The webinar will examine the process for securing waivers for criminal records, and juvenile records, for purposes of enlistment in the U.S. armed forces. It will also explore the broader socio-legal theme of the structure and relationships between institutions of disciplinary power such as the modern military and carceral systems. Presenters: Nateel Sharma is a policy fellow at LSPC and an advocate working on criminal justice reform. He has encountered firsthand the systemic barriers faced by individuals with prior convictions, having personally experienced employment discrimination in the federal sector, particularly in regard to positions requiring security clearance. For many in similar circumstances, he observes, being denied opportunities can be deeply disheartening and tends to reinforce cycles of exclusion. Eric C. Sapp is a Staff Attorney at LSPC. Prior to that, in the 2010s he was a member of Stanford University’s Peace and Justice Studies Initiative. An anti-imperialist, he also organized with the (now-defunct) group Alternatives to Militarism, doing counter-recruitment vis-à-vis the U.S. intelligence and military industrial complex.
Civil Liberties
Implementation of AB 1186: Restitution Fines Reform
This training will provide an overview of Assembly Bill 1186, which eliminates restitution fines for youth in juvenile court, vacates restitution fine debt over 10 years old for both youth and adults, and clarifies how restitution amounts are calculated for property damage. It will also outline steps impacted individuals can take to seek relief and includes practical guidance for navigating court debt under the new law.
Presenters: Kellie Walters (Staff Attorney at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children), Delaney Green and Asher Waite-Jones (Clinical Supervisor in the Policy Advocacy Clinic at UC Berkeley)
Supporting Clients Around Inclusion on California’s Child Abuse Central Index (CACI)
The training, aimed at legal aid attorneys, will help participants issue spot for CACI and gain legal knowledge and skills about how to challenge inclusion on the registry and what to do if that is not possible. This work is important to help individuals retain pathways to employment that would otherwise be denied them.
Presenter: Meredith Wallis, Staff Attorney from Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
The Usual Cruelty: Grants Pass v. Johnson as a Regime of Gentrification
Join Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC) and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR) as they discuss the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 decision Grants Pass and its implications for the challenges faced by the unhoused on account of municipalities’ power to overpolice.
Presenter: Eric Sapp from LSPC and Andrew Ntim from LCCR
Richardson v. Ramirez at Fifty: Deconstructing Disenfranchisement
In Richardson v. Ramirez, 418 U.S. 24 (1974), the U.S. Supreme negated federal equal protection of the laws for persons disenfranchised on account of criminal conviction. This case forms the bedrock for contemporary state-based voting eligibility rules for system-involved persons as well as for the state-by-state movement to reform it, as exemplified by California’s Prop. 17 (2020) which restored the right to vote to persons on parole. This webinar will carefully analyze the Court’s opinions in Ramirez to uncover the ways in which text and history are implicated in the constitutional interpretation of democratic norms.
Presenters: Alissa Moore (Re-Entry Coordinator) and Eric C. Sapp (Staff Attorney) from Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.
Race, Class, and the Foster Care System
This is a one-hour training looking at structural racism in the child welfare system, especially focused on standardized risk-assessment tools and policing, with suggestions on how attorneys can support families.
Presenter: Meredith Wallis, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
