PLSE’s intimate, 60-person dinner was a huge success! We were fortunate to have wonderful sponsors at all levels. Our lead sponsors at 10K were Chase Lenfest; Ballard Spahr, Comcast, KesslerTopaz; with Jeff and Jenifer Westphal supporting us at the 5K level; and Cozen O’Conner, Duane Morris, Local 1776 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Greenberg Traurig, and Willig Williams and Davidson at the 3K level.

Guests enjoyed an amazing four course family style meal of Israeli cuisine and throughout the evening Chef and PLSE Board Member Michael Solomonov talked about his passion for food, its importance in uniting people, and also his long-standing commitment to social justice and second chances.

We are already planning our next event for Fall 2023. Save the date: October 27th, 2023!

PLSE is thrilled to welcome Kristen Cherry as our new Pro Bono Coordinator, Tyler Schwartz as our newest addition to the Paralegal Unit, and Corey Clark as our part-time Office Administrator. Kristen joins us from Philadelphia Legal Assistance, where she operated the Family Help Desk. Tyler is a returning PLSE alum! A former PLSE legal intern, he’s now back to join us fulltime as a paralegal. Corey, a former court clerk from the First Judicial District, will be helping us out to manage the office and oversee administrative tasks. Welcome Kristen, Tyler, and Corey!

In January PLSE was joined by Isaac Rice, a Master of Public Administration student in the University of Pennsylvania Fels Institute of Government, who will be undertaking a project aiming to provide feedback and suggestions on the expungement process in Philadelphia County. Isaac will collect, analyze and report data around the number of petitions that go uncontested; interview court staff and DAs to get more in-depth information around the process; learn from police expungement staff obstacles they face in processing signed Orders; and propose ways to reform the system, to expedite the process, eliminate inefficiencies, and reduce the amount of time required by all participants in the process; all concluding in a written report with recommendations. Welcome, Isaac!

Thanks to a very exciting grant from Google, PLSE will be hosting monthly digital skill clinics with our partner, the Office of Reentry Partnerships, at their computer lab, set to start in March. In June 2021, Google shared that they will be investing $4 million toward a new fund that aims to expand its justice reform work. Over 500 nonprofit organizations across the country applied to receive support from the fund, and PLSE is one of the recipients selected by Google based on its history of helping people who have been impacted by incarceration receive training, career resources, and job placement support. Read all about it here!

Newly named Innovator of the Year as awarded by the Social Innovations Journal! Every year, the Journal holds a competition to honor the most innovative, creative people in our region whose purpose is making the world better. This year’s topic was “Social Innovations and Strategies” – and almost 300 people were nominated. We are delighted to announce that our very own Rev. Dr. Michelle Anne Simmons, founder and Executive Director of Why Not Prosper, current PLSE Board Member, and Past Chair of the Pardon Project Steering Committee, is this year’s winner in the category of Racial Justice: Models that address the six principles for collaborative practice that promote equity and justice.

Last year, PLSE Board Treasurer Jeff Brown won Social Investor of the Year, and in 2021, PLSE won in the category of Human Services/Community Development – so this amounts to the fabled, storied “Threepeat!” Congratulations, Rev. Michelle!

The Attorney General has a place on the Board of Pardons. With Josh Shapiro leaving to become the Governor, who fills his seat? Who becomes Acting AG?

Section 202 of Act 64 of 1980 provides the answer:

So what do we know about First Deputy AG Michelle Henry? Back in 2016 when she was appointed to the office (the first ever of a woman), then-Attorney General Shapiro noted her star qualities and his complete trust in her. A native of Greensburg, Westmoreland County, and a graduate of Allegheny College and the Widener University School of Law, she is noted known to be a superstar in the courtroom. She’s also demonstrated the scope of her commitment to public service, by helping to create the Children's Advocacy Center, a non-profit agency that works with local law enforcement, victims’ advocates and health-care facilities to investigate and treat children who have been physically or sexually abused.

We hope in her tenure as Attorney General, she will quickly see the larger picture of restorative justice and use her position on the Board of Pardons to help continue the reforms that remain so desperately needed. Welcome, AG Henry!

Well, not a completely a Clean Slate: Petition for General Pardon for Non-Violent Marijuana Convictions

Some of us were too young to march. Some of us are too young to remember. But today, a surging number of us realize that the fight for civil rights for Black and Brown Americans is the right fight and that it will take all of us.

We all have that chance again. We don’t have to risk police dogs, billy clubs, beatings or worse. All we have to do is persuade four people – 4 people! – to see pardons for what they have become: the only way out of lifetime prisons for people who violated the law, repaid their debts to society, and are still chained to their pasts via their criminal records.

Are you a pardon client with a PLSE pardon coach? DON’T FORGET to list PLSE as the representative on your pardon application. That way, we are able to track your application, and allowed to get status information on your behalf.

It’s always wonderful hearing from people who value what we do. Here are a few that are particularly meaningful to us:

No one else is doing this work. Thank you, for caring about people that a lot of people ignore. –WS, Philadelphia, PA

In a society where criminal records create dead ends, PLSE offers a way out- it gives people something to look forward to. –Moriah Mendicino, PLSE Equal Justice Works Fellow

Every week at our team meetings, we discuss all the amazing things different members of our team have done lately- which is always a LONG list! We want to start sharing those amazing things with you! This month, the spotlight is shining on Staff Attorney Emily Satifka. Emily, who joined us in January 2022, has been a rockstar from the start, but even more so over the last month, handling an exceptionally heavy PLSE court calendar with skill, ease, and a perpetual smile. Thank you Emily, for your energetic and zealous representation of our clients!