Also known as: certificate of rehabilitation · certificates of rehab · certificate of rehab · rehabilitation certificate
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
A formal judicial or administrative order recognizing that a convicted person has been rehabilitated and restoring civil rights or removing disabilities. Under the governing evidence rule, the certificate bars admission of the underlying conviction to impeach a witness's character for truthfulness when the person has incurred no later conviction punishable by death or more than one year of imprisonment.
Luis testifies in a products liability trial. Fifteen years earlier he was convicted of felony embezzlement. After completing probation a court issued him a certificate restoring his civil rights based on rehabilitation. He has no later felony convictions. The opposing party offers the conviction to attack his credibility. The court excludes the evidence because the certificate satisfies the rehabilitation exception.
A defendant completes probation and petitions under state law for relief from disabilities. The court sets aside the guilty plea, enters a not guilty plea, and dismisses the case after finding rehabilitation. The defendant later seeks to vote. The restoration order removes the conviction's disqualifying effect for that purpose.
In 1972 three individuals who had been convicted of felonies and had completed their terms of incarceration and parole sought to register to vote in California. Respondent Ramirez, convicted in Texas of robbery by assault, applied in San Luis Obispo County. Respondent Lee, convicted in California of heroin possession, applied in Monterey County. Respondent Gill, convicted in California of burglary and forgery, applied in Stanislaus County. Each was refused registration by the respective county clerk or registrar on the ground of their prior felony convictions. The three respondents filed a petition for a writ of mandate in the Supreme Court of California in May 1972, invoking that court's original jurisdiction. They brought the action on behalf of themselves and all other ex-felons similarly situated whose terms of incarceration and parole had expired. The petition named as defendants the three county election officials who had refused registration, individually and as representatives of the class of all county clerks and registrars, as well as the California Secretary of State. The three named county clerks did not contest the action and indicated they would register the named plaintiffs and similarly situated ex-felons. Petitioner Viola Richardson, County Clerk of Mendocino County, moved to intervene, alleging the suit was collusive and noting a pending lawsuit against her by an ex-felon in her county. The California Supreme Court denied the motion to intervene but added Richardson as a named defendant. The Secretary of State appeared and denied the essential claims. The California Supreme Court determined the case was not moot despite the relief afforded the named plaintiffs, exercised its original jurisdiction, and addressed the constitutional challenge. It denied the peremptory writ of mandate. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the decision.
View caseThe certificate bars impeachment when it rests on an express finding of rehabilitation and the witness has no later conviction punishable by death or more than one year of imprisonment. The rule treats the formal determination as erasing the conviction's value for attacking credibility.
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No. Only a later conviction punishable by death or imprisonment exceeding one year lifts the bar. A $500 fine with no jail exposure leaves the certificate's protection intact.
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No. A foreign presidential pardon reciting rehabilitation and no subsequent serious conviction triggers the same exclusion as a domestic certificate.
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The order still qualifies if it contains an express rehabilitation finding supported by evidence such as restitution and community service. The presence of additional grounds does not remove the bar.
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…of a felony who was incarcerated may file, any time after his release from custody, a notice of intention to apply for a certificate of rehabilitation and pardon. It further provides, however: "This chapter shall not apply to persons convicted of misdemeanors; to persons who have served time in county jails only; to persons serving a…