Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioner (cert. stage).

Argument: The Ninth Circuit's rejection of equitable expungement authority misreads this Court's precedents and conflicts with seven circuits. Sitting in equity, the federal courts have the ability to expunge convictions they entered. The circuits are widely divided and the rule of the Ninth Circuit and its sister circuits rests on a fundamental misinterpretation of this Court's precedents. Kokkonen does not address, much less limit, the equitable authority at issue here. The circuits are in conflict, The question presented is ripe for resolution. Easy access to conviction records contributes to recidivism and failed post-incarceration re-entry.