-
-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 17
Home
Expunge Assist is a free digital tool designed to help Californians clear past arrest and conviction records.
A personal letter, or declaration, is crucial proof when requesting a record be expunged.
Expunge Assist's letter generator helps with crafting this letter. The letter generator does not rely on AI, protects personal privacy, and will not store sensitive information.
Expunge Assist, formerly known as The Record Clearance Project, was created in response to criminal justice reform in California, specifically clean slate laws such as Props 64 and 47 and AB 1076.
Clean slate laws provide opportunities for clearing non-violent, non-sexual, and non-serious convictions through expungement. This process, which is the primary method to clear criminal records (alongside less common methods like a pardon from the governor), gives a person a second chance to seek job, housing, and education opportunities without the burden of earlier mistakes.
There are two methods of expungement: 1) automatic expungement, which is done directly by the courts and 2) petitions. The courts have already automatically expunged millions of records over the last few years. For all other records, a person must individually file a petition to the court to clear a record. The petition process places the burden of responsibility on the individual seeking this important legal remedy.
Expunge Assist offers pro bono technological solutions to simplify the expungement process. Its broader aim is to support the vital work of government agencies and legal aid organizations in the record clearance field.
For more on the scope, the expungement process, and key terms, see this May 2024 slide deck.
Old records can show up on commercial background checks, even after a person has paid fees, completed probation, or served time. Expunging past arrests or convictions removes barriers to job, housing, and educational opportunities.
Recent California clean slate laws, namely AB 1076 and SB 731, make most misdemeanors and felonies eligible for expungement. But the petition process can be daunting. Our goal is to simplify that process for Californians.
You can access our Project One Sheet here.
History
In 2019, Hack for LA (HfLA) participated in a National Day of Civic Hacking (NDoCH) on the themes: justice, equity, and record clearance. Along with 80+ other volunteer civic tech organizations from around the country, HfLA identified local ways to use tech in the domain of record clearance, launching a project now called Expunge Assist. The project’s aim is to facilitate expungement for Californians with criminal records.
- Conducted participant observation at NDICA’s expungement clinic and conducted interviews with organizers, public defenders and pro se applicants to map user journeys - 2021 Project One Sheet
- Met with industry experts and researchers to document the expungement process in CA - 2021 Project One Sheet
- 11/2020 Created first Project One Sheet summarizing the work Expunge Assist (then called The Record Clearance project) had done to showcase what we’re working on actively. #56
- 11/2020 Reached out to public libraries and community orgs to learn how to protect user information on public computers #62
- 12/2020 Reached out to nonprofits and clinics that might be a good fit as partners#68
- 12/2020 Began working with a lawyer to comb through the personal statement generator designs and copy #98 #98
- 3/2021 Began discovery research on potential partner organizations. Used the information collected through online searches to inform our outreach strategy. #186
- 4/2021 Revised One Sheet #204
- 5/2021 Created an Expunge Assist Communication Style Guide#167
- 5/2021 Launched expungeassist.org #220
- 5/2021 Mapped out research goals and instruments with UCLA law students #246
- 5/2021 First introductory stakeholder meeting with UFCW expungement clinics #271
- 8/2021 Created a Pitch Deck for a 15 minute presentation about our personal statement generator that we can share with potential partners, investors, and new volunteers #215
- 1/2022 Conducted a comparative analysis to compare to other products in the same category #166
- 1/2022 Developed an outreach plan in order to partner with organizations that work in the related areas [#56187(https://github.com/hackforla/expunge-assist/issues/187) #190
- 6/2022 Created an Internal Testing Final Report #562
- 8/2022 Created a Site Map of EA Website #584
- 11/2023 Expunge Assist Terminology Survey for Legal Professionals posted to LinkedIn #860
- 3/2024 Updated Expunge Assist Project One Sheet #868
- 5/2024 Completed Accessibility Testing Epic #1060
- 8/2024 Created and implemented an internal survey to identify best practices and pinpoint opportunities for process improvements, leading to enhanced efficiency and collaboration across teams #1361
- 7/2024 Stakeholder review of the Expunge Assist Site and Letter Generator, gathering valuable feedback and aligning expectations for future development #1442
- 11/2024 Developed and secured team-wide agreement on a Team Charter for the Expunge Assist project, clearly defining project objectives, measurable goals, and ensuring alignment and buy-in from all team members #1404
The Wiki is a working document and we would love to improve it. Please compile any questions and suggestions you may have and submit it via GitHub. Here's information on how to create a GiHub issue.