E.B. et al v. Louisiana Attorney General
Equal Justice Under Law filed a class action lawsuit against Louisiana’s Attorney General and state and local court officials to help 300,000+ Louisianans who are prevented from rebuilding their lives due to inability to pay expungement fees.
The state allows some outdated criminal records to be cleared once a specified time period has passed. However, expunging those records comes at a high price. Louisiana has the nation’s highest fees for record expungement and there is no process in place for these fees to be waived on account of indigence.
The lawsuit alleges that the state’s implementation of clearing old criminal records unfairly punishes individuals who cannot afford the exorbitant fees. The state charges $550 to clear each event. This high cost also applies to cases where the individual was found not guilty or the case was dismissed. Excessive fees for expungement mean only the most well-off Louisianans are able to benefit from expungement. Those who are poor face a terrible catch-22: they cannot afford to expunge their records because they cannot obtain stable, well-paying employment, but they cannot obtain stable, well-paying employment because of their records.
Individuals with criminal records face collateral consequences, such as difficulty obtaining employment and securing housing. Louisiana agrees that a criminal record creates barriers that are detrimental to the reentry process, and therefore allows for minor offenses to be expunged after ten years for felonies and after five years for misdemeanors.
One of the plaintiffs earns $4 per hour plus tips as a waitress. She has been turned down for better paying jobs due to her criminal record. She cannot obtain more stable housing for her family because she cannot save enough money for a security deposit and rent. For expungement, she would need to pay $1,650, which is prohibitively expensive. She is one of as many as 300,000 Louisianans eligible to have their record expunged but who cannot afford it.
Equal Justice Under Law, in partnership with The First 72+ in New Orleans, are representing the plaintiffs in this case. Phil Telfeyan, Executive Director of Equal Justice Under Law, states, “In Louisiana, the high cost of record expungement creates a system where the rich can afford to set themselves up for success, and the poor cannot. This is wealth-based discrimination and is a violation of constitutional rights. We are asking the State to incorporate an ability to pay inquiry and a fee waiver for those who qualify to apply for an expungement but cannot afford the fee. We are not asking to change the expungement process – only to allow those who cannot pay to have access to expungement.”
case details
Status: Ongoing
Date Filed: 12/13/19
Plaintiffs: E.B., T.W., and T.R., on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated
Defendants: Jeff Landry, Attorney General of Louisiana, in his official capacity; Doug Welborn, Clerk of the East Baton Rouge Parish Court, in his official capacity, as a representative of a Defendant Class comprised of all Parish Clerks in the State of Louisiana, in their official capacities; Hillar Moore, District Attorney of East Baton Rouge Parish, in his official capacity, as a representative of a Defendant Class comprised of all District Attorneys in the State of Louisiana, in their official capacities
Jurisdiction: East Baton Rouge Parish Court
Partners: The First 72+
IMPACT
Case is ongoing.