The law also places the burden upon the Prosecutor to come forward with disqualifying convictions or other factors which would somehow bear upon public safety. Here, the Pennsylvania DUI conviction is not a statutory bar to this drug court graduate’s expungement. Such an offense, under the laws of the State of New Jersey, does not constitute a crime, disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offense. N.J.S.A. 2C:1-4. The State has not presented any factors that demonstrate that petitioner, a graduate of the drug court program, is a public safety risk.
In light of petitioner’s completion of the rigorous monitoring program “that is the hallmark of drug court” as well as the policy favoring expungement of successful graduates, T.B., this court will grant the application of J.S. and enter an order expunging the whole of petitioner’s past criminal record.
This decision could also be helpful to traditional expungement applicants. An out-of-state DUI can also bar expungement if the foreign state considered the DUI to be a crime punishable by more than a year of incarceration. This decision, coupled with a change in expungement policy that favors the granting of expungements could be a basis to overturn precedent that pre-dates the change in legislative policy.