State v. Faria

OPINION

Justice SUTTELL,

for the Court.

We consider in this case an equal-protection challenge to statutory provisions that prohibit convicted felons from seeking the destruction and/or sealing of certain police and court records relating to criminal cases in which they have been acquitted or otherwise exonerated. We issued a writ of certiorari to review a District Court decision granting motions to destroy and to seal records of the defendant, Brian Faria, under G.L. 1956 §§ 12-1-12 and 12-1-12.1. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we reverse the decision.

I

Facts and Procedural History

In…