CLE: Pardons in Pennsylvania - Helping Low-Income Philadelphians

2000 Market Street,Philadelphia PA 19103

05 October, 2021

Description

Assist low-income Philadelphians and remove barriers to access to justice. CLE credit (1 hour sub, .5 ethics). Lunch provided for attendees. RSVP by September 28, 2021. It’s been estimated that there are 100,000 low-income people living in Philadelphia who have turned their lives around since having been involved with the criminal justice system. In some low-income, high arrest, primarily minority neighborhoods, upwards of 60% of the adults are thought to have criminal records (arrests and convictions). With 87% of employers and 80% of landlords checking those records as part of the application process, those records are used to deny jobs, housing, credit, education, and other opportunities for which they are qualified. That’s why the state’s Auditor General, among others, have called on the PA Board of Pardons to increase the number of people for whom they are recommending pardons, and to speed up the process. Today, the Board of Pardons is approving over 80% of the applications they hear. PLSE is looking for more people to help low-income Philadelphians apply for a pardon and get the best chance they can for a hearing. This 1 hour long CLE program (1.0 substantive, 0.5 ethics) will explain the pardon process and include an in-depth explanation of the Application for Clemency. Running throughout will be the role and ethical obligations of the lawyer. At the end of the program, those who are willing will be given a PLSE client who has been screened for eligibility in PLSE’s Pro Bono Pardon Project (see attached). Your service can be limited simply to helping the client get their application filed with the Board of Pardons. Faculty: Sarah Coyle, Staff Attorney at PLSE For any questions about registration, please contact Lana Pizzo at: [email protected] In preparation for this event, feel free to watch this short video Thank you to our event sponsors!