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22 Jun 2023

EMPOWERING VETERANS THROUGH EXPUNGEMENT

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Across Arizona, Veterans’ Stand Down events serve as a critical initiative aimed at supporting and empowering military veterans who have dedicated their lives to service. These events provide a unique opportunity for veterans to access essential services, resources and support systems—all in one place.

Included among the most needed services at a Stand Down is free legal aid provided by organizations like those that make up the Reclaim Your Future marijuana expungement campaign.

“Our organization attends the Stand Down events to ensure that our nation’s most vulnerable and most deserving population is aware of our services, that other service providers are aware of what we offer, and to educate ourselves about other vital services available for our clients,” said Charles Doughty, senior attorney for DNA People’s Legal Services, a Flagstaff-based legal aid provider and Reclaim Your Future coalition partner.

The statewide coalition, which includes DNA and six other legal aid and community outreach organizations across Arizona, plays a vital role in enabling veterans and anyone with a marijuana-related arrest or conviction to overcome the challenges associated with a criminal record and reestablish their lives in a positive way.

“Expungement can help veterans clean up their record and improve their chances at opening the doors afforded to them through these clearances.”

What is a Veteran’s Stand Down?

According to the American Legion, the Veterans’ “Stand Down” is “named for a military term for a combat unit’s time to rest and recover while at war.” Today, it is a grassroots effort that brings together service providers, government agencies, nonprofits and volunteers offering comprehensive support to unhoused and at-risk veterans.

A Stand Down typically spans multiple days and provides a safe and welcoming environment where veterans can access a wide range of services all under one roof. The services offered at a Veterans’ Stand Down include:

Healthcare
Veterans can receive medical and dental check-ups, mental health counseling, and access to necessary medications.

Housing Assistance
Representatives from housing agencies offer information about housing programs, rental assistance, and transitional housing options.

Employment Support
Veterans can explore employment opportunities, receive assistance with resume writing and interview skills, and access job training programs.

Social Services
Veterans can connect with organizations that offer assistance with obtaining identification documents, applying for benefits, and accessing food and clothing resources.

Substance Use Disorder Treatment
Information and referrals to drug treatment programs and counseling services are provided to veterans in need of assistance.

Legal Aid
Legal professionals are available to provide guidance on various legal matters, including expungement and clearing of criminal records.

Marijuana Expungement Efforts in Arizona

Arizona has taken positive steps towards the reform of laws that criminalize marijuana. In 2020, voters approved Proposition 207, legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for individuals aged 21 and older. Additionally, the legislation included provisions for expungement, allowing individuals with certain marijuana-related convictions and arrests to petition the court for expungement or the reduction of charges.

During Veterans’ Stand Downs, legal aid professionals and representatives from organizations specializing in criminal justice reform, including the Reclaim Your Future campaign, are available to guide veterans through the process of expungement. They provide information on eligibility criteria, necessary documentation, and the legal procedures involved. This support ensures that veterans can navigate the expungement process effectively, removing the burden of past marijuana convictions and opening doors to new opportunities.

“With veterans, we see a lot of older drug cases—the kind that you just can’t believe are still on someone’s record,” said Angela DeMarse, a supervising attorney for the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office (MCPD), who often refers cases to the Reclaim Your Future campaign. DeMarse supervises a team of law clerks and interns in the office, many of whom work on expungements, civil rights restoration, and other work for people with a conviction history.

“If it’s a simple expungement, the prosecutor’s office will usually put it through without objection,” said DeMarse, who’s worked for MCPD since 2011. “But these cases are not always clear cut. And that’s when the Reclaim Your Future campaign has been great—when someone has a complex expungement.”

The Importance of Marijuana Expungement to Veterans

Marijuana expungement has emerged as a crucial topic within the context of Veterans’ Stand Downs, as many veterans face legal consequences due to past marijuana convictions. Expungement refers to the process of sealing or undoing the legal consequences of criminal records. For veterans, expungement holds particular significance, as it can help alleviate the barriers they face in rebuilding their lives. Past marijuana convictions can hinder employment prospects, access to housing, educational opportunities, and obtaining professional licenses.

“Many veterans return to the civilian workforce seeking employment in fields that require heightened clearance such as a fingerprint clearance card,” Doughty said. “Expungement can help these veterans clear or clean up their record and improve their chances at opening the doors afforded to them through these clearances.”

“These cases are not always clear cut. And that’s when the Reclaim Your Future campaign has been great–when someone has a complex expungement.”

By expunging these records, veterans can reduce the obstacles they encounter as they reintegrate into civilian life, as is the case, Doughty said, for a recent DNA People’s Legal Services veteran-client.

“That person is working on obtaining his fingerprint clearance card in order to maintain his current employment. Three expungement petitions cleaned up his record and put him in better standing to obtain that clearance card,” Doughty said. “We’re hopeful that his good cause exception is granted. Even if he does not obtain his fingerprint clearance card, he no longer has any marijuana-related records that could negatively impact his ability to find work.”

Visit the RYF Table at the Next Stand Down!

If you’re a veteran with a marijuana-related conviction or arrest, you can speak with the Reclaim Your Future team at the George Willie, Sr. Memorial Veterans’ Stand Down in Flagstaff on Thursday, June 29, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For additional details, see https://azexpunge.org/legal-clinic/george-willie-sr-memorial-veterans-stand-down-flagstaff-06-29-23/

This quality content was created by Hey Joe Media, an Arizona small business.

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08 Jun 2023

AZ APPEALS COURT: Coconino County ‘Erred’ When It Deemed Marijuana Sales Offenses Ineligible For Expungement

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FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA–JUNE 8, 2023–Today, the Arizona Court of Appeals reiterated and affirmed its May 30 ruling in State v. Sorensen that the expungement statute codified into law by the passage of Proposition 207 in 2020 makes “sale-related marijuana offenses” eligible for expungement.

“The Court of Appeals has correctly interpreted the law, which will now allow many more people to benefit from the expungement process”

As the Court stated in its ruling in State v. Pliego, via Presiding Judge Jennifer M. Perkins:

“The State [represented by the Coconino County Attorney’s Office] argued in its objection to [the appellant’s] petition for expungement that ‘for sale offenses are not eligible for expungement.’ This Court recently concluded that ‘for sale’ offenses are included within the expungement statute. State v. Sorensen, 1 CA-CR 21-0518, 2023 WL 3702761, at *3, ¶ 12 (Ariz. App. May 30, 2023); A.R.S. § 36-2862(A)(1).

Notably, in Sorensen the State agreed that the expungement statute applies to ‘sale-related marijuana offenses.’ Id. at ¶ 6. Although we are not ‘absolutely bound by prior Court of Appeals decisions, the principle of Stare decisis and the need for stability in the law’ requires us to consider this Court’s previous decisions ‘as highly persuasive and binding, unless we are convinced that the prior decisions are based upon clearly erroneous principles, or conditions have changed so as to render these prior decisions inapplicable.’ Castillo v. Indus. Comm’n, 21 Ariz. App. 465, 471 (1974).

We see no special reason that would warrant departure from Sorensen. Therefore, the superior court erred when it determined that marijuana sales offenses are per se ineligible for expungement.”

The appellant in this case was successfully represented by Adam Cirzan of Flagstaff-based DNA People’s Legal Services, a member organization of the statewide Reclaim Your Future campaign, the only state-funded marijuana expungement effort in Arizona.

The 2020 passage of Prop 207 legalized adult recreational use of marijuana in Arizona and created a pathway to expungement. The Department of Health Services has since provided funding from marijuana sales to the Reclaim Your Future campaign for education and community outreach related to Prop 207.

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The Reclaim Your Future campaign is organized by the Arizona Marijuana Expungement Coalition and is funded by the Arizona Department of Health Services to help people seal their marijuana-related conviction histories. Our Coalition is composed of community legal services and advocacy organizations from across Arizona.

30 May 2023

ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS DECISION: Marijuana Sales Convictions Can Be Expunged, Per Prop 207

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA–MAY 30, 2023–Today, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled that prior convictions and arrests for the sale of marijuana are also eligible for expungement per the passage of Proposition 207 in 2020, a decision that could positively impact the lives of thousands of Arizonans with a marijuana-related record. Before this decision, it was unclear whether individuals charged with possession of marijuana-for-sale were eligible for expungement.

In State v. Sorensen, Appeals Court Presiding Judge Brian Furuya concluded that Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) § 36-2862(A)(1) makes “sale-related marijuana offenses” eligible for expungement, thus overruling the lower court’s denial of the petition for expungement that was submitted by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) on behalf of the litigant. On July 15, 2021, MCAO filed a petition to expunge the 2014 conviction on behalf of the litigant, but that petition was denied by the court because the court ruled that the type of offense was ineligible for expungement.

“In sum, we conclude § 36-2862(A)(1) authorizes expungement of sale-related marijuana offenses when they otherwise satisfy the statute’s eligibility requirements,” Furuya wrote.

“As a result, the court erred by denying the State’s expungement petition.”

“Today’s decision is a great embodiment of the will of the Arizona voters who elected to undo the harms caused by the overpolicing of marijuana laws,” said Martin Hutchins, lead attorney and program manager for the Reclaim Your Future campaign, a state-funded expungement effort that includes free legal aid providers in Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff. “There are many people who were charged with for-sale offenses before the passage of Prop 207 even when they had minimal amounts of marijuana because other factors led officers to assume the person was some sort of dealer. The state and the cannabis industry is now making millions on marijuana sales, so it’s fortunate that people who were believed to have committed a sales-related offense can now benefit from expungement.

“This will allow them to mitigate the generational impact of their involvement with the criminal legal system,” added Hutchins, “which affects Black and Brown people and people of lower socioeconomic status at disproportionate rates.”

The passage of the 2020 voter initiative, Proposition 207, legalized adult recreational use of marijuana in Arizona and created a pathway to expungement. The Department of Health Services has since provided funding from medical marijuana sales to the Reclaim Your Future campaign for education and community outreach related to Prop 207.

The campaign is organized by a coalition of seven legal aid and community outreach nonprofits–Phoenix-based Arizona Justice Project, the Arizona State University Post-Conviction Clinic, and Community Legal Services; the Tucson-based University of Arizona Civil Rights Restoration Clinic, Just Communities Arizona, and Southern Arizona Legal Aid, Inc.; and Flagstaff-based DNA Peoples’ Legal Services–to provide free resources and assistance related to expungement.

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04 May 2023

Partner Profile – Jamie Ibrahim

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Partner Profiles

Jamie Ibrahim

Working to level the playing field

Meet another important coalition member of the Reclaim Your Future campaign! This month, we’re introducing you to Jamie Ibrahim, the deputy director of our partner organization, Southern Arizona Legal Aid, Inc. (SALA), a Tucson-based nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services to low-income persons.

Jamie started her career as a legal aid attorney in 2006 in Jacksonville, Florida, before her appointment there as a General Magistrate presiding over family law cases. In 2021, she and her family decided to relocate to Tucson, where Jamie immediately looked for an opportunity to return to the work she missed.

“Thankfully, SALA had an open position, and I’ve been here ever since,” Jamie says.
Jamie’s first hearing as an attorney in Arizona, in fact, involved an expungement, which was ultimately successful. “It was fun being a lawyer again and obtaining a successful expungement for our very happy client,” she says.

“There is still a very large stigma surrounding criminal arrests or convictions, especially as they relate to drug offenses, including marijuana”

SALA, which was founded in 1951, has six offices across the state, including on the Gila River Indian Reservation and at Fort Apache. “SALA’s vision is for everyone to have social and economic justice. There is still a very large stigma surrounding criminal arrests or convictions, especially as they relate to drug offenses, including marijuana.

“By helping people who are eligible obtain expungements,” Jamie adds, “we’re allowing them to level the playing field and increasing their ability to find better employment and housing.”

19 Abr 2023

AZ dispensaries partner with Reclaim Your Future to uplift free expungement

AZ Expunge - Personal Articles, Blog Dispensaries across Arizona partner with Reclaim Your Future to ensure access to expungement services 0

With more than $1.6 billion in revenue since the 2020 passage of Proposition 207 (also known as the Smart & Safe Act or, simply, Prop 207), Arizona’s marijuana dispensary industry has become one of the wealthiest and most influential in the state.

Of course, with great power comes great responsibility—corporate social responsibility, that is.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept in which companies choose to integrate social and environmental concerns into their business operations. It’s a way for businesses to be socially accountable to themselves, their stakeholders, and the public. For the cannabis industry, expungement is an obvious endeavor for companies to implement CSR.

“A criminal record is an ever-lasting scarlet letter for people, and its impact on lives are often detrimental. Now that marijuana is legal, people should no longer bear the burdens caused by old marijuana offenses, especially because companies are making millions of dollars off marijuana,” says Martin Hutchins, an attorney and program manager for the Reclaim Your Future campaign. “Tackling the criminal legal problems that still exist for people from marijuana offenses requires an ‘all hands on deck’ approach, including those from the government, non-profit and corporate sectors.”

‘Meeting people where they are’

Expungement is one way to mitigate the harms caused by over-policing of marijuana. When voters passed Prop 207, Arizona officials estimated that more than 192,000 marijuana-related charges were on the record, meaning that there were at least 192,000 records that should be evaluated for expungement eligibility. Further, there are still people serving time in prison or on parole and paying fines to the court because of marijuana offenses.

“We understand where the cannabis industry started,” says John Calloway, executive director for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) at Trulieve, an operator of marijuana dispensaries across Arizona and 10 other states. “We understand the War on Drugs, and we want to always make sure that everything we do as an organization is focused on the community, especially the communities we operate in and the communities we serve.”

To that end, Trulieve, its Harvest dispensaries in Arizona, and other dispensaries across the state, including Glendale’s Arizona Organix, Tucson’s Downtown Dispensary, and more have partnered with the Reclaim Your Future campaign for the past several months, hosting our expungement clinics, educating their customers and patients on the benefits of marijuana expungement, and directing people with a marijuana record to the Reclaim Your Future website for free expungement assistance.

It’s an intentional partnership Hutchins envisioned from the moment he took on the role of leading the Reclaim Your Future campaign.

“Partnering with dispensaries is important because we are trying to tap into their regular involvement with patients and customers–people that we know expungement is likely to help. It’s all about going where the people are,” Hutchins says. “We do a lot of expungement events in libraries and courthouses. And it’s great to have access to those spaces, but they aren’t always the most warm and welcoming places. They can be intimidating to folks.

“But when the people we need to reach go to a dispensary, they are far more comfortable there and, obviously, they are far more likely to go there than court,” he adds. “Meeting people where they are is always a great way to help people learn about information and resources that they are not yet aware of.”

Expungement education & outreach are key

Prop 207, which legalized adult recreational use of marijuana in Arizona, also created a pathway to expungement for the hundreds of thousands of people who may have a marijuana conviction or arrest from this state. And that means no longer having to fear the results of a background check when applying for a good job or searching for a safe place to live, or any number of collateral consequences that come from a conviction history.

You might think that, because recreational use of marijuana is now legal in Arizona, expungement is automatic for those with an arrest or conviction history. Sadly, that’s not the case. Those with an eligible marijuana record from Arizona–or legal representatives who can do so on their behalf–are required to petition the court for expungement, which effectively seals the conviction or arrest from public records. Prop 207 included funding for outreach and education and, most importantly, legal aid so people with a marijuana record wouldn’t be forced to pay for expungement.

“Expungement is a social justice component [of marijuana legalization] that is needed,” says Calloway, whose Harvest dispensaries in Arizona recently hosted a series of Reclaim Your Future events in Chandler, Scottsdale and Tucson. “Just because a state goes recreational does not mean that everyone is educated on the processes to actually go through expungement. And oftentimes I’ve found, as I’ve gone out to expungement clinics, that people believe that it’s just automatic and they believe that [expungement] is just gonna happen. And sometimes they don’t know that they have to take additional steps to make it official with the justice system.

“So, we want to do our part to make sure that we are educating the community and giving back to the community.”

‘The difference between an hourly job and a real career’

Stephanie Boyden, founding partner of Tucson’s Downtown Dispensary and D2 Dispensary, has seen the “value and importance of expungement to our community” firsthand, thanks to her dispensaries hosting recent events with the University of Arizona’s Civil Rights Restoration Clinic, a Reclaim Your Future campaign partner.

In February, she met a woman who drove to Tucson from Phoenix for a Reclaim Your Future clinic at Downtown Dispensary after learning about it on social media. The woman, Boyden recalls, was working to become a dental hygienist assistant, but couldn’t get her certification because of a previous marijuana conviction.

“But in two hours, in the space that we provided and with the help of the Reclaim Your Future attorneys, the process to expunge her conviction began,” Boyden says. “That could be the difference between an hourly job and a real career–a real change. Just absolutely transformative for her life!”

While hosting expungement events and educating their clientele are important parts of the corporate social responsibility that marijuana dispensaries owe to the public, Hutchins says, employing people of color and people with a marijuana conviction history that’s been expunged is just as vital.

Although expungement is not the ultimate solution for all the problems caused by past enforcement of marijuana laws, it’s an actionable start,” Hutchins adds.

The Reclaim Your Future campaign is available to provide assistance to dispensaries who want to ensure their involvement in expungement efforts.

To partner with Reclaim Your Future, email info@azexpunge.org.

This quality content was created by Hey Joe Media, an Arizona small business.

20 Feb 2023

Partner Profile – Caroline Isaacs

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Partner Profiles

Caroline Isaacs

Caring for the Community Through Education & Advocacy

No member of our Coalition has worked harder to end the War on Drugs than Caroline Isaacs, the executive director of Tucson-based Just Communities Arizona (JCA), a nonprofit that advocates for policy changes to the justice system.

Caroline and the team at JCA are a little different than the rest of our Coalition; they don’t provide legal aid services. But the work JCA does is no less crucial to the success of expungement efforts across the state.

“There are a lot of people in the state of Arizona who potentially are eligible for expungement of their marijuana record, and they have no idea”

“No good policy change is worth anything if you don’t think about implementation,” Caroline said. “There are a lot of people in the state of Arizona who potentially are eligible for expungement of their marijuana record, and they have no idea, because it’s not on the news every day, and it’s not reaching people where they’re at.”

“So that’s JCA’s job: to make sure that the community hears from credible messengers,” she said, “people who are known in the community, who have lived experience, that help them understand the perspective of folks that are eligible for this service and what the barriers might be for them to access it.”

JCA leads information sessions throughout the community for other nonprofit service providers and government agencies—like their series of Zoom webinars—to help them better serve their clients and constituencies by knowing about the expungement process. JCA, as a longtime leader of criminal justice reform efforts in Arizona, also works with its network across the state to promote clinics and amplify the Coalition’s work.

“Criminalizing marijuana does no one any good and is a waste of time and money and energy and lives.”

Caroline said she grew up in the “era of drug prohibition when we were fed all kinds of lies and unhelpful misinformation about drugs and people who use drugs.” And that misinformation harms everyone in the community, Caroline said, whether you are a person who uses drugs or not. “All of us are harmed by not really having truthful information on which to base our decisions,” she added.

Caroline credits Prop 207, the voter initiative that legalized adult recreational marijuana use when it was passed in 2020, for teaching Arizonans that criminalizing marijuana “does no one any good and is a waste of time and money and energy and lives.

“It doesn’t always feel like Prop 207 has made such a big impact,” Caroline said, “but it is a huge step.”

You can join JCA’s fellow Tucsonans, the UofA Civil Rights Restoration Clinic, at a free expungement event at the UofA Law Room 118 on Saturday, Feb. 25, from 9 a.m. to noon. See details.

02 Ene 2023

Partner Profile – Lenna Ortega

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Partner Profiles

Lenna Ortega

In the Right Place with the Right People

To lead off 2023, we’re introducing you to one of the most valuable contributors to the Reclaim Your Future campaign in 2022! Meet Lenna Ortega, the program administrative coordinator for the Arizona Marijuana Expungement Coalition.

“When I was in high school and college, I’d have teachers and professors explain the system and illustrate how the system was broken in so many ways. And just hearing that, it’s easy to kind of accept it,” said Ortega, the program administrative coordinator for the Arizona Marijuana Expungement Coalition.

“And yet, here I am 15, 20 years later, working with people who are doing something about it. It took me a while, but I finally found the right place to be and the people to work with to help bring about reform,” said Ortega, a Phoenix College graduate and certified paralegal.

In her role with the Coalition, Ortega tracks, prepares and submits monthly program and finance reports to the Arizona Department of Health Services, which funds the Coalition’s work thanks to the 2020 passage of Proposition 207, the initiative that legalized adult recreational use of marijuana in Arizona and created a path to expungement for people with marijuana-related criminal records. Ortega also collects data, assists with outreach clinics, identifies cases in which Coalition partners can be most effective, and tracks expungement petitions as they are prepared for filing with the courts.

“My job is to support the program and program manager (attorney Martin Hutchins) with pretty much anything they need,” Ortega said.

Not long after expungement went into effect in Arizona, Lenna attended a resentencing hearing for an incarcerated person represented by Coalition attorneys who was released from prison after their marijuana conviction was expunged.

“On a daily basis…I get to hear from people who are so grateful to get help from the Coalition, to be free from this burdensome record.”

“And that’s something that’s happened again more times since then, thanks to families and people in prison finding out more about expungement,” Ortega said. “But on a daily basis doing this work, I get to hear from people who are so grateful to get help from the Coalition, to be free from this burdensome record.

“They’ll call or email me and explain that they’re trying to get the title to their vehicle, or they lost a great job they wish they still had,” Ortega said.

“These might seem like simple things to a lot of folks, but all those little things add up and really hold people back from so much.

“Just to hear people on the phone say how grateful they are,” Ortega added, “it’s been really cool to be part of that.”

If you don’t find Lenna at the next #ReclaimYourFuture expungement clinic in Phoenix in January, she plans to be at the Willo Home Tour and Street Fair on Feb. 18-19, answering questions about expungement and connecting people to the Coalition.

For event details, see:
https://azexpunge.org/legal-clinic/willo-street-fair-02-19-23/

28 Nov 2022

Organization Profile – ASU Post-Conviction Clinic

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Organization Profile

ASU Post-Conviction Clinic

Reclama tu Futuro (RYF) is a statewide campaign funded by a grant from the Arizona Department of Health Services to help people expunge, or seal, their marijuana-related public criminal records. The campaign is run by organizations in central, southern and northern Arizona that make up the Arizona Marijuana Expungement Coalition.

As part of our efforts to better inform the public about Prop 207 and expungement, we are profiling the members of our Coalition and helping them explain the work they do. This week, meet the Arizona State University Post-Conviction Clinic and its supervising attorney, Randy McDonald.

RYF: Randy, explain to folks what exactly post-conviction relief is and why the clinic is so important in the community that you serve.

Randy McDonald: Post-conviction relief is, as the term implies, anything legal that a criminal defendant can do to attack his or her conviction after it is final. So, we do a number of different things. We represent criminal defendants in parole hearings. We do post-conviction appeals. We help people file applications for commutation. And now with the help of the Arizona Justice Project (AJP) and the grant we received from the state of Arizona, we are helping people go back and expunge marijuana convictions that became final many years ago.

RYF: Can you give us a real-world example of post-conviction relief?

RM: Sure. I think the type of case that people might be most familiar with is a DNA-type case. After DNA technology became more prevalent, a lot of prisoners and criminal defendants began going back and testing biological samples that were collected, but were unable to be tested, and discovered that, in fact, the DNA profiles that were found in these cases didn’t match them. And so, they would file a post-conviction relief petition with the court to say, “I found this new evidence. This DNA test shows that I am not the person who committed this crime, so my conviction should be overturned.” And so, I think that the most prevalent types of post-conviction cases that we’re most familiar with are DNA cases where DNA results have exonerated someone.

But it doesn’t have to be DNA testing. It could be any kind of new evidence. It could be a change in the law. It could be evidence of a constitutional violation, for instance, if we discovered that the prosecutor had withheld evidence from the defense that could have helped the defense. Post-conviction is a bunch of things. It is sort of the umbrella term that we use to describe any kind of legal relief that you’re seeking after the conviction becomes final.

RYF: How is that different from an appeal?

RM: An appeal is something that happens right after the conviction, and it happens as a right. In most American jurisdictions, you have an automatic right to an appeal before your conviction becomes final. And in an appeal, you can challenge legal issues that had to do with the trial. So, for instance, you can say, “This evidence shouldn’t have been admitted against me at trial.” Or you can say, “This particular jury instruction was wrong, and it didn’t correctly describe the offense.” So, when you’re looking at an appeal, you’re basically reading the transcript of a trial and you’re looking for errors that happened at trial. Whereas a post-conviction petition involves any type of new evidence you can bring in any kind of claim that wasn’t necessarily part of the original trial. That’s why newly-discovered evidence is kind of the archetype of a post-conviction petition.

RYF: Can anyone access the legal aid that the Clinic provides? Anybody in the community?

RM: The vast majority of our clients are individuals who are incarcerated in Arizona’s prison system. We do have very few folks that we have helped who have either [already] served their sentence or are in the federal prison system. But anyone who has a criminal conviction could access the help of the Post-Conviction Clinic. We typically partner with the Arizona Justice Project, who does a lot of the intake of our cases. So, people write to AJP, and AJP will refer to us cases that seem like they would benefit from some of our investigation.

RYF: Would you explain to folks why it’s called a “clinic”?

RM: We operate within the Arizona State University College of Law. I’m an attorney, and there is one other attorney who works with the Clinic. But other than that, everyone who does work for the Clinic is a law student. And so, the clinical education program here at ASU has a number of components. There’s a Civil Litigation Clinic, there’s an Immigration Clinic, and there is the Post-Conviction Clinic. And so, it is a clinic in the sense that we are providing clinical education or hands-on education to students, and those students are providing legal services for people in the community.

“And now, we represent folks who have marijuana convictions who, by expunging those convictions, are able to go back and seek re-sentencing to get out of prison earlier.”

RYF: Got it. How long has the ASU Post-Conviction Clinic been around?

RM: So, AJP, which founded the Post-Conviction Clinic, was founded several years ago. And it was one of the very first state-level innocence projects. So, I think a lot of people are familiar with the Innocence Project, which is the nationwide project that seeks to overturn wrongful convictions. The Arizona Justice Project is a project like that, but it operates exclusively in Arizona. And it doesn’t only take on cases of innocence, but cases of what we call “manifest injustice.” So, lengthy sentences, juvenile offenders, [and] cases where perhaps innocence and guilt aren’t being contested, but AJP thinks that there’s some sort of injustice that has occurred, and they want to represent the defendant.

The Clinic came about because, around 2008, the United States Congress created a grant called a Bloodsworth grant, named after Kirk Bloodsworth, who is the very first person on death row who was exonerated using DNA technology. This grant funded programs that would investigate post-conviction claims of innocence using DNA technology. And AJP was awarded one of these very first grants and, using that grant, founded the Post-Conviction Clinic at ASU. There are many clinics like ours at law schools across the country, but like the Innocence Project, many of these clinics are geared toward proving claims of innocence. In other words, they only take cases where the clients claim that they are innocent of the crime charged. The Post-Conviction Clinic is a little bit different in that we do take innocence cases. We do try and overturn wrongful convictions. But we also take many cases in which we think there’s been a manifest injustice.

We’ve represented folks who have terminal illnesses trying to get commutation or clemency. We represent folks who were juveniles when they committed their offenses and are in prison for the rest of their lives. We represent them in parole hearings and in post-conviction proceedings. And now, we represent folks who have marijuana convictions who, by expunging those convictions, are able to go back and seek re-sentencings to get out of prison earlier than they otherwise would have.

RYF: Sounds like a lot of work. Tell us about who works with you at the clinic.

RM: I’m the supervising attorney. I work here full-time, and I supervise the rest of the staff and the students who work at the clinic. There’s another attorney who works with us part-time, Joey Dormady, who is in the administration here at ASU and also helps me to supervise some of the cases. We have a legal fellow who is funded by the Prop 207 grant that we received, Andi Humphreys. And she is a recent law school graduate and soon to be an attorney. In fact, she should [pass the bar exam] within a few days here, we hope. And she is helping us by basically overseeing all of the marijuana expungement-related litigation that our students are working on.

And then there are the students themselves. In any given semester, we have 10 to 15 students who are working with us on various cases. Each student will be assigned their own caseload. They’ll be responsible for investigating the cases for drafting any documents related to the cases for speaking to the clients, for developing any legal strategy.

In November 2022, attorneys with the Reclaim Your Future campaign successfully fought for the release of Keith Harrison, a 58-year-old Phoenix resident who was sentenced to LIFE in prison in 1993 while he was on probation for marijuana possession.

RYF: Besides the work that you’ve done with the Coalition, what are some of the clinic’s big victories for the people who have sought your assistance?

RM: I think the biggest impact that we’ve had is for people who are seeking either clemency or parole. We’ve represented a number of people who committed offenses when they were juveniles. We’ve represented them at parole hearings, and a number of them have been paroled and are now out in the community and really thriving. We know that by and large, people who commit criminal offenses as juveniles are much less likely to re-offend than people who commit offenses later in life. And so, we have helped a number of those folks get parole and sort of reintegrate back into the community. And what that means is representing them at the parole hearing, helping them by putting together release plans, and helping them do the things that they need when they get back out into the community.

RYF: There are seven organizations around the state, including the Post-Conviction Clinic, that are part of the Arizona Marijuana Expungement Coalition. Tell us about the Post-Conviction Clinic’s contributions to the Coalition.

RM: We have focused on representing individuals who are incarcerated in Arizona prisons who have sentences that are enhanced by prior marijuana convictions. In Arizona, when you commit a criminal offense, if you have historical prior criminal offenses, the state can lengthen your sentence because you’re a [so-called] “repetitive offender.” What we have been doing is we’ve been finding folks who have longer sentences because of previous marijuana convictions. We’ve been expunging those convictions, and we’ve been getting back into court and asking courts to re-sentence these folks so that their sentences can be shorter. And we’ve had a lot of success with that. We have helped a number of people so far either shorten their sentences or walk free, almost immediately.

Another issue that we’ve come up against is the question of whether a person who is convicted of possession for sale [of marijuana] is convicted of possession of marijuana, which is expungable, or is convicted of selling marijuana, which is not expungable. Although the statute approved by Arizona voters may seem pretty clear, there are a lot of gray areas that are not really explained in the law that we need to litigate and ask the courts to decide. Other organizations in the Coalition have been referring us cases that get a little bit more complicated and require a little bit more working up and litigating in the state trial and appellate courts.

“It’s an emotional thing to have happen. It’s exciting work to be able to get these folks back to their families and back out in the community where they need to be.”

RYF: Presumably, those particular cases where you’re able to get somebody home, those are especially rewarding.

RM: Yes, I agree with that. I can think of one [client] in particular. Because of Covid restrictions, we had not been able to meet with this client until he literally walked into the courtroom where he was going to be resentenced. And so, my first opportunity to actually meet him was when we were sitting in the courtroom and he was being resentenced, and the judge was basically resentencing him to time served. So, he was going to leave the courtroom, go back to the jail, and be processed out almost immediately. It’s an emotional thing to have happen. It’s exciting work to be able to get these folks back to their families and back out in the community where they need to be.

RYF: How do you think the Clinic might evolve going forward with laws changing in Arizona such as the legalization of adult recreational use of marijuana and the expansion of expungement opportunities?

RM: One thing that we have been able to do much more recently is working with prosecution offices in the state of Arizona to sort of reach a common goal that we both agree should happen. So, for instance, with these marijuana resentencings, the state agrees with us that these folks should be resentenced. They just need representation to walk through that process. And we’re finding that there is much more of an appetite for criminal justice reform now, such that county attorney’s offices that historically have been very tough on crime—and when I say tough on crime, I mean they want lengthy prison sentences for offenses that are not always violent, do not always necessarily require these lengthy sentences—the county attorneys are now willing to work with us to get folks with longer sentences either resentenced or get them out on parole or get them out on some sort of supervised release. Because they realize that justice does not always mean throwing someone in jail and throwing away the key.

So, I will say I’m hopeful that we’re able to work with prosecution offices more frequently in the future towards a common [goal]. We’re not always going to agree with the prosecutors. We’re going to litigate some cases. We’re going to fight with them on occasion. But I think both the prosecution office and the Clinic want to serve the ends of justice. And when we can agree on what justice is, that’s a happy time for everyone. So, I’m hopeful that, as the Clinic evolves, we will be able to do more of that type of work.

To learn more about what students do at the Post-Conviction Clinic at ASU, go to: https://law.asu.edu/experiences/clinics/post-conviction.

03 Nov 2022

Expungement Efforts Highlighted on 2nd Anniversary of Prop 207

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA—November 3, 2022—Adult recreational use of marijuana in Arizona was legalized on this date two years ago with the passage of Proposition 207, also known as the Smart & Safe Arizona Act. With legalization, Prop 207 also created a path to expungement, which is the process of sealing certain criminal records from the public. Thus, in a state with more than 192,000 marijuana-related convictions and arrests, the Arizona Marijuana Expungement Coalition’s Reclaim Your Future campaign was born.

Prop 207’s expungement law (ARS § 36-2862) went into effect on July 12, 2021. Since then, at least 17,350 petitions for expungement have been filed in Arizona, with an overwhelming majority of those petitions filed in the state’s population hub of Maricopa County, based on available data provided to the Coalition by prosecutors’ offices across the state.

Meanwhile, the Reclaim Your Future campaign—which is funded by the Arizona Department of Health Services and led by legal aid providers based in Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff—has conducted scores of free legal clinics and information sessions all over Arizona. In the first fiscal year of the campaign, nearly 90 legal clinics were conducted across the state providing free legal services to more than 670 attendees. And Coalition partner Just Communities Arizona was largely responsible for leading 105 information sessions, educating more than 1,600 attorneys, service providers and community-based organizers to help facilitate expungements.

Additionally, Coalition partners at the ASU Post-Conviction Clinic successfully litigated the early release of two people in prison and one person from community supervision, whose sentences were enhanced by marijuana convictions that have since been expunged.

“It’s amazing all the work our Coalition has put into this,” said attorney Martin Hutchins, the program manager for the Reclaim Your Future campaign. “But we know this is just the beginning of our efforts to help people seek better employment opportunities, find safe housing, and remove the stigma of a conviction or arrest from their background.”

The Coalition has several in-person clinics planned in the coming months, where people seeking expungement can receive free assistance to file their petitions. Reclaim Your Future also offers an Online Petition clinic at its website, azexpunge.org, where visitors can also find a full calendar of upcoming events.

Additionally, the Coalition will continue to encourage prosecutors’ offices across Arizona to take the lead on expungement, as Section (I) of the expungement law gives prosecuting agencies, including county attorneys and municipal prosecutors, the authority to file expungement petitions on behalf of people prosecuted by their offices. The Arizona Attorney General may also seek expungement for anyone prosecuted anywhere within the state. So far, only the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has exercised this option and has filed 16,957 petitions for expungement to date.

“Our Coalition has built a large network and important relationships across Arizona in order to continue identifying people with eligible cases,” Hutchins said. “But because prosecutors’ offices have the greatest access to records, they are in the best position and have the greatest resources to get these records sealed to help people move on.”

“Prosecutors need to step up,” Hutchins added, “and take the initiative to correct past injustices created by the criminalization and over-policing of marijuana.”

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The Reclaim Your Future campaign is organized by the Arizona Marijuana Expungement Coalition and is funded by the Arizona Department of Health Services to help people expunge their marijuana-related public records. Our Coalition is composed of community legal aid providers and advocacy organizations from across Arizona, including the Arizona Justice Project, Community Legal Services, DNA People’s Legal Services, Southern Arizona Legal Aid, the University of Arizona Civil Rights Restoration Clinic, the Arizona State University Post-Conviction Clinic, and Just Communities Arizona.

29 Sep 2022

Partner Profile – Mia Burcham

AZ Expunge - Personal Blog, Partner Profile 0

Partner Profiles

Mia Burcham

Helping People Trapped in a Cycle of Criminalization

Our newest Partner Profile is proof that youth isn’t always wasted on the young. Meet Mia Burcham, 26, a student research assistant with the University of Arizona Law School’s Civil Rights Restoration Clinic (CRRC), led by Prof. Andy Silverman in Tucson.

In just the past few years, Mia—a native Tucsonan raised in Texas and Oregon—has received her undergraduate degree, served constituents in need of federal aid like FEMA assistance and Social Security disability benefits, crisscrossed the country working for a U.S. senator, enrolled in law school, and helped launch expungement clinics for multiple organizations in southern Arizona.

Phew.

“When I got to law school, I realized that I really missed the interactive, client-focused aspect of social work that I was doing serving a U.S. senator’s constituency. And I was struggling to ground those concepts I was learning in law school without putting them into practice,” Mia said.

“I’ve seen how the ability to expunge these charges can be life-changing for people who have lost opportunities because of their record.”

So, not long after Arizona’s new marijuana expungement law went into effect in 2021 after the passage of Proposition 207, Mia didn’t hesitate to sign up to assist the University of Arizona chapter of the National Lawyers Guild to help them organize expungement clinics before joining the Reclaim Your Future campaign and its partner, the CRRC, this past May. Along with fellow research assistant Rebecca Cohen, Mia is largely responsible for helping the RYF team in Pima County plan expungement clinics and make legal services more accessible.

“It became obvious to me even before I began working at the clinics that both felony and misdemeanor marijuana convictions were especially burdening people with less access to legal help—poor people, people of color—and trapping them in a cycle of poverty and criminalization,” Mia said. “So, I’ve seen how the ability to expunge these charges can be life-changing for people who have lost opportunities because of their record—because of a small amount of something that’s finally been legalized in our state.

“The clinics,” Mia added, “have been a profound reminder to me of the inequities of our criminal legal system.”

You’ll find Mia at the next Reclaim Your Future free expungement clinic in Tucson on Wednesday, Oct. 5, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Blacklidge Community Collective, 101 E. Ventura St.