Newsletter Vol 5 No 12

December 2023

We at PLSE would like to extend to our friends, near and far, best wishes for a happy, prosperous, and hope-filled 2024. Every day at PLSE, we work to bring hope to those badly in need of a second chance. It is our earnest hope that 2024 is filled with progress and abundant new beginnings for each of us, especially those encumbered by a criminal record. 

Five years ago, she was helping us make our first pardon videos, which are now linked to the Board of Pardon’s official website. Four years ago she joined our Board of Directors. Two and a half years ago, she joined our staff as Deputy Executive Director, then Executive Director, for what was intended to be just two years. And now, at the end of December, after two and one-half years, Renee Chenault Fattah stepped down as our Executive Director. 

Renee Chenault Fattah, award winning television news reporter, accomplished documentary filmmaker, and fierce advocate for the rights of the marginalized, joined PLSE when criminal record clearing was largely an after-thought, offered by few lawyers or non-profits in Pennsylvania. Under her adept leadership, buttressed by brilliant communication skills, there are now few elected officials, community leaders, or opinion influencers who have not heard about the terrible, inter-generational harms that criminal records inflict on low-income individuals, especially people of color. And now as Vice Chair of Mayor Parker’s transition team’s Public Safety Committee, she’s helping to advise the new administration, keenly aware that workforce development and criminal record reform is key to Philadelphia’s economic stability and safety. Renee has done so much for PLSE and our clients. Her leadership and vision are second to none and we are exceedingly grateful.

She will be followed by interim Executive Director, Lisa Campbell. Lisa is a long-time board member of PLSE and previously worked at the Defender Association of Philadelphia. She has trained attorneys across the city and country on a variety of subjects, including the imperative need for expungements for records of children and young people. Lisa is excited to follow Renee’s legacy and continue the hard work of PLSE. Welcome, Lisa!

Thanks again to all who made our November fundraiser, an Evening of Justice Food and Art so successful. We continue to receive sponsorships even though the event is past. We want to acknowledge our most recent “Art Patron” sponsor, IBEW Local 98, with special thanks to business manager Mark Lynch and his team for their support. We are extremely grateful to Local 98 for their generous sponsorship and for their support of our mission and their commitment to providing second chances for those affected by criminal records.

BOP Secretary Sherry Watson has made herself wonderfully available all around the state, visiting clemency events and screenings of the film Pardon Me. On December 12 at noon, the Secretary will join PLSE senior attorney and Pardon Project Director Tobey Oxholm in a one-hour conversation about “Pardons 2024: A Look Ahead”. For attorneys, it’s approved for CLE credit, AND satisfies the requirement for free malpractice insurance. No registration required!

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89818002997

Late in the evening on December 13, the General Assembly passed “Clean Slate 3.0” – now known as Act 36 of 2023 – and the Governor signed it two days later. It achieves some major goals important to people with criminal records:

• Less serious drug felonies will be eligible to be sealed automatically after 10 years without a subsequent misdemeanor or felony conviction. Other property-related felonies, such as thefts, will be eligible for sealing after 10 years by court petition.
• It reduces the time for sealing eligible misdemeanors from 10 to 7 crime-free years.  
• Summary offenses will be automatically sealed after 5 years. (These can be expunged through a court motion).
• It makes clear that “Except if required by Federal law, criminal history record information that has been expunged or provided limited access may not be used by any individual or noncriminal justice agency for employment, housing or school matriculation purposes.”

The prime sponsors in the House were Appropriations Chair Rep. Jordan Harris (Philadelphia) and Rep. Sheryl Delozier (Cumberland). Sen. Lisa Baker (Lackawanna) and Sen. Anthony Williams (Philadelphia) championed the bill in the Senate. These are major wins for Pennsylvanians of all income levels. People whose crimes are sealed are allowed to say that they have never been convicted of a crime. The law did codify a major exception: employers can legally use sealed information if the job applicant or employee “voluntarily” shares their full criminal history. To learn more about sealings, visit mycleanslatepa.com.

Congratulations to Sharon Dietrich and our colleagues at Community Legal Services for this great expansion of the law!   

You might think that a pardon would be the final step needed to erase someone’s criminal record. In reality, one still must go to court, file an expungement petition for every case (at $187 per petition), and wait for the court to hold a hearing. In Philadelphia, that takes several months. Fewer than one-third of pardon recipients complete that next step. For everyone who doesn’t, the convictions remain on their record, a record which does not include pardons. 

Thanks to efforts by Senators Street (D-Philadelphia), Bartolotta (R-Washington) and others, all that will change in June when the expungement of unconditionally pardoned crimes will become automatic. This greatly-needed reform was added to “Clean Slate 3.0” very late in the process, almost at the very last minute – and that was thanks to contacts made to Senator Baker’s office by one of her constituents up in Scranton, Tom Cook, who is a member of the Pardon Project Steering Committee. 

Thank you, Tom! And thank you Senators Street, Bartolotta and Baker!

Were you once incarcerated are and now thinking about college? If so, you’re invited to apply to Penn State’s Rising Scholar program. Rising Scholars is a 3-day, all-expense-paid college readiness and preparation program held on its main campus on April 7-10. It explores the value of a degree across the Commonwealth. You’ll tour the campus, sit in on classes, meet with faculty and career counselors, explore which classes and careers might be right for you, and learn how you can pay for college. The deadline to apply is Tuesday, January 23rd.

Applying is simple; just click here.  Questions? psurisingscholars@gmail.com.

“Those who are closest to the pain should be closest to the power. Too often, people who look like me or come from working-class communities like mine feel like their voices don’t matter. … When people take their pain and channel it into purpose and action, that is how we create positive change and make our system more just.” ~ Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, December 15, 2023 (at signing of the bill called Clean Slate 3.0)

If you have lived experience, add your voice to ours! To join our statewide Pardon Project Steering Committee just write us: ppsc@plsephilly.org.  

PLSE is very pleased to have been recently joined by Caitlin Mininger Esq, our newest Staff Attorney. Caitlin comes to us from the Lebanon County Public Defenders’ Office where she focused not only on indigent criminal defense, but also on economic justice issues. Caitlin was a Judicial Clerk to The Honorable Charles T. Jones. Jr. of Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas. Caitlin earned her law degree from Drexel University Thomas Kline School of Law. She graduated summa cum laude from Mercyhurst University with an undergraduate degree in English. In just a few short weeks with PLSE, Caitlin has assisted clients in gaining access to expungements and waiver of their legal financial obligation. Her competence is matched by her dedication to our mission and our clients. We can't wait to see what big things Caitlin does with PLSE! 

Veteran PLSEr, Morgan Gallagher, returned recently from a trip to Denmark where she gained valuable experience and insight about the field of harm reduction. As always, Morgan was a wonderful ambassador for PLSE. The knowledge she has been able to share and receive will be an asset to our organization, just like Morgan is!