Insights & Information

Prairie State College is hosting a criminal justice summit for people with criminal histories (arrest or conviction). The event schedule includes a panel discussion and the opportunity to meet with experts to discuss expungement and sealing, job training and placement, housing support, and substance abuse or mental health services.

November 10, 2012
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Prairie State College Conference Center
202 S. Halsted St.

Chicago Heights, IL
Registration begins in early October. For more information, click here.

Agape Missions, NFP is hosting an expugement and sealing workshop for people involved in the criminal justice system. A presentation will be provided by a licensed attorney and a one-on-one Q&A session will follow. All attendees will receive expungement kits. Be sure to bring your record and/or rap sheet. For more information about Agape Mission re-entry services, click here.

September 18, 2012
6:00 PM
840 Plainfield Road
Joliet, IL 60435

A new report by the Brennan Center for Justice indicates that state governments across the country have recently enacted an array of new laws making it harder to register or to vote. Two states have reversed earlier reforms and once again disenfranchised millions who have past criminal convictions but who are now taxpaying members of the community. Still others have made it much more difficult for citizens to register to vote, a prerequisite for voting. These new restrictions fall most heavily on young, minority, and low-income voters, as well as on voters with disabilities. The analysis shows that these new laws could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012. The states that have already cut back on voting rights will provide 171 electoral votes in 2012 (63 percent of the 270 needed to win the presidency). Of the 12 likely battleground states, five have already cut back on voting rights (and may pass additional restrictive legislation), and two more are currently considering new restrictions. To read more of this report, click here.

House Bill 298 ushered a change in criminal justice policy when it was signed into law on August 19. The new law grants courts the authority to allow the expungement of arrests not resulting in conviction that follow a prior conviction. Previously, expungement of such arrests following a conviction was not permitted. HB 298 clears the way for much-needed housing, employment, and educational opportunities by essentially removing such arrests from an individual's criminal record. To read an editorial from Protestants for the Common Good lauding HB 298 titled "This is Good Policy", click here.

The Northern Cook County Informational Expungement Expo will discuss the expungement process, as well as job application disclosure requirements and employment challenges. Attorneys will be onsite for consultations, evaluations, and recommendations.

When: Saturday, May 21, 2011 10:00 am – 2:30 pm
Where: Levy Senior Center, 300 Dodge Avenue, Evanston, Illinois

This event is jointly hosted by City of Evanston, the Honorable Dorothy Brown, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, the James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy, Project NIA, the Youth Job Center of Evanston, Inc., Cabrini Green Legal Aid and the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, with support from the Evanston Community Foundation

For more information about this event and to register, view the flyer or visit ExpungementInfoExpo.com