On Saturday, October 18, Temple Law School’s National Lawyers Guild Expungement Project partnered with Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (CLS) to hold their first expungement clinic at the Community College of Philadelphia’s Regional Campus on Godfrey Avenue in North Philadelphia.
Ten Temple Law students, several Community College of Philadelphia paralegal students, and CLS staff interviewed about 100 people who were seeking assistance with clearing their criminal records.
Volunteers interviewed the applicants, located their criminal record through the Pennsylvania courts website, and determined eligibility for criminal record expungement.
This effort is a part of CLS’s expansion of criminal record expungement services to low-income Philadelphians. Having a criminal record can make it very difficult for low-income Philadelphians to get a good job or secure safe housing, two crucial steps to breaking the cycle of poverty.
Temple Law students will join CLS at the next expungement clinic in West Philadelphia for City Councilman Curtis Jones’s district. The clinic will be held at 55th and Market at the Salvation Army on November 8, 2014.