Partner Profiles
Randy Mcdonald
“What a Privilege to Help Others Reclaim Their Future!”
We’re proud to introduce you to a key partner, Randy McDonald, the Supervising Attorney at ASU’s Post-Conviction Clinic, which helps people seal marijuana-related convictions or arrests through the process of expungement–for free–but also helps people still in prison for past marijuana convictions finally secure their freedom.
Since first joining ASU’s clinic in 2020 after “suing corporations” for six years, Randy says that he has “seen firsthand the impact that criminal charges can have on a person’s life,” long after their sentence has been served.
“When Prop 207 was passed (legalizing adult recreational marijuana use in 2020), it was important to me to get out there and help people expunge those records and start their lives over.”
“Having a felony on your record can be very harmful and make it harder to get housing, to get a job, or to get certain government services,” Randy says. “So, when Prop 207 was passed (legalizing adult recreational marijuana use in 2020), it was important to me to get out there and help people expunge those records and start their lives over.”
Randy says helping several people regain their freedom after years in prison on harsh sentences enhanced by past marijuana convictions has been especially rewarding.
“The pandemic made it very difficult to meet with clients in person. So, we were exclusively exchanging letters with clients and on phone calls with clients during the worst of it,” Randy says.
“I remember one particular client who we helped with resentencing and eventually with his release from prison–I had never actually met him in person until the day he walked into court for resentencing.
“He started to cry, I started to cry. And he thanked me,” Randy adds. “And I thought, ‘It’s so weird that we are going on this journey with folks we have never met. And also, such a privilege to do it.”
