In re Expungement
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The Supreme Court vacated and set aside the order of expungement in this case, holding that a judge ordering expungement under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, 100K must employ a two-part procedure.
At issue was whether a judge ordering expungement under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, 100K(a) may expunge a record solely because doing so is in the best interests of justice pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, 100K(b) and thus skip the conditions enumerated in section 100K(a). The judge in this case issued an order allowing Petitioner's petition for expungement. The Supreme Court vacated and set aside the order and remanded the matter for further proceedings, holding (1) a judge ordering expungement must make findings based on clear and convincing evidence that the relevant criminal record was created because of one or more of the reasons listed in section 100K(a); and (2) after making such findings a judge may consider whether expungement would be in "the best interests of justice" under section 100K(b).
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