Expungement is set up to give people with a criminal history a second chance. It’s a clean slate, a fresh start. But, it is often only available if you can afford to pay for it.
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On Thursday, April 4, 2019, Equal Justice Under Law sent a letter to Attorney General Ken Paxton and other state officials regarding the Texas Failure to Appear/Failure to Pay Program, otherwise known as the OmniBase Services, promising civil litigation if changes are not made to the program that would make it more equitable.
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The college admissions scandal -- while shocking in some ways -- has revealed what most Americans have always known: the rich have many advantages when it comes to higher education. As bad (and as illegal) as it is to bribe admissions officers, SAT proctors, and athletics coaches to get one’s own child admitted to a prestigious university, it is only the newest way we’ve learned that some wealthy parents have of manipulating the admissions system to their advantage.
On March 4, 2019, in the federal court in San Francisco, Equal Justice Under Law won its lawsuit against the bail schedule system.
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In 2014 Missouri adopted legislation that authorized its courts and agencies to suspend an individual’s driver’s license if they owe $2,500 in past-due child support, or three months of payments, whichever is less.
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Good hard working people are being forced into a modern-day debtors’ prison through the suspension of their driver’s license and the vicious cycle that revolves between ever-increasing fines and the inability to get to work to pay them off.
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Injustice becomes the norm, people turn into numbers, and lives morph into statistics as the Prison Industrial Complex morphs into the Private Prison Industrial Complex.
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“We are not makers of history; we are made by history." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Since 2015, the most vulnerable residents of Newark, Arkansas have fallen prey to a ruthless scheme that is evicting them from their homes. During a time where these families deserve a warm sanctuary in which to gather, many are facing eviction and mounting debt.
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In Texas, the Omnibase program is exacerbating wealth-inequality and disproportionately hurting those experiencing poverty.
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As of January 2018, over 1.4 million Texans had suspended licenses for failure to pay additional surcharges on a ticket for a driving infraction. Equal Justice Under Law has filed a lawsuit against Governor Greg Abbot and Texas’ Department of Public Safety to end this program once and for all and help affected Texans escape a cycle of poverty.
Read MoreBetween 2011 and 2016, Pennsylvania suspended the licenses of over 149,000 individuals as an additional punishment for non-driving-related drug convictions. Now, nine months after EJUL filed a class action lawsuit against the counterproductive practice, Pennsylvania has abolished it.
Read MorePrivate companies charge incarcerated individuals and their families up to $14 for a single minute on the phone — a devastating assault on the dignity and family ties of prisoners.
Read MoreCriminal hearings are supposed to be free and public, but in Dallas, Texas — where thousands of individuals remain locked up because they cannot afford bail — bail hearings are held in secrecy behind closed doors.
Read MoreOn October 3, 2018, Executive Director Phil Telfeyan appeared before a panel of judges from the Sixth Circuit United States Court of Appeals to argue that the district court properly enjoined Michigan’s Secretary of State from automatically suspending the licenses of Michigan residents who cannot afford to pay their court fines and fees.
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