Attorneys volunteer to erase criminal records
Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter Mary Bates, an attorney with Pittsburgh law firm Reed Smith, discusses the expungement process with a client in the newly renovated chapel at Washington City Mission. A team of professionals will be in place for an expungement event at the mission on March 24.
Mary Bates, an attorney with Pittsburgh law firm Reed Smith, discusses the expungement process with a client in the newly renovated chapel at Washington City Mission. A team of professionals will be in place for an expungement event at the mission March 24.
As attorney Mary Bates discussed a legal issue with a Washington City Mission resident, a knock interrupted them. A constable stood at the door. He was there to take another resident to jail for unpaid parking tickets.
The woman was well into a yearlong program for alcohol addiction.
Bates, a mission volunteer and former board member, rode in the constable’s car with the woman to the magistrate’s office, where she spoke with the district judge.
“I suggested he allow her to continue the program, get a job and pay back the parking tickets,” Bates said. “I explained to him that (putting the woman in jail) is going to disrupt her rehab and cost taxpayers money.”
The judge agreed, the woman completed the program and got a job. She paid the parking tickets.
“It’s amazing how many people want to get out of it and want to do better,” Bates said. “That’s one of the reasons why I got involved and stay involved, because I’ve seen the success stories. People really do want to change. Yes, they’ve gotten themselves into this situation. Why not help them achieve their goals? It’s for the best of everybody.”
Bates runs a monthly legal clinic at the shelter, where she advises clients on everything from filing protection-from-abuse orders to custody issues. To Bates, helping the community’s indigent members coincides with the mission’s goal of rehabilitating the entire individual.
“It’s for the greater good, in the interest of justice,” she said. “We’re all human beings. We should want each other to do our best and be our best.”
With her employer, Reed Smith of Pittsburgh, and attorneys from the state and county bar associations, Duquesne University, Southwestern PA Legal Services and Neighborhood Legal Services, Bates will hold a pro bono expungement day from 9 a.m. to noon March 24 at Washington City Mission.
The event is open to residents of the shelter and the community.
Attorneys will meet with people, at no charge, to see if their criminal record can be expunged. Meetings will be held on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants should bring a copy of their record.
Bates said a criminal record can create barriers for those seeking employment, housing or education opportunities. In Pennsylvania, all criminal and summary cases filed with the court, including those that don’t result in convictions, are posted online and available for public viewing.
An expungement is a legal order that removes a criminal record from public view.
Generally, those who are eligible to have their records expunged are those who have arrests not resulting in conviction, summary offenses over five years old and low-level misdemeanors more than 10 years old, if they have not had subsequent arrests.
“I think everybody who has a concern about their record should come to see if there’s maybe one charge, or perhaps all, that could be expunged,” Bates said.
If a person were to hire an attorney on their own, it could cost as much as $1,000 to have a record expunged. The attorneys at the mission will review records and assist with filing paperwork at no cost to participants.
“Attorneys, in general, want to help and want to do good. So this is a great opportunity for us to show the public we’re not just sharks. We have sensitivity to ethical and moral concerns,” said Bates.
Dr. Sally Mounts, mission development director, said access to legal services is enormously helpful to residents.
“Simply getting the right information can set them on a course to get their record expunged, which can really enhance their sense of hopefulness and optimism,” she said. “The world can be a joyous place when you’re able to wipe your slate clean and start over.”
All of the mission’s services aim to rehabilitate individuals, said Bates.
Consultations will take place in the City Mission Chapel, 84 W. Wheeling St., Washington.