Cooley Law School held an expungement fair at the law school’s Lansing campus on Friday, March 21. During the fair, volunteer attorneys and law students under the supervision of licensed attorneys assisted 122 guests with their expungement paperwork. Pictured from left to right: Amber Remus, Cooley Law School Clinical Program and Career and Professional Development; Cynthia Brown, Cooley Law School Enrollment and Student Services; Aimee Lorencz, Cooley Law School student; Karen Poole, Cooley Law School Career and Professional Development; Anna Buckingham, Cooley Law School student; Sukayna Almusawi, Cooley Law School student; Kamau Sandiford, Clean Slate Program, and Safe & Just Michigan; Arjan Malishi, Cooley Law School student; Veronica French, Safe and Just Michigan.
On March 21, Cooley Law School held an expungement fair to aid in the removal of certain arrests and convictions from qualifying individuals’ public criminal records.
There were 421 individuals screened through the pre-registration and onsite walk-in process with 251 individuals qualifying for expungement. During the fair, volunteer attorneys and law students under the supervision of licensed attorneys assisted 122 qualified guests who attended the fair with their expungement paperwork.
“We normally get more walk-ins than pre-registered people at these fairs which slows the process down, but we got a higher pre-reg turnout which helped us process everyone at a faster rate,” said Kamau Sandiford, Clean Slate Program manager at Safe & Just Michigan. “Thank you to Cooley Law School, Michigan State Police, Legal Services of South Central Michigan, the Michigan Attorney General's Office, and all of the student volunteers, attorneys, and notaries who came together to put on this event.”
Michigan law has always allowed for expungements, but the “Clean Slate” legislation enacted in 2020 made more individuals and offenses eligible for expungement. Under the law, individuals with up to three expungement-eligible felonies and any number of misdemeanors can have their records expunged. Certain traffic violations and first-time operating while intoxicated offenses can be expunged. Additionally, misdemeanor marijuana convictions that would not have been considered crimes after recreational marijuana was legalized in Michigan can be expunged.
Expungement removes arrests and convictions from a person’s public criminal record, which makes prior convictions inaccessible to employers or landlords. Cooley Law School has hosted several expungement fairs since 2023, which has resulted in hundreds of individuals being able to have their criminal records expunged.
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