Over 100 individuals receive free legal help in Los Angeles!
On Saturday, March 19, 2016, OneJustice, in partnership with Jenesse Center Legal Advisory Committee, Alternate Public Defender, Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Californians for Safety and Justice, ICE out of LA, IMPACT LA, the John M. Langston Bar Association, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Public Defender, Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County, A New Way of Life Reentry Project, One LA I.A.F., and other Los Angeles-based community organizations helped give Angelenos a Fresh Start.
At the newly created Fresh Start Legal Clinic, South LA residents completed applications for the Traffic Ticket Amnesty program, which allows individuals with unpaid fines on traffic and non-traffic infraction tickets to get a reduction of up to 80% of the amount owed to the court or collections agency. Clients also filled out applications for Proposition 47, a program that changes low-level crimes from potential felonies to misdemeanors.
Having a suspended driver’s license or felony criminal record can be a barrier to employment that keeps individuals and families trapped in an endless cycle of poverty. Without the ability to work and earn a living, families are forced to make difficult decisions about housing, transportation, and other life necessities. Traffic Ticket Amnesty and Proposition 47 programs can help end this cycle. Both programs are crucial to bettering individuals’ lives. Participants in these time-limited programs are able to improve their employment prospects, regain driver’s licenses, remove immigration barriers, and reduce old debts all through a brief application and short post-clinic process.
At the clinic, about 70 volunteers helped over 100 South Los Angeles community members with Proposition 47 reclassification and Traffic Ticket Amnesty. Volunteer attorneys helped clients with the support of community organizations. Thanks to the Fresh Start Legal Clinic, South LA residents face fewer barriers to success in their futures.
“[The clinic was] extremely helpful and it helps people to achieve what they always wanted to do,” said one client.
Thank you to our wonderful partners, supporters, and volunteers for making this clinic a reality!
For more information about Proposition 47, please visit http://myprop47.org/.
To learn more about Traffic Ticket Amnesty, please visit http://www.backontheroadca.org/.