People v. Howard

Defendant, Stanley Howard, appeals from the circuit court’s denial of his petition to expunge records of his arrest for a crime for which he was pardoned by the Governor. Defendant contends that the statute providing for expungement of arrest records vests no discretion within the circuit court to deny a petition that otherwise meets the statutory requirements for expungement. Alternatively, he contends that the court would have abused any discretion it had by denying his petition. For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On November 1, 1984, Chicago police arrested defendant…