My question involves expungements or pardons for the state of: Washington Several month ago I petitioned a King County Superior Court judge to have my 1989 conviction for a gross misdemeanor vacated and the court record sealed. The judge agreed to vacate but turned down my request to seal the court record. When I first contracted the services of my attorney, in April 2008, I was led to believe that getting the court file sealed would be almost a sure thing, but then, in early 2009, they informed me that the "rules" had changed, that now there were the "Ishikawa Factors", which judges have to weigh against "GR-15", in order to seal a court file. The judge ultimately ruled that there was not enough "compelling reason" to seal my file, which would have to outweigh the public's right to inspect a criminal court record. After the heaing, my attorney told me that I could still get my file sealed, but to do so I would have to supply "compelling evidence", which, he said, would best take the form of a "rejection notice" from a prospective employer to whom I had applied for a job, in the form of a letter or e-mail, stating that I had been turned down for the position specifically because of my accessible criminal record. In Washington State, if you have your conviction vacated it will no longer appear on the Washington State Patrol's website, but unless you have your court file sealed it will still be accessible, on the Washington Courts website and at the courthouse itself. From what I have gathered, it was relatively easy several years ago to get your file sealed once your conviction was vacated in Washington, but the recent rule changes have now made it more difficult. So, extremely disappointed but still hopeful, I found myself in the odd position of applying for jobs not really wanting to be hired but instead be turned down because of my still accessible criminal record, and explicitly told so in an e-mail. So far I have been "accepted" for some jobs, turned down for others, but no one has yet given me that magic "rejection notice" I need. My gut feeling is that this will not be easy. And yet, paradoxically, I read stories from people who have a similar situation and get turned down for jobs repeatedly, and are told that their criminal record is in fact the reason why. I cannot be the only person in Washington State with this problem, if any of you are reading this I would welcome any advice and insight, even perhaps some suggestions about employers who are "known" to turn down applicants with criminal records, especially those that have had the conviction vacated, and explicitly say so in a letter or e-mail. Please send me a personal message if you have such a suggestion. Thanks.

