The ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit against the Delaware County Office of Judicial Support due to the office's refusal to expunge a criminal record due to unpaid court costs, despite a court order requiring expungement.
K.B. received a full pardon from Governor Tom Wolf for a 2019 marijuana possession conviction as part of the Pennsylvania Marijuana Pardon Project. The conviction made it difficult for K.B. to obtain employment and housing. Every person who receives a pardon is automatically entitled to an expungement, and a judge on the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas ordered full expungement of the case. In violation of this court order, the Delaware County Office of Judicial Support has refused to expunge the marijuana conviction from K.B.’s record because he had not paid $897.75 in court costs.
The failure to expunge K.B.’s conviction is in defiance of the judge who issued the initial order and the President Judge of Delaware County’s prior instruction to process such expungements. It is also a violation of the Criminal History Record Information Act and the Pennsylvania Constitution.
The lawsuit asks the Commonwealth Court to order that the Delaware County Office of Judicial Support and the head clerk, Mary Walk, must comply with the court order to expunge K.B.’s conviction, and to award damages, costs, and attorney’s fees to K.B.
