S-17-0769 State v. Kaitlyn N. Coble (Appellant)
Lancaster County, Judge John Colborn
Attorneys: Jennifer Gaughan (Legal Aid of Nebraska for Appellant) --- Marcee A. Brownlee (Assistant City Attorney) --- Christopher Eickholt (ACLU of Nebraska, Amicus Curiae) --- Ryan P. Sullivan (Civil Clinical Law Program, University of Nebraska College of Law, Amicus Curiae)
Criminal: Motion to seal criminal record
Proceedings below: The county court overruled Appellant’s motion to seal. The district court affirmed.
Issues: 1. The District Court erred in affirming the county court’s determination that the remedy provided in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-3523 is not available to legally innocent Nebraskans whose charges were dismissed before the operative date of the amendment.
a. A plain reading of Section 29-3523 does not limit cases eligible to be sealed to those dismissed on or after January 1, 2017.
b. Interpreting the operative date as plainly precluding Section 29-3523 from applying to cases dismissed before 2017 would lead to an absurd result because it would frustrate the legislative intent behind the statutory amendments.
c. If Section 29-3523 is ambiguous, the legislative history shows the intent of the legislature was to expand privacy protections regardless of the date the case was dismissed.
d. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-3523's operative date alone does not support its inapplicability to cases dismissed before 2017.
e. Appellant is not seeking retroactive application of Section 29-3523.
2. The District Court erred in determining Appellant is not eligible to seal her records under the
2007 version of Section 29-3523.