In recent years, dozens of states and municipalities have prohibited employers from asking job -candidates about prior arrests; prosecutors have moved to clear convictions for marijuana possession; and police chiefs have instructed officers to stop arresting people for low-level crimes.

A law approved in Pennsylvania last year automatically clears the records of people with misdemeanor offenses if, after 10 years, they have not been convicted of any other crime.

So far, the California proposal has raised few public objections, largely because it does not expand the range of crimes that can be sealed. Under current law, people in California can seek to have records of misdemeanors and low-level felonies sealed by making a formal request to a court; under the new legislation, sealing would happen automatically.



Under the current rules, it’s rare that people pursue sealing their records, and most don’t even know it is an option, according to George Gascón, San Francisco’s district attorney. Only about 20 percent of those eligible to get their records sealed in California actually do so. (Mr. Jordan said he was among people who didn’t know, at first, that sealing his record was an option.)

In an interview, Mr. Gascón, a Democrat, acknowledged that the legal system, including his own office, was partly responsible for the low rate. Mr. Gascón said he decided that it was critical to shift the burden away from individuals, and onto the judicial system.

“People don’t understand how it works, or they don’t have the capacity to get it done,” he said. “We cannot keep people caged in a paper prison for the rest of their lives.”

Offenses that would qualify to be automatically sealed under the new legislation are identical to those that people are permitted to seek to have sealed now, said Phil Ting, the State Assembly member, a Democrat, who introduced the bill.