On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to cosponsor the Kenneth P. Thompson Begin Again Act, H.R. 1924. Introduced by Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Van Taylor (R-Texas), the Kenneth P. Thompson Begin Again Act would eliminate the age requirement for an individual seeking to have his or her record expunged for a first-time drug offense.

On behalf of our activist community in Georgia, I urge you to support Senate Bill (SB) 288. This crucial bill would allow individuals convicted of certain misdemeanor offenses to have their convictions restricted and sealed if they do not commit another offense for four years after serving their complete sentence.

On behalf of FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to support the Clean Slate Act, H.R. 2348. Introduced by Reps. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), the Clean Slate Act would create an automatic sealing process for certain federal criminal records, including simple arrests without conviction, and a streamlined petition process for sealing other criminal records to promote successful reentry into society. The bill does not apply to sex offenders or violent offenders.

As Congress reflects on its success in passing the First Step Act at the end of 2018, it must look toward ways to build on the existing momentum. The First Step Act was constructed to shift our justice system toward ensuring that we are incarcerating the right people for the right amount of time and that while people are incarcerated, our correctional system is using resources wisely to rehabilitate inmates. It makes steps toward reentry initiatives following incarceration by reauthorizing the Second Chance Act but leaves much still to be done in the space of breaking down barriers to reentry to allow rehabilitated inmates to be successful in society.

Last week, landmark “Clean Slate” legislation to automatically seal the records of certain low-level offenders became law in Pennsylvania. Sponsored by Representative Sheryl Delozier, a Republican who represents part of Cumberland County, House Bill 1419 garnered broad bipartisan support in its passage through both chambers of the General Assembly and into its signing by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf.

The House Judiciary Committee announced the formation of a criminal justice reform initiative that will examine various pieces of legislation that would address issues including over-criminalization, sentencing reform, and prison reform.

Doug Deason is a successful businessman from Dallas, Texas, whose life could have turned out much differently. When he was 17, Deason, who was raised in a wealthy family, and his friends raided a liquor cabinet at a neighbor's home. He was arrested, plead to a misdemeanor criminal trespassing charge, and sentenced to probation.