in honor of our tenth year, in support of our work, and as a statement of your commitment to racial justice and social equity.
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“WHEREAS, When people are shackled
by their criminal records, entire communities suffer...”
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On December 16, Philadelphia’s City Council honored PLSE for its ten years of “outstanding work in preventing communities of color from being burdened by criminal records.” In a Resolution introduced by the Hon. Cherelle Parker and unanimously approved, Council noted that PLSE "pushes back against inequalities and gives hope and light back to communities.” Our work “allows for redemption among individuals who are being treated unjustly, and in turn, this helps uplifts communities and allow members of these communities to prosper.” Our efforts, in short, “give those in need the chance to thrive.”
PLSE's Executive Director Renee Chenault Fattah thanked Council for this honor. Noting PLSE's place in the proud history of Philadelphia's role as a champion of racial justice and social equity, she said, " We are providing clinics and information outreach in the spirit of the community model created by the late Rev Dr. A. Leon Sullivan. He believed change happens when it is organic and arises from the communities themselves, and his faith, his vision changed the world. That's why we are working with faith based leaders and trusted community organizations to spread the good news about the power of pardons and expungement as a way to provide second chances . They are always direct pathways to better jobs, and jobs are always an answer to crime and a way to lift our communities out of poverty. This Resolution, and your help in your Districts, will help us spread that good news to families and neighborhoods where it so needs to be heard."
This being the Season of Light and Hope, the timing of the Resolution could not be more meaningful for us. Thank you, Leader Parker and Council, for recognizing our work and urging us on to our next decade of service to Philadelphia!
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Pardons 2022: Updates from Harrisburg
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Twice this month, the Hon. Brandon Flood, Secretary of the Board of Pardons, appeared on statewide Zoom programs hosted by PLSE to talk about the future of pardons in Pennsylvania. They were very different programs, and each (as observers commented) was “jam-packed with information,” “honest, no BS,” and “definitely motivating”.
- “How can we in the faith community help the Board see the light and reform its ways, so that it stops focusing on the past, on the crime, and shines the spotlight on effort and growth since then, and contributions to family and community, and denies pardons only to those who have demonstrated that they have not changed?”
- “What is the state doing to make sure people coming out of prison and on parole, know about pardons and how they can erase their records by acting right?” and
- anticipating the election in November 2022 that will cause changes in the Board, “Why should people have faith that all the good you’ve done to open up the system will remain after you’ve gone and been replaced by other people who may not share your views about the importance of pardons for regular, ordinary people like me?”
You’ll have to watch the show to learn the answers!! The session ended with Rev. Michelle Simmons (Chair of the PPSC) thanking the Secretary for being so accessible to people with criminal records and so open to making changes. “You are amazing,” she said, “and we are blessed to have you as Secretary.” True.
The Secretary’s second appearance was in a one-hour “Update” for Pardon Coaches. There, he announced major changes in how the Board would be processing pardon applications next year, and PLSE also confirmed major changes for its Pardon Coaches. More on these developments elsewhere in this newsletter.
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BOP Secretary Announces Major Changes for 2022
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It’s currently taking over one year for the Board of Pardons to go from “receipt” of pardon applications to “filing” them. The reason? The staff have to check each application for accuracy and completeness. According to the Secretary, just under two-thirds have problems, and a high percentage of them are errors in “Section 4” – where the Board asks about juvenile records, arrests and convictions in other jurisdictions, and driving records. All of that will be GONE! – the whole Section – in the new form that will be available the first week in January. Why this huge change? The result? The time from receipt-to-filing will be cut from 13+ months to just 1-2!!!
In other major changes:
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The BOP will only meet three times next year, each time over four days, with the first session on April 26-29. Pardon Coaches: make sure you AND your clients are watching on April 26 at 9am!! There’s NO better way to prep for the hearings or know what the Board wants to hear than by watching!
- Since there will be far more cases per session, the Board will be excusing applicants who received at least 4 positive votes at Merit Review (and whose crimes did not include sex or violence): they will be voted on as a group in a “consent agenda”.
- There are now three “accelerated” tracks to hearings: when: (1) the only convictions were for marijuana or paraphernalia (no sex/violence) [this is currently on the application form], (2) the crimes occurred more than 15 years ago (no sex/violence), and (3) the applicant has the support of the local District Attorney; and the Secretary is considering a 4th – where the applicant has been arrest-free for at least five years since completing their sentence (crime not involving sex/violence), which is what the statewide Workforce Development Board has so strongly recommended (see last month’s newsletter). Pardon Coaches: be sure to use the new “cover page” when submitting the Application! Here’s a link to it! and it’s also in the Pardon Coach Toolkit.
- The new form will include language that allows the BOP staff to correct minor errors, and they will be communicating by email whenever possible. GONE are the days of snail-mail letters, unreturned phone calls, and all the frustration that goes with them!
ALL GREAT STUFF!! Thank you, Secretary Flood and BOP Staff!!!
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Incoming Chancellor Re-commits Philly Bar to Pardon Reform in 2022
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In between, the Philly Bar has spoken six more times – each time, unanimously - calling on the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to:
- Develop policies and procedures that will allow the Board to hear within one year from the date the application is filed as many applications as possible April 2019
- Immediately discontinue the practice of considering the assets, income or wealth of applicants for pardons October 2019
- Provide whatever funds are necessary to ensure that as many applications as possible are reviewed and filed within thirty days of receipt by the Board of Pardons, that as many hearings as possible be held within one year of filing, and that all recommendations for pardon made by the Board of Pardons be delivered to the Governor within thirty days of the date of the votes thereon. August 2020
- Expand the [“in forma pauperis”] rule to cover ... criminal cases, in which filing costs and other imposed fees impair access to justice September 2020
- Tak[e] immediate steps to formalize the process by which the Governor receives, reviews and decides pardon applications by non-incarcerated individuals; and among other things, to establish, for this Governor and the ones to follow, policies and procedures that will ensure that those applications are decided within ninety (90) days of their favorable recommendation by the Board of Pardons May 2021
- To rescind immediately its newly-announced policy prohibiting hearings on applications for clemency where there are unpaid fines, fees, or costs from underlying convictions June 2021
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Now comes December 2021 and the Annual Meeting of the Bar Association, when the incoming Chancellor of the Bar addresses the membership and talks about his priorities for the coming year. This month, that honor fell to Wesley R. Payne, IV – a volunteer with the Pardon Project and long-time champion of equal access to justice. Wes knows full well that 2022 – his year – will be a make-or-break year for pardon reform in Pennsylvania: it is the final year for the current Board to finish the job and turn its reforms from internal operating procedures into formal regulations. He knows that this will take support from stakeholders from around the state. statewide.
And so it was that Wes spoke to the importance of pardons, continuing the work of reform, and getting all parts of our society to come together: “to the extent we can assist by facilitating getting others involved, we shall do so.” Thank you, Wes! And thank you, Philly Bar!
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United Way Leads The Way ... Again!
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In 2020, UWGPSNJ teamed up with the City of Philadelphia to introduce “The Promise” – a new public-private partnership aimed at reducing poverty and promoting equitable recovery from the pandemic. And just last month, in November 2021, The Promise announced that it intended to:
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"conduct one of the largest, if not the largest, record sealing and clearing initiatives this city has ever seen. Through this community challenge, we plan to fund a minimum of 30 clinics and community events throughout 2022, while also connecting these clinics to high-quality workforce partners and research partners. These partnerships will be innovative and large-scale."
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The Promise will be investing approximately $2 million in this effort, funding 15-30 “Community Hubs” and 2-5 legal services programs. (Be sure to read the Postcript at the end of this newsletter for the key findings upon which this initiative is based.)
Simply put, this is H*U*G*E!!!! Thank you again, UWGPSNJ, for your leadership, your vision, your energy. You are leading the country in developing this critical approach to eliminating persistent poverty.
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Community Clinics: Breaking Down Barriers, Building Up Relationships
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This article was written by Patrick Keough, PLSE Program Manager, who arranges most of PLSE’s community clinics
Each year PLSE hosts dozens of Pardon Clinics where law students, attorneys and other volunteers are trained as Pardon Coaches. They are paired with a client with whom the coach meets on the same day to begin filling out their pardon application. Often, the most substantive parts of the application are completed in just the one meeting. This model is effective because it enables newly trained coaches to put their knowledge directly into practice and for clients to make real progress towards dismantling the barrier created by their conviction.
I am always struck by how beneficial it is for clients and coaches to meet face to face: our clients have a chance to tell their story to a sympathetic ear and the coaches can put a human face to the statistics they hear about the wide-ranging consequences of being entangled in the justice system. Awkwardness and anxiety melt away as folks chat over slices of pizza or cups of coffee. By the time the client and coach get to the substance of the application, they are no longer strangers. What at face value is a complex, serious and daunting administrative process becomes an opportunity to develop relationships and chip away at the dividing walls of class, race, and social location.
Recently, PLSE hosted a clinic at Temple Law with their chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. When the clients first arrived, I was excited to see expressions of recognition on the faces of a coach and client who were paired together. Soon the law student volunteer and the client realized they were neighbors who frequently encountered one another out walking their dogs. There is no better example to illustrate a truth we convey during our trainings: folks with criminal records aren’t sequestered to institutions or immediately recognizable by scarlet letters, they are our neighbors and friends whose lives are negatively affected on a day to day basis by the onerous consequences of mistakes made far in the past.
If your organization or firm would like to fund, sponsor or host a Pardon Clinic, please reach out to probono@plsephilly.org.
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Pardon Project Expanding to Centre, Wayne and York Counties
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2021 was the year that saw Pardon Projects take off across the state! The year ends with three gearing up to start next year. In November, with the support of the DA, PD, Prothonotary and North Penn Legal Services, the Wayne County Bar Association (in northeastern PA) decided to add pardons to its pro bono program. On December 9, a wonderfully broad and diverse group of civic leaders came together in State College at the invitation of Rep. Scott Conklin and agreed to expand into a county-wide effort the pardon clinic that had been started at Penn State Law. And as this newsletter goes to press, two Judges, the DA, the Clerk of Court, the Bar Exec and Bar Leaders were all expressing their enthusiasm for getting together early in January to discuss how to bring a Pardon Project to York County.
With these, the total of free-standing pardon projects across the state will grow to 11, with more on the horizon and a website to connect them all.
This is a great way to end this year, and begin the next. Thank you one and all!
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Nice Words from Our Supporters
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It’s always wonderful hearing from our supporters. And here are a few comments:
From a Pardon Coach:
“It really is a rewarding experience to engage with someone like this [pardon client], who is facing a problem, get to know him along the way, then together achieve the goal of getting his pardon. I only hope this gets finalized through the Governor without too much delay.”
-Matthew Fradin, Vice President & Senior Deputy General Counsel, Comcast
From Attendees of the Town Hall:
“Thank you very much. This was an awesome presentation.”
-Ben Moore, Dept of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, City of Phila.
“Thank you Secretary Flood & everyone for the good work.”
~Jeremy Burnworth, ReviveUP, and co-founder, Pardon Project of Allegheny County
From Attendees of the CLE Program:
“Great work! Thank you for common sense, practical solutions.”
-Brian Gorman, Executive Director, Southwestern PA Legal Services
“Very tight, filled with important information. Clearly both Secretary Flood and Mr. Oxholm are passionate about their work, and about giving everyone the opportunity for a second chance.”
-C.R., Allentown, PA
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Postscript: The “Case Statement” for The Promise’s $2M Record-Clearing Initiative
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From the RFP: “There are currently more than 400,000 people with arrest and conviction records in Philadelphia. Those individuals face numerous barriers to the workforce, including limitations on credentialing and licensure and policies precluding them from certain positions and employers. As a result, the national unemployment rate for formerly incarcerated people is five times the national average (27% in 2018). Past justice-involvement is shown to depress hourly wages for men by approximately 11%, annual employment by 9 weeks, and annual earnings by 40%. Considering 91% of people returning home from incarceration come back to low-income neighborhoods, it is clear that criminal records directly impact people living in poverty. ... Research shows that within one year, wages for people with expunged records go up by over 22% versus the pre-expungement trajectory, primarily from new employment.”
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Three Ways You Can Help:
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Subscribe to this newsletter! plsephilly.org/news LOTS is going to happen in 2022 and we will need you to stay informed and ready to help!
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Contact us to sponsor, host or fund a Pardon Clinic probono@plsephilly.org
- Last but not least, make a tax-deductible, year-end gift to PLSE donorbox.org/givetoplse
Happy Holidays, and Very Best Wishes for the Coming Year!
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Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity
111 S. 38th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
(267) 519-5323
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