader, not what is important to the writer,” Christy Beane, your own writing assistant director of AOPC/Judicial District Operations noted as an important takeaway from the session. 1. Draw circles around the The goal of the workshop was to provide the tools to make passive verbs. writing more readable and easier to understand. 2. Draw boxes around expletives. Writing is a skill used by staff every day, and yet for most, it has been decades since participating in a writing course. 3. Underline the nominalizations. Weeks before the course, each attendee was asked to 4. Note the distance between submit writing samples to be discussed and dissected subject and verb. during the workshop. 3 Q & A: Comfort dogs and their handlers While going to court can often be a difficult and nerve- racking experience for many people, especially children, some courts have found a way to help ease the stress. Both Monroe and Lycoming Counties have received adorable additions to their courthouse staff and agree that the presence of comfort dogs in their courts has been nothing but overwhelmingly positive. Four-year-old Jedi, a Labrador/Golden Retriever mix, joined Lycoming County’s court staff back in February of 2018, where he was matched with his handler, Jerri Rook, executive secretary to Judge Joy Reynolds McCoy. Meanwhile, in Monroe County, two-year-old Golden Retriever mix, Nicholas (Nick) is a rather recent addition having only begun this past February but he has already stolen the hearts of everyone there – including his handler, Chief Law Clerk Jessica Jones. Q: What is your favorite part about being your dog’s handler? Jones: “My favorite part of having Nicholas in my life is seeing the smiles he brings to everyone he meets. He has such a happy and social personality! Sometimes that means it takes me much longer to get from point A to point B now, but I’m happy to let him greet everyone we meet because it’s just so uplifting to see the joy he brings to people.” We asked both handlers a few questions about their experiences with their new best friends: Rook: “The best part is seeing the faces of the children light up when he walks into a room. The children that come into Q: What is the difference between being an owner and a court generally are nervous and scared. When they see handler? Jedi, all that disappears and they are just excited to see a Jones: “I think one notable difference between being a dog.” handler and an owner is educating the people we come into contact with. As a handler, I am not only representing myself Q: Can you recall a particularly moving experience when and my pet dog, like I would as an owner, but I am also you saw your dog make a real difference? representing the wider service dog community. By providing Jones: “I remember one child that Nick interacted with information and education for people we come into contact recently who was quite withdrawn when Nick met him. After with, Nick and I are, hopefully, making a positive impact on asking the child if he wanted to sit with Nick and getting a our local community on behalf of service dogs everywhere.” shoulder shrug, I had Nick sit up on a bench seat and the child sat down next to him. Rook: “I feel like I’m missing something when he’s not with me. I’m more aware of things that may affect him and Before long, the child was simply sitting and petting Nick. how the public reacts to him and treats him. I have to pay Eventually, Nick put his head in the child’s lap and stayed attention to where his feet are, where his tail is, holding there for close to an hour. The child started to smile and doors open to make sure he gets through before it closes, talk, which was a complete turn-around from his demeanor what’s on the ground, etc.” before.” 4 Rook: “I can tell you my first moving experience with Jedi incident and was completely calmed down.
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