San Jose State Record Clearance Project
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The San Jose State Record Clearance Project provides free legal services and mentoring to help individuals clear their criminal records through expungement, enabling better employment and housing opportunities. The program features undergraduate legal clinics achieving 99% success rates in court petitions, service navigation mentoring, and digital literacy training for formerly incarcerated individuals.
Key takeaways
- Nearly every type of California criminal conviction can now be expunged except certain sex offenses, yet 90% of eligible individuals don't know this legal remedy exists.
- The RCP trains over 1,100 undergraduate students who provide direct client legal services and court representation, gaining real-world legal experience while serving communities.
- Record clearance increases lifetime earning potential by approximately $60,000 per person and reduces recidivism through mentorship, housing assistance, and employment support.
- Peer mentors with lived experience of expungement provide culturally competent guidance that helps recently released individuals rebuild self-sufficiency and avoid reoffending.
- Digital literacy classes fill a critical gap for formerly incarcerated individuals, preparing them for employment and education opportunities in a technology-dependent job market.
About Emily Benson and Sandra CarrilloEmily Benson is a project assistant with the Record Clearance Project at San Jose State University. Sandra Carrillo is a staff member who began as a student in spring 2024. Kenita is a project supervisor who has worked with the program for many years.
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Program: San Jose State Record Clearance Project
Speaker: Emily Benson and Sandra Carrillo
Every week we bring you a new program on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and how they contribute to service to others.
The Record Clearance Project (RCP) promotes justice by providing needed services to those who cannot afford them to foster rehabilitation and reduce recidivism, boasting a 99% success rate in court. To do this, the RCP's legal services program informs people regarding their legal rights to a clear record and provides the legal assistance necessary for them to achieve the second chance that the law promises. The RCP's Path to Expungement Service Navigation Program provides guidance as people leave custody to move forward with their lives.
As undergraduates make a difference in the lives of others, they gain the experience and motivation to promote social justice. The RCP is the only legal services clinical education program in the nation taught at the undergraduate level.
Emily Benson recently graduated from San José State University with a degree in Justice Studies and a concentration in Criminology. With a passion for community activism, she began volunteering as a teen first responder in high school, working with the San Diego Police Department for two years to support victims in the aftermath of tragedy. Through a semester-long study abroad program in Greece, she volunteered with a local non-profit organization that helped Syrian refugees rebuild their lives. Her experiences have deepened her commitment to social justice both domestically and internationally. Emily is grateful to make a positive impact through her involvement with the Record Clearance Project.
Project Assistant Sandra Carrillo is a first-generation college student, who graduated in Fall 2024 with a major in Criminal Justice and minors in Psychology and Forensic Science. Born in Los Angeles but raised in Mexico, Sandra is fluent in Spanish. Sandra seeks to uplift those who are underrepresented in the community and to provide the support they deserve but often lack. Sandra works with the mentoring program, teaches Computers and the Internet courses in Spanish and English to formerly incarcerated participants, and helps with legal services presentations and other RCP work as needed.
Members and guests, please welcome Emily Benson and Sandra Carrillo!
To learn more, go to:
https://sites.google.com/sjsu.edu/sjsu-rcp-landing-page/home
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