John,
 
Today, ARC’s Executive Director Sam Lewis received his SB 731 Expungement!

SB 731 is a new law in California that allows people with past convictions to seal their records, including most people with prior felony convictions. Now, thanks to Sam’s expunged record, he is no longer required to check the box for “felony.”
 

Sam served a 24-year prison sentence, was on state parole when he was released from incarceration, and had a felony conviction that followed him everywhere he went. Being denied because of a past conviction is what ARC members face daily: checking a box for a felony conviction, hindering employment opportunities, housing access, education, and countless other rights and dignities. A felony not only obstructs the chance at life outside incarceration but also demoralizes a person’s hope for the future.

As a teenager, Sam was on probation, and he eventually went to prison at age 19. Like Sam, many ARC members have been under systematic and institutional control since they were teenagers, and when they come home as adults, they have past convictions that follow them everywhere. An expungement isn’t just a fresh start; it is a release from the criminal justice system’s long-term hold on a person.

ARC has held expungement clinics across California in hopes our members and people with past convictions can begin to clear their records. We thank Root and Rebound for helping Sam through this process, Californians for Safety and Justice, and Senator Maria Durazo for helping to make this a reality.

Sincerely,
The Anti-Recidivism Coalition
(ARC)