Patrick makes push for CORI law reform

BOSTON. It was a simple spat, the kind hard-loving sisters might have all the time. Fifteen years later, it came back to haunt Betty Agin.

Agin, 52, of Springfield, and her sister filed court complaints against each other following a 1983 fight Agin called “nothing more than a loud argument.”

There were no convictions and neither complaint saw the inside of a court room, but Agin picked up a CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information), causing a prospective employer in 1998 to push her away.

“They told me they couldn’t hire me because I had that on my record,” said Agin.

Similar stories drew a horde to a State House hearing yesterday clamoring for CORI reform.

Amid a day critical to his casino proposal, Gov. Deval Patrick stumped for such change.

“The best social program is a job,” Patrick said in support of his Act To Reduce Recidivism by Increasing Employment Opportunities, one of many proposals designed to alter CORI laws.

Patrick’s plan would cut the time it takes for offenders’ records to be sealed from 15 years to 10 years for a felony and from 10 to five for a misdemeanor. It would also clean up records like Agin’s and those of countless others who have been hindered by one mistake made in their youth, Patrick said.

Agin backs the plan, but hopes probation periods can run concurrent with an open CORI. Adding a 10-year CORI term to a long probation is excessive, she said.