Can I get a Certificate of Rehabilitation for a federal conviction?

    Unfortunately, no. There is currently no law that allows federal judges to grant Certificates of Rehabilitation (COR). However, one judge in the Eastern District of New York issued a COR on his own.[3253] This certificate has not been challenged, but to the best of our knowledge no other federal judge has issued a certificate of rehabilitation or anything like it in any other case. However, a small number of other federal judges in the Eastern District of New York have made it clear that they are frustrated by the limitations on remedies for cleaning up federal records. Although CORs are not currently available under federal law, it is something we may see in the future.

The Bottom Line:

The only circumstances under which you are likely to get a judicial expungement of your federal conviction are:

    When your conviction is based on a law that was later found to be unconstitutional; or If a judge finds that your conviction was the result of police or government misconduct. If you want to request a judicial expungement of your federal conviction, it is recommended that you talk to a lawyer. You can contact the lawyer who represented you in your criminal case or a federal public defender.
  1. 3253

    Doe v. United States, No. 15-MC-1174 (E.D.N.Y., March 7, 2016. ↑