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Partner Profile – Asher Josephs

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Partner Profiles

Asher Josephs

Asher Josephs

“Power of Expungement Makes a Big Impact – On Interns, Too!”

Expungement is a team game! And the Reclaim Your Future team is a diverse, statewide coalition that includes attorneys, organizers, content creators, and expungement interns like Asher Josephs, a student at the University of Arizona who spent his summer at our free legal clinics helping people learn about the expungement process.

“It was crazy to see at all of our events how so many people have had their lives significantly altered for doing something that is now legal.”

“I decided to work as an intern for the coalition because it’s a great cause, and I knew I’d have a fun experience helping people,” said Asher, a 20-year-old law and accounting double major at UofA who interned alongside the folks at Arizona Justice Project. “It was crazy to see at all of our events how so many people have had their lives significantly altered for doing something that is now legal.

“It’s terrible that there are people who still have a marijuana conviction affecting them, and they haven’t been able to move on from it yet,” he said.

Asher’s undecided about whether he’ll become a lawyer himself. But one expungee, who Asher helped at a free Phoenix College legal clinic, certainly showed Asher the impact of the work.

“His marijuana conviction didn’t alter this person’s career path at all. But he did tell me that the record of the conviction continued to weigh on him mentally,” Asher said. “So, seeing the relief wash over him almost right before our eyes when we got him through the expungement process was incredibly rewarding.”

Though he’s back in Tucson now with a 21-credit class schedule, you might catch Asher at an upcoming clinic hosted by our partners at Southern Arizona Legal Aid, Inc.

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Partner Profile – Randy McDonald

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Partner Profiles

Randy Mcdonald

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.”

If you have a marijuana-related conviction or arrest, you can get help from the Coalition at our FREE expungement clinic at Phoenix College from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on August 31st.

Prop 207 passes - Legalizes recreational marijuana in Arizona

Passage of Prop 207 paves the way for safer communities

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Passage of Prop 207 paves the way for safer communities

Arizona Expungement Coalition members from AFSC-AZ spoke with KOLD News 13 about the passage of YES on Prop 207 on November 20, 2021. They discussed how expungement of marijuana-related convictions will now make our communities safer.

Highlights:

Steven Scharboneau, Jr. is an attorney with the Rosenstein Law Group and a AFSC-AZ #ReFraming Justice Leader. 

“Arizona is one of the only states where a drug conviction for marijuana is a felony conviction, so it has life-lasting implications,” Scharboneau said.

Scharboneau said he knows what it is like to have a felony on your record.

“I have a felony conviction that will never go away. To go through the process to become an attorney to go through the character and fitness process, I had to go through a four-hour hearing with a panel,” Scharboneau said.

Adam Trenk is a Rose Law Group partner and director of the firm’s cannabis law department.

“I think it’s really a big deal and a really big step for our state,” Trenk said.

Trenk said Prop 207 is really the first of its kind.

“Historically we would, we being the state’s court systems, would seal records, but they wouldn’t necessarily expunge records,” Trenk said.

Starting July 12, 2021, people previously convicted of select marijuana offenses can petition to have their records expunged. Essentially, this will give people a clean slate, which is what Scharboneau said his work is all about.

“If we really work hard to make the laws more fair so people can actually have a fair chance at that second chance,” Scharboneau said.

 

Rebecca Fealk is the Legislative Policy Coordinator at American Friend Service Committee of Arizona, a prisoner advocacy program, said the group is working to get the word out about this measure and the impact it will have on criminal justice reform.

“If somebody had a marijuana conviction, they were often denied food stamps, they were denied Pell Grants to be able go to college and do these things that allowed them to be part of our community,” she said. “And so by having the opportunity to remove those, we are allowing people to be more successful and remove the harm the criminal justice system has done.”

If you’re hoping to expunge any marijuana-possession convictions, contact us or attend one of our statewide free expungement legal clinics.

 

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Help us, Help you!

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The state of Arizona has set aside funds for free legal help to assist with your expungement.

Our goal is to get everyone’s weed convictions expunged from their records. To do that, we need to find out who is impacted and get the word out.

You can help by filling out and sharing this quick survey!

Tell us about your expungement needs!

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Get your criminal record expunged, for the first time in Arizona

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Got a Marijuana record in Arizona?

Thanks to Prop 207, you can begin expungement of your record starting 07/12/2021.

Help us understand YOUR expungement needs.

AFSC-AZ and ReFraming Justice are conducting a survey to help us better understand community needs around expungement. We want to hear directly from the people the expungement process is designed to benefit.

Complete our survey and tell us your expungement needs. Share it widely with others!

What are your expungement needs?

Beginning July 12, 2021, anyone who was arrested for, charged with, convicted of, or sentenced to any eligible marijuana related offense may have that offense expunged.

Expungement is the process of sealing and making unavailable a prior criminal record. This will be the first time expungement of records is possible in Arizona!

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