By Colleen V. Chien, Founder, Paper Prisons Initiative and Professor, Berkeley Law School One in three adults has a criminal record. As such, one of the most important and unresolved questions in criminal justice policy is whether people can move beyond their past records and re-integrate into society. The evidence suggests that they can — […]
New year, new partnership, with the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office, on “Digital Juneteenth” initiatives. While California’s “Clean Slate” laws automate record expungement, many individuals remain unaware they’ve been cleared. Drawing inspiration from the spirit of Juneteenth—where freedom required awareness to be realized—in 2024, Paper Prisons launched a “Digital Juneteenth” research initiative to address
By Colleen Chien, Founder of the Paper Prisons Initiative On June 19, 1865, US soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas – the last corner of the Confederacy – to announce that the Civil War had ended and that enslaved Americans were now free. In the two years prior, slave owners quietly and strategically delayed the news