by Carlissa Shaw, Esq.
The venue was The Healing Center Full Gospel Baptist Church. Over 100 community members seeking to have their non-conviction cases and other criminal cases expunged were met by a group of enthusiastic lawyers, clerks and volunteers (June 2).
The event was sponsored by Mayor Jim Strickland, The Healing Center Full Gospel Baptist Church, State Rep. Karen Camper, Edward Stanton Jr., the City of Memphis, Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association, Memphis Bar Association, NAACP, Tennessee Faith and Justice Alliance, and the Tennessee Bar Association-Young Lawyers Division.
One of the event organizers, attorney Amber Floyd, confirmed that 148 people attended, with expungement orders submitted for 124 people. Since December 2016, Floyd has teamed with a number of organizations to host five clinics in Shelby County. To date, these clinics have assisted 1,800-plus people.
“Lingering charges affect employment and people’s ability to thrive in their community,” Floyd said.
“Some people do not know the options that are available to them. We focus on educating people about their criminal records during these clinics and we clean their records as much as possible.”
The event highlighted the need in our community for people to have a clean slate.
A gentlemen that I was able to assist had a criminal conviction from selling drugs when he was 19. He was again convicted of selling drugs two years later at age 21. He is currently 35 years old and has not seen the inside of a criminal court room in over decade. However, pursuant to current state law, he is not eligible to have his criminal convictions expunged.
Criminal convictions are obstacles for people to fully participating in society. However, our laws are changing and with advocacy and awareness we as a community can give people a second chance.
(Carlissa Shaw, Esq. is an attorney and activists. For none-conviction expungements, contact the Shelby County Clerk’s Office at 901-222-3600. The clerk’s office is also notified of upcoming expungement clinics.)
