Fitial urged not to sign criminal record expungement bill

Former Commonwealth Zoning Board chair Herminia M. Fusco has asked Gov. Benigno R. Fitial not to sign a bill that would allow the expungement of criminal records and restoration of certain rights, saying the government should worry more about the majority of decent, law-abiding citizens than the feelings of criminals.

“And by allowing convicted criminals to occupy elected office, this bill will make a mockery of those very offices. Elected leaders are supposed to be a little better than the rest of us, not worse,” Fusco said in a two-page letter to Fitial.

Fusco sent her letter to the governor two days after the House passed the bill on May 15.

The measure, “The Restoration of Rights and Expungement Act of 2010,” reached the Office of the Governor only at 1:40pm yesterday.

The bill’s author, Rep. Stanley Torres (Ind-Saipan), said the bill already underwent several reviews and revisions, and it is now up to the governor to make a decision.

“Like I said before, this is not a blanket expungement. One has to go through a legal process,” Torres said.

Torres also believes that Fusco will try to block any bill he introduces. Fusco, when she was still with the Commonwealth Zoning Board, was critical of Torres’ bills that sought to amend or repeal the zoning law.

Fusco, in her letter to Fitial, said as a CNMI citizen, she is “dismayed that a bill like this would even be proposed by one of our elected representatives and passed by the Legislature.”

“The very first sentence of this bill sums up its logic. It states that ‘law abiding citizens of the Commonwealth are being unfairly burdened.’ If these citizens are law abiding then why do their records need expungement?” Fusco said.

She posed seven questions concerning the bill, including “who suggested that maintaining criminal records are a problem?” and “Specifically, whose past are we trying to whitewash?”

“What is the message we are sending to the general public, especially our children? Are we saying that committing a crime is okay because you can eventually have your criminal record expunged?” Fusco asked.

She also asked, “Why must we continue to lower our standards in the CNMI, instead of raising them?”

With so much criminality going on the island, “shouldn’t we be more concerned in imposing tougher laws rather than trying to be more lenient and accommodating of convicted criminals?”

She said the bill’s author “seems to be worried about the ‘rights’ of convicted criminals.”

“What about the rights of his constituents? His constituents have a right to know the background of those criminals that live and work in their community that they come in contact with, either as public or private employees, elected representatives or neighbors. How about worrying about is for once?” she asked.

Torres has said his measure will help people who have been rehabilitated to “go on with their lives” to become better citizens and be able to find a job or accepted to schools.

The bill does not grant a right of expungement or restoration of rights to sex offenders; those who have more than one conviction for a violent crime or offense that is punishable by five years or more; and those convicted of any heinous crime such as murder, rape, aggravated sexual assault, or any other conviction deemed by the CNMI Superior Court and the Office of the Attorney General as justification to forfeit a person’s right for expungement or restoration of rights.

The eight-page bill has been bouncing between the House and Senate since Torres introduced it in March 2010.

The bill is House Bill 17-52, HD2, SS1, SD1.