Expungement: Second Chances Programs and Projects

At Santa Clara law, professors and students have witnessed the many ways in which even minor criminal arrests and convictions create insurmountable obstacles for men and women trying to re-enter society as full participating citizens. Over the years there have been various opportunities to address this problem and provide “second chances” to many individuals. These programs are designed to remove those barriers that keep an individual from full integration into society. These projects and programs have taken many forms; experiential classes on expungement, one day workshops or hackathons, direct client services to facilitate expungement and even legislation that was student initiated written and pursued. An exciting element to this work has been the interdisciplinary aspect to several of the projects linking law students and professors with counterparts in the schools of business and engineering. In addition several law students are working with Professor Colleen Chien on her groundbreaking research and coding projects on expungement.

Santa Clara Law Students Spearhead Criminal Justice Reform

Santa Clara Law’s 2nd Chances Empathy Hackathon produces ready-to-deploy tech such as a web app that plots out how to obtain ID for those just released from prison

Santa Clara Law Hosts Expungement Clinic

Criminal Justice: Expungement Clinic class