Legal Aid & Record Clearing Watch

Why this is recommended

An expungement that opens a job or an apartment, a license reinstated without $800 in fees, or a free clinic that files the petition are each life-sized, and the Tab reads fifty court systems and every legal aid calendar for them.

What the Tab covers

Who it is for

The 70 million Americans with a criminal record, the millions with a suspended license or court debt, and everyone who needs a lawyer and cannot afford one.

When it runs

Courts and legal aid organizations post clinics and rule changes mid-week; petitions get filed on weekends

Scope

Clean slate, automatic sealing and expungement laws and eligibility by state; record sealing fees and waivers; free expungement clinics and legal aid days from legal aid societies, bar associations, public defenders and law schools; court fee, fine and debt relief and amnesty programs; driver license reinstatement amnesty; eviction record sealing; background check and fair chance rules for employment and housing; LSC-funded and pro bono program openings; court self-help and e-filing changes

Suggested task

The objective your Tab starts with. You can edit every line of it once the Tab is yours.

Clean slate and automatic expungement laws taking effect by state, record sealing and expungement eligibility and fee changes, free expungement clinics and legal aid days, court fee waiver and debt relief programs, traffic and license reinstatement amnesty programs, tenant and consumer legal aid programs, eviction record sealing and background check rule changes for jobs and housing, with the state or program first and the deadline in the title.

Track legal aid and record clearing in the United States. Report only confirmed, source-backed items from the last 7 days: clean slate, automatic sealing and expungement laws taking effect or changing eligibility by state; record sealing and expungement fee, waiver and process changes; free expungement clinics, legal aid days and pro bono events within 30 days from legal aid societies, bar associations, public defenders and law schools; court fee, fine and debt relief and amnesty programs; driver license reinstatement amnesty and fee relief programs; eviction record sealing laws; fair chance hiring and housing background check rule changes; Legal Services Corporation and legal aid program openings and closures; and court self-help, e-filing and fee waiver changes. Prefer state courts and legislatures, legal aid organizations, bar associations, LSC and established legal reporting; ignore law-firm advertising, and never give individual legal advice. Put the state or program first in the title with the deadline. Use high severity for a clean slate law taking effect, an amnesty program with a deadline within 30 days, or a clinic within 14 days in a metro over one million. Return no more than 8 findings. Push each as a finding with a title, a two-sentence summary, sections for what it is, who qualifies, how to apply, the deadline, and the source link. If nothing qualifies, push nothing and submit the run receipt.