Post-Conviction Relief (Expungement)
Our criminal record expungement practice focuses on post-conviction relief for individuals seeking to establish meaningful reintegration after contact with the criminal justice system. The fallout of criminal convictions can result in severe collateral consequences in various contexts including employment, housing, and student loans. Important civil and political rights are implicated for people with convictions. For example, some states permanently disenfranchise people with conviction histories, further pushing people to the margins of society.
California’s record expungement statutes allow people to petition the court for dismissal of their past convictions. Once a person has successfully dismissed their record, they are generally released from “all penalties and disabilities” associated with their convictions, and they can answer “no” on most job applications inquiring about conviction history.
Our hope is to help ameliorate the collateral consequences of convictions so that people can fully engage in their communities and have a fair chance of reentering society.
Students in Action
At the beginning of every full-time quarter, law students participate in an intensive training session for expungement cases. As part of their training, students work collaboratively to analyze their clients’ RAP sheets and to explore the legal remedies that might be available to their clients like expungement, felony reduction, early termination of probation, or some combination of these. Collective effort and a shared sense of purpose is a common part of the CLC experience.
