United States v. Van Wagner

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ELLIS, District Judge.

I

When should federal courts exercise their equitable powers to order expungement of an arrest record? This is the seldom litigated but important question presented here. More specifically, the question presented is whether the record of an arrest should be expunged where the person arrested is completely innocent of any crime and suffers significant adverse consequences as a result of the arrest record. For the reasons that follow, the Court concludes that this is an appropriate case for the exercise of its equitable power to expunge an arrest record.

II

T…