A Voice for Victims: Cal NAACP Is Helping to Clear Criminal Records for Free

Bo Tefu | Impact Alameda

It costs thousands of dollars in California to clear a criminal record of a felony or misdemeanor, but now people can get their record expunged for free with the help of the California State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The NAACP’s expungement workshops aim to help Black people remove nonviolent charges, “which have affected their ability to obtain employment,” said Rick Callender, president of the NAACP California-Hawaii State Conference.

“Our expungement program is the best kind of advocacy program that we can put out into the community. We know that African Americans and other people of color are charged the most and end up serving the most time,” said Callender.

The criminal justice system has disproportionately affected Black people in the United States as a result of the War on Drugs, a federal government-led effort that claimed to end the trade and distribution of drugs in the 1970s. However, the national campaign created a vicious cycle of mass incarceration in Black communities that affected generations of Americans, particularly low-income families.

The NAACP says the majority of participants taking advantage of the expungement program were convicted on “wobbler charges –indictments determined by a prosecutor’s recommendation for whether an individual should face felony or misdemeanor penalties based on their criminal history.

“These wobbler charges and the criminal justice system have impeded upon African Americans and their ability to get jobs and housing,” said Callender.

“It’s important for the organization to facilitate this program in order to tackle institutional racism in the criminal justice system,” he said.

“These kinds of programs even the playing field for African Americans,” he said.

The NAACP expungement program was implemented to reconcile the crippling impact of mass incarceration on the Black community in California. The program which started in September 2019 has helped thousands of formerly incarcerated people get their records clean. Program coordinators work with local governments to waive fees for the expungement process.

Clearing of criminal records can take anywhere from 30 days to six months depending on the number of charges that need to be removed. The NAACP California State Conference partnered with seven local counties including Alameda County and the Clean Slate Program to start the expungement process at zero cost for people enrolled in the program.

“If you’ve received a misdemeanor, felony, or some kind of wobbler charge, it keeps you from being able to be able to move forward,” said Callender.

“This is truly the great equalizer of advocacy for economic justice,” he said.

Program coordinators in the NAACP work with public defenders and attorneys to host monthly workshops for low-income people who were convicted of a misdemeanor or felony for nonviolent crimes. According to the organization’s leaders, criminal lawyers can charge up to $5,000 for legal fees in addition to the cost of processing the paperwork.

According to the NAACP California State Conference 2020 resolutions, law enforcement convicts Black people based on ‘wobbler charges’ for nonviolent crimes.

“A person who has been arrested and was not convicted now has the burden to petition the court for the expungement. Cost associate to remove the arrest record and expunge it is expensive and excessive for people of color,” the resolution states.

The expungement program coordinators follow up with attendees to track the legal progress of their cases. The law experts working with the organizations evaluate each case and work with each attendee on an individual basis.

“People are just so grateful to get answers in real-time, not waiting on a call center line pressing one or two and hoping that you can get someone,” said Betty Williams the executive director of the NAACP California State Conference.

During one of the workshop sessions, “a young lady cried, thanked us, and gave us praises for the program. Almost all of us started crying, she was sharing how she’s been trying to get this done for the last six years and had no idea that the NAACP was doing something like this,” said Williams.

“We’re giving a voice to those individuals that have been so easily victimized by the criminal justice system,” she said.

Social justice advocates at the NAACP emphasized that Black and Brown people need more initiatives that help heal the harm inflicted by the War on Drugs in their respective communities.

“We have the population that was affected most with the war on drugs,” said Williams.

“Now we have the opportunity to help those individuals clean up their backgrounds and go look for a job without fear,” she said.

The NAACP California State Conference is committed to expanding the expungement program through outreach in its 56 branches across the state. Leaders from other NAACP branches have expressed interest in modeling similar programs to help Black and Brown communities in their respective states.