People's Paper Co-Op Turns Criminal Records Into Pulp

Shredding the Rap Sheet

The People's Newspaper Co-Op helps ex-offenders clear their criminal records—and turn them into "paper smoothies"

Oct. 31, 2016

In Philadelphia, the recidivism rate for those recently released from prison is due north of 65 percent. A study has found that, on a national scale, more than 75 percent of ex-offenders are rearrested in the five years later on their release. There are plenty of factors that go into these atrocious statistics: Lack of mental health infrastructure for erstwhile prisoners. Lack of career counseling upon release. Unfair terms of parole.

Simply one of the master drivers behind rearrest is simply desperation. For want of a chore, a loan or whatsoever small opportunity, many people with criminal records take to deal with the fact that background checks volition show the charges they've garnered for the residuum of their lives, and oftentimes result in rejection.

Penn Law's Criminal Record Expungement Project website lays it blank: "Criminal and arrest records pose an almost insurmountable bulwark to securing employment, housing and public benefits for tens of thousands of Philadelphians, especially amongst the city's poor, black, and Latino populations."

"One in five people in Philadelphia has a criminal record," says Courtney Bowles, co-founder and co-director of the People'southward Paper Co-Op. "Everything y'all're charged with, whether or not y'all're bedevilled, stays on your criminal record."

"One in five people in Philadelphia has a criminal record," says Courtney Bowles, co-founder and co-managing director of the People'due south Paper Co-Op . "Everything you're charged with, whether or not yous're bedevilled, stays on your criminal record."

The People's Paper Co-Op, based at the Hamlet of Arts and Humanities , was founded in Philadelphia in 2022 past Bowles and Mark Strandquist, artists, originally from Virginia, who accept long been involved in the reentry and expungement movement. Originally set to be a five-month project, the co-op was and so successful that information technology's been running ever since. It operates primarily as a ways to help those with criminal records in the metropolis expunge what they can of their criminal records, with the aid of local constabulary organizations like Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity . The Co-Op partners with these organizations to plow gratis regular expungement clinics into public events.

"Nosotros effort to tell them, straight up, what can and tin can't be expunged," says Bowles.

Non everything tin be pulled off of a criminal record by expungement—misdemeanors are hard; felonies impossible without a pardon from the Governor. What can be expunged are summary offenses, charges that did non result in a conviction, those that resulted rehabilitative disposition, and some to which defendants pleaded guilty or no contest. The results can lead to a dramatic reduction of a person'due south rap sheet. "I've seen a criminal history go from eight pages to two pages," says Strandquist.

The co-op likewise focuses on working fine art into the expungement and criminal reentry process, offering a pretty visceral have on the whole thing: One time participants expunge their criminal tape, they can stuff the damn thing in a blender and shred it direct to hell. Participants, after making a "newspaper smoothie" as Strandquist calls information technology, are and then invited to write almost what their lives would be like without all of those charges on a new, fresh sheet of paper, made from the liquefied old rap sheet.

"It'southward very cathartic," says Bowles. "Even when people can't become much expunged, they're still like 'Where's the blender?'"

"It's a literal and symbolic transformation," she adds. So far, the People'due south Paper Co-Op has worked with Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity to help more than 1,000 people expunge their criminal records.

That's become standard operating process for the People's Newspaper Co-Op. At present, they're working on something bigger: The Philadelphia Reentry Think Tank . The programme, captained by the Philadelphia Reentry Coalition but spearheaded by the People's Paper Co-Op, is an all-encompassing, ambitious endeavor at promoting a more prominent voice for Philadelphians with criminal records.

The plan sponsors fellows—Philadelphians with criminal records and experience with reentry and expungement organizations—and pays them hourly wages to assistance create fine art and written pieces to develop what Strandquist calls a "poetic Neb of Rights," detailing the struggles and aspirations of those who take the millstone of a criminal record hanging from their neck. The Nib of Rights will be presented to to the Philadelphia Reentry Coalition'south network of stakeholders—individuals and organizations that are among the coalition's supporters, including the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, the U.S. Attorney'southward Role and the Mayor's Role of Customs Empowerment and Opportunity—to "directly engage" them and make the case for farther support and funding. Strandquist says that there are currently more than than 100 stakeholders.

"We're trying to prove that this kind of initiative is actually worth while," says Strandquist of the Remember Tank. "Information technology'due south more of import, more helpful and probably more effective to involve people with direct experiences in policy conversations."

Afterwards the Nib of Rights is brought earlier the stakeholders, it will be brought before the government: The Reentry Think Tank plans to hold a public event at City Hall, where their new bill of rights will exist read aloud. People's Paper Co-Op hopes that the Think Tank project will spur city regime investment in more reentry programs. The engagement for the Reentry Think Tank's public activity has not yet been announced.

While non everything can be pulled off of a criminal record, the results tin can atomic number 82 to a dramatic reduction of a person's rap sheet. "I've seen a criminal history go from eight pages to two pages," says Strandquist.

Strandquist says that the co-op takes a different arroyo to its handling of expungement and reentry, because many programs that circumduct around bringing onetime prisoners back into common society are focused on ane-size-fits-all rules meant to aid reform them. Conversely, the goal of the co-op is to listen to the needs and opinions of the people attempting to reintegrate and to endeavor give them a vocalism inside the system. While the Co-Op is primarily focused on helping ex-prisoners expunge their records, it besides seeks to include them in finding innovative ways to aid them avoid rearrest; the same ex-prisoners are involved in nearly every level of the Co-Op's mission, from drafting policies to creating workshops.

"We're treating these people as experts, rather than as people without something to offering," he says.

But how does the co-op measure success when facing down such a massive chore as defending ex-offenders?

"You hear people say things like 'I feel more similar myself than I have in years.' It's about creating a infinite where they're given a platform to amplify their voices. It's a bunch of small successes that add up," says Bowles.

Clarification: A previous version of this story indicated that the People'south Paper Co-Op organized the expungement clinics; actually, the Co-Op works with volunteer lawyers who have free clinics effectually the city.

Header photo by Marker Strandquist of the People'south Paper Co-op

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Source: https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/peoples-paper-co-op-reentry-think-tank/

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