Stay up to date with the PLSE Newsletter.
A 5-minute read delivered to your inbox every month. Philadelphia is leading the country in criminal justice reform, and PLSE is in the middle of lots of it. Every month we offer breaking news, tips on how to make your pardon application better, and ways you can help.
PA Workforce Development Board Unanimously Adopts Two Record-Clearing Recommendations to the Governor (May 23, 2022)
Click here to read recommendation supporting enactment of statue providing immunity to employers and contractors from “negligent hiring” claims
Op Ed, Renee Chenault Fattah, Philadelphia Inquirer (November 27, 2022)
(NBC10 TV, October 7, 2022)
New Speed for Weed, Vince Delivers, DAs Partner, Wolf the GOAT, and more
Governor, Lt. Governor, Board of Pardons Announce Special 30-Day Pardon Effort For Low-Level Marijuana Convictions
September 1, 2022
PLSE FILES PETITION SEEKING GENERAL PARDON (AMNESTY) FOR MARIJUANA-USERS
Representing eleven individuals from around the state, PLSE petitions Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General and Board of Pardons to pardon everyone who has been convicted of a non-violent marijuana-specific crime – of which there are tens of thousands in Pennsylvania. (July 7, 2022)
Moonshot, Road Trip, Clerks, Pages, Metrics … and MORE!
First Lady, Street Muralist, State Rep, EJW Fellow, and more!
Second Chances: Good News from around the state!
Op Ed, Hon. Thomas J. Vanaskie (Ret.) (Scranton Times-Tribune, April 17, 2022
Merle, Ron, Danea, Gordon, Celeste, Second Chances Month, and more!
Jeff Brown, Marie Antoinette, Chelsey Sirmons, and more!
GROWING FOR GOOD – PLSE’s Marijuana Amnesty Project
The Chicago Reader – February 3, 2022
Click here to read “Cannabis Conversation” with Andrea Lindsay
New Secretary, New Staff, New Form, and More News!
First Lady Frances Wolf Makes Criminal Record Clearing Her Priority For 2022
January 6, 2022
Pardon Projects: Communities Coming Together in Restorative Justice
The Pennsylvania Lawyer, Jan-Feb 2022
Readying for 2022’s bold Promise, major changes, new and renewed partnerships, and more
Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness Follows PA Bar Assn, Urges BOP to Stop Using Unpaid Fines & Fees as an Impediment to Pardons
Read Letter, November 30, 2021
PA Bar Association Overwhelmingly Opposes Pardons Board Policy on Unpaid Court Debts
Read Recommendation adopted on November 19, 2021
Read President Kathleen Wilkinson’s Letter dated November 22, 2021
Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania Calls For Pardon Reforms
November 10, 2021
Read Resolution Calling For More Pardon Hearings Within One Year Of Filing
Read Resolution Calling For Immediate Recission of Board’s “Exclusionary” Fees and Costs Rule
NEW PA Association of Pardon Projects, readings, and more!
Pardons: It’s Time to Finish the Job
The Legal Intelligencer, November 19, 2021
Berks begins Pardon Project to help those with past convictions
Reading Eagle, November 2, 2021
Read editorial in Reading Eagle, November 14, 2021
Green Thumb Industries Announces Inaugural Recipients of Good Green Grants
October 14, 2021
PLSE Announces New Leadership, Becomes Black-Led at Both Staff and Board Levels
September 16, 2021
If You Paid Your Debt to Society, You Should Be Allowed to Work
August 4, 2021
Read chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Company, Jamie Dimon’s, article in The New York Times.
Pa. is leading the way on pardon reformed to Work | Opinion
June 30, 2021
Read Linda Dale Hoffa’s article in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Board Leaps, Chancellor Scolds, Scranton Applauds, and more!
News both wonderful and horrible, How YOU can help, and more!
June 12, 2021
Will become Executive Director in September
Scattergood Hosts, Council Questions, PLSE Presents, and more
Pardon Coaching: Do it for Shane, and for Yourself
Read pardon volunteer Lorraine Marie Simmonis’ article in the Philadelphia Bar Reporter.
New PLSE Report on Racial Disparities and Second-Degree Murder in PA
Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman and Attorney General Josh Shapiro are calling for reform after PLSE’s latest report showing Black people in Pennsylvania have been sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder at a rate 21 times higher than white people.
Why People Are Wrong To Think That Pardons Are Only For Rich White Connected Guys And Not For Them
Tarik Ryant, Inspire Magazine
Mr. Ryant, founder of Chef Reeky’s in Delaware County and member of the Pardon Project Steering Committee, received a pardon in August 2021.
Innovative Clinics, New Partners, Eloquent Coaches, More Honors, and Heads Up!
MontCo enlists, CHWs rock, NPR podcasts, Am Bar honors, Intake idles, and more.
BOP wows, PLSE reports, Cooney honors, BAI affiliates, 100 Coaches zoom, and more.
Life Without Parole for Second-Degree Murder In Pennsylvania: An Objective Assessment of Sentencing
January 19, 2021
Andrea Lindsay, PLSE Lead Researcher and Mitigation Specialist
January 26, 2021
Written by Brandon Dorfman
Generocity
PLSE Wins, Treasurer Downgrades, Co-Ops Shine, Pitt Law Joins, and more.
PLSE Receives 2021 Innovation Award for Human Services / Community Development
January 21, 2021
PLSE receives top prize for making society see expungements and pardons as investments in neighborhoods and human capital.
January 19, 2021
Cites PLSE Study in Support of National Call to Question Whether Increasing Fees and Costs Are Good for Society
January 14, 2021
To read the letter to the rating agencies, click here.
January 6, 2021
Written by Tarik Kose and Isabella Falzone
3,000+ sign petition to Gov. Wolf, Judge Karen Simmons receives Pollak award, staff attorney Taylor Pacheco moderates Philadelphia Bar Association panel, and more.
December 4, 2020
December 1, 2020
The Defense (Magazine of the PA Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers)
PLSE Video Library Featured by BOP, Pardon Project Leaps Forward in Pittsburgh, Newest Mike Lee Fellow Joins, and more.
October 19th, 2020
Written by Patrick Keough
The Legal Intelligencer
September 16, 2020
Governor Acts, Juvenile Judges Pile On, Board Excels, PLAN Partners, PLSE Reports, and more.
August 31, 2020
August 5, 2020
Governor Flunks, Board Zooms, DA Innovates, Health Experts Join, and more.
August 14, 2020
Philadelphia Bar Reporter
August 12, 2020
Pennsylvania Department of State
August 7, 2020
Two Health Care Experts Join PLSE Board, Emphasizing Criminal Records as a Public Health Crisis.
Support swells, Mayor cancels, Board speeds up, Merck and Chubb sign on, More leaders speak out, and more.
July 9, 2020
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PLSE Volunteers lead the charge in organizing to represent protesters and help them contest their violations.
June 26, 2020
Technical.ly Philly
While 2018’s Clean Slate Law cleared barriers to housing, education and employment for individuals across PA, it indirectly created new technological barriers for the legal nonprofit.
Jeff Brown leads, Philly DA partners, PLSE begins online intake, tips on the parole interview, and more.
May 8, 2020
PA Bar strongly urges PA Board of Pardons to stop asking about juvenile records in pardon applications.
PA Bar acts, Economy League reports, Heinz Endowments funds, and more.
May 5, 2020
Temporary reprieves, historic Bar Leadership Summit, historic Board of Pardons vote, expanded Video Library, and more.
Record-breaking year, new Mike Lee Fellow, Pardon Hubs expanding to new neighborhoods, and more.
January 29, 2020
Barristers-Bebashi partnership, Sen. Vince Hughes delivers, Point Breeze becomes first neighborhood pardon network.
Senator Vincent Hughes Obtains Community and Economic Development Funding to Create 15 New Pardon Hubs
January 21, 2020
Pardon videos, expansion into North Philly, and much more.
November 29, 2019
Giving Tuesday, new Board members, Pardon Hub news, and more.
PLSE’s new Executive Director, the expedited pardon application, and much, much more.
September 23, 2019
Written by Carl “Tobey” Oxholm III
The Legal Intelligencer
PLSE’s record breaking year, upcoming expungement clinics, new partnerships, and need-to-know tips about Clean Slate.
Historic Board of Pardons vote, PLSE gains 2 new Board members, Clearing Juvenile Records, and more.
June 24, 2019
June 12, 2019
New pardon application sets new standard for clarity and access.
New pardon application, Mike Lee Fellowship update, and new community partnerships.
April 22, 2019
April 8, 2019
January 29, 2019
January 9, 2019
December 5, 2018
November 14, 2018
October 22, 2018
October 15, 2018
September 2018
Philadelphia Bar Reporter
August 27, 2018
August 14, 2018
July 23, 2018
Written by M. Zane Johnson
The Legal Intelligencer
June 25, 2018
April 26, 2018
March 5, 2018
January 3, 2018
December 20, 2017
