WHEN: Thursday, July 26, 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday, July 27, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
WHERE: The Orrick Building
405 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94105-2669
Washington, DC (July 23, 2012) – With more than 65 million Americans possessing a criminal record, the consequences of conviction – specific legal barriers, generalized discrimination, and social stigma – have become more numerous and severe, more public, and more permanent. These restrictions affect jobs and licenses, housing, public benefits, judicial rights, parental rights, interstate travel, and even volunteer opportunities. Moreover, the legal mechanisms relied on in the past to restore rights and status for formerly convicted individuals have atrophied or become ineffective, with the result that a significant percentage of the American public is permanently consigned to second class citizenship.
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ (NACDL) Task Force on Restoration of Rights and Status After Conviction will hold its fourth national hearing on how legal mechanisms for relief from the collateral consequences of conviction are actually working in state and federal systems on Thursday and Friday, July 26 and 27, 2012, in San Francisco, California at the offices of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, 405 Howard St.
Over 15 witnesses in San Francisco will participate at the two-day hearing, including representatives from the Sex Offender Management Board, employment law firms, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, legal organizations seeking redress for clients with criminal backgrounds, as well as, individuals with convictions on their records. A schedule and witness list follows.
The Task Force’s inaugural hearing was held in Chicago, Illinois, last October, and was followed by hearings in Miami, Florida, in February and Cleveland, Ohio in April. Witnesses have shared a range of personal and professional experiences, perspectives and expertise on the important practical issues surrounding barriers to re-entry and the collateral consequences of a criminal record.
For more information on the Task Force, please visit the website at www.nacdl.org/restoration/
If you are interested in attending part or all of these hearings, please contact NACDL’s State Legislative Affairs Director Angelyn C. Frazer at afrazer@nacdl.org or at (202) 213-9302 (mobile) by the close of business on Wednesday July 25, 2012.
A complete schedule and witness list is linked here.
Contacts
NACDL Communications Department
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.