Newsletter Vol. 6 No. 6

Summer Recap

It has been a very exciting summer at PLSE. While we’ve mostly taken a break from hosting clinics while many of our volunteers and staff enjoy weekends at the shore, we’ve remained busy continuing our work in court clearing records, in the office preparing pardon applications and programming for the fall, and continuing our support of county pardon projects across the state. Next month we will resume our normal monthly newsletter schedule and make some exciting new staff announcements. Stay tuned! 

Photo from the PPSC Leaders Summit

The Pardon Project Steering Committee (PPSC) is a group of people with lived experience in the criminal justice system that helps make sure PLSE and the government are responsive to the community’s needs. Since its start in 2018, it has worked closely with three different Board of Pardons Secretaries, held four different online “town halls”, created videos to help people understand the pardon process, hosted three online letter-writing campaigns, and helped make major changes in the forms the BOP uses. 

It's also grown. Now with almost 50 members, meeting every other month, it includes people from more than 20 different counties who meet every other month.

Thanks to the Independence Foundation, 21 of its members met in Harrisburg on July 12-13 and they emerged bonded in support of three major goals:

1. Make sure that every Pardon Project in the state knows about and is using “best practices”,
2. Get the Governor, the Lt. Governor, and others working to reduce the amount of time it takes to go from submission of the application to the Governor actually signing the pardon, and
3. Reaching out through existing client organizations to get more members in more counties who are prepared and eager to respond with the PPSC issues Calls to Action.

Wasting no time, the “Make All Pardons a Priority” (MAPP) Committee wrote a powerful letter to the Governor, demanding that he make the process faster and asking for a meeting to discuss it – with the hint that if nothing was done, “public action” would be taken. You really must read the letter – it’s here. 

If the Gov doesn’t respond, the PPSC will be asking YOU to pick up the banner and help lead the charge.

The York County Bar Association (YCBA) was honored with the 2024 National Association for Bar Professionals (NABE) LexisNexis Community and Educational Outreach Award for their collaborative efforts with the PARDON ME Film Screening and Panel Discussion that was held on October 4, 2023, at the Capitol Theatre. Victoria Connor, CEO of the York County Bar Association and York County Bar Foundation accepted the award at the 2024 NABE Annual Meeting held on August 1, 2024, at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago.

The LexisNexis Community & Educational Outreach Awards honor outstanding Bar public service and law-related education programs. The Pardon Project of York County (PPYC), in collaboration with community partners including the York County Bar Association and York County Bar Foundation, The Program, “It's About Change,” the York County District Attorney’s Office, the York County Clerk of Courts, the York County Economic Alliance, and the Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity, organized a special screening of the documentary film PARDON ME. The screening concluded with a livestreamed panel discussion moderated by York County District Attorney David Sunday. Panelists included filmmaker Shuja Moore, The Honorable William R. Carpenter of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, pardon recipients David Bryant, Laurie Besden, Esq., C. Reginald “Reggie” Johnson, Esq., and pardon fellow DaShawn Harrison. The screening was free and open to the public and marked the beginning of a statewide tour of showings and discussions across the Commonwealth.

At the National Association of Bar Professionals Annual Meeting on August 1, YCBA/YCBF CEO Victoria Connor accepted the 2024 LexisNexis Community and Educational Outreach Award presented by Afsoon McClellan, Director of Global Associations at LexisNexis, for the PARDON ME film Screening and Panel discussion. Held in October 2023 at the Appell Center for the Performing Arts with many community partners, the YCBA’s event was selected as an award winner as an outstanding Bar public service and law-related education program.

Directed and produced by Shuja Moore, the documentary PARDON ME sheds light on the transformative power of pardons, not only providing individuals with the chance to lead fulfilling lives but also positively impacting lower-income communities. The film narrates the compelling stories of two individuals navigating the pardon process in Pennsylvania, with one of them having already received a pardon. It also includes insightful interviews with thought leaders such as Jeff Hornstein, head of The Economy League, and Brandon Flood, former Secretary of the PA Board of Pardons. 

Pennsylvania is among the most heavily incarcerated and supervised states in the nation, and criminal records often present significant barriers to employment, housing, education, and more. The only way to remove a conviction from one's record is through a pardon from the Governor, and the only way to get to the Governor is through the Board of Pardons. 

It’s now much easier to request a pardon, and since 2021, more than 8 out of 10 applicants who apply get a hearing. The key to success lies in crafting a compelling application that tells the story of how someone has changed since their initial involvement. Pardon Coaches play a crucial role in guiding applicants through the pardon process and telling their story.

In Pennsylvania, there are currently 15 Pardon Projects. The goal of the statewide initiative is to double that number. After the York County event, representatives of three other counties expressed interest in starting Pardon Projects in their communities and five attendees reached out to the York County Bar and The Program, “It’s About Change” to get involved as Pardon Coaches. Several attendees contacted the Pardon Project to check their eligibility, and/or to start the pardon process. 

Thanks to generous contributions, the screening not only raised awareness but also secured $7,000 to benefit Do Moore Good, the charity founded by Shuja Moore to advance this critical work throughout the Commonwealth.

Many people are unaware that a pardon from the Governor does not automatically change one’s criminal record. Instead, you have to go to court, file an expungement petition, attend a hearing, and if the judge grant’s the order, make sure it is served to the state police, the local police, and the local DA. Depending on where you live in the commonwealth, this can cost up to $200 per conviction and take 2 to 6 months. Currently, over two-thirds of pardon recipients have not had their records expunged.

Not anymore! Thanks to a law signed by the Gov on December 14th all pardon recipients will automatically receive an expungement. According to the new law, the Board of Pardons simply notifies the Administrative Office of the PA Courts once a quarter of pardon recipients, the AOPC notifies the state police, and the state police are required to notify all criminal justice agencies that they must expunge the records. And that’s it.

We expect the first quarterly report to be issued next month.

Image of Shuja Moore

Images from the Clinic hosted by The Elevation Project (above) and State Representative Rick Krajewski  (below)