Should criminal pasts be public record in RI?

Good morning, I'm Will Richmond at The Providence Journal and this is the Daily Briefing.

At some point in life, we're all bound to make mistakes. For some, those mistakes result in criminal charges. But how long should those charges remain part of the public record?

That's a question the state Senate is taking up once again as bills calling for an expansion of the state's expungement law are heading to a full vote.

Current state law allows the expungement of a single felony from the record of a first-time offender, 10 years after completion of his or her sentence, and "fewer than six" misdemeanors from the record of someone with no felony convictions – and that's the key here: no felony convictions - five years after completion of their sentence.

The Journal's Katherine Gregg looks at what's now being proposed and why advocates are pushing for the changes.

• From my childhood home in the Green Hill section of South Kingstown, when the wind was blowing in the right direction the sounds of the Rhythm & Roots Festival at Ninigret Park would drift through the air.

Chuck Wentworth, the longtime producer of Rhythm & Roots Festival, died recently at 72. The Journal's Antonia Farzan looks back at Wentworth's legacy and how he created something "much more than just a festival."

•  The man behind one of the most "brazen and egregious" health care frauds in R.I. is heading to prison.

The Journal's Katie Mulvaney reports on the sentence facing Michael Brier, the CEO of Recovery Connection Centers of America , after he agreed to plead guilty to health care fraud for defrauding insurers out of more than $3.5 million by falsely submitting claims for 45-minute counseling sessions that, in fact, lasted mere minutes, court documents show.

• Did you miss a chance to see the Independent Man before it went into storage for restoration? Now you have another chance.

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Every day we receive emails ranking Rhode Island. While the work behind the ranks may be dubious, they can be fun. Each day I'll share where Rhody Ranks from one of the latest emails.

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Pennsylvania and Rhode Island rank fourth and fifth, with close index scores of 63.1 and 62.31 out of 100.

TODAY'S WEATHER

☁️ Spotty drizzle in the morning; otherwise, cloudy and cooler. Highs in the upper 50s.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Should criminal pasts be public record in RI?