Newsletter Vol 5 No 9

September 2023

The last time the statewide Pardon Project Steering Committee issued a Call to Action, 811 people from 49 of PA’s 67 counties sent 1731 letters to 218 Senators and Representatives. We urged them to support more funding for the Board of Pardons, and they did: this month, the BOP’s Secretary is reviewing resumes for four new staff positions! Thank you!

This time, the Call to Action is to urge Governor Josh Shapiro to sign the pardons that have been sitting on his desk FOR MONTHS. 96 people (and their families) have been waiting, hoping and praying since May and another 127 since June. To get to the Gov’s desk, they had to go through a long, thorough investigation that took over two years and two different votes by the Board of Pardons. Gov. Shapiro knows this well: he served on the BOP for SIX YEARS.

There’s no doubt that our Governor is doing big things to move our state forward – but he should never forget about individuals who clearly merit his attention. There is no doubt these 223 Pennsylvanians, and those o who will be recommended to him in pardon hearings this November and January, have turned their lives around, and there is no good reason they should have to keep waiting for a second chance. Please click here to sign our letter urging our Governor to make signing pardons a priority.

Because social justice requires social action. Thank you.

We start this newsletter off with two QR codes.

The first is to the new website www.PardonsNow.org, which is the website Shuja Moore has created for his documentary film Pardon Me to go with the 15-month “More Pardons, Faster!” Impact Campaign he and the Pardon Project Steering Committee are launching next week.

The second takes you to a website that lists six different ways YOU can help, including the current letter-writing campaign to Gov. Shapiro (the Call to Action, above). Just don’t sit there reading this! Sit there and SCAN something! 

PLSE attorney, Sarah Coyle, successfully argued a motion to vacate an illegal restitution sentence. Our client was convicted in 2001 of theft crimes against a rental car company where they were employed. The client was sentenced to pay $90,000 in restitution to their corporate employer. Since that sentence was handed down, our client has completed a master's degree in social work and done some incredible community service all while caring for a special needs child. Despite impressive education and experience, this client was delayed in getting licensed as a social worker due to this criminal record. The next barrier for this client is getting in front of the Board of Pardons to have this conviction removed, but the huge restitution sentence would have prevented that. PLSE's managing attorney used case law stating that a corporate entity could not have been a "victim" under the sentencing code at the time of sentencing. This argument was successful and the client has been relieved of almost $90,000 in totally unpayable court debt. The client will now be able to continue pursuing a noble career in public service and caring for a large and loving family without this debt hanging over them. The path to pardon is now cleared for this client as well. 

PLSE Attorney, Emily Satifka was able to win an expungement on behalf of an older client this week. This client was convicted of a very serious crime when he was 17 years old, in the late 1960s. Hearing this client speak about the racism he experienced so many years ago is heartbreaking. As a young black teenager, this client was abused by the police and the system and forced to confess to a crime that would follow him throughout his life. Now, this client is finally free from this record and can begin to truly heal. 

The Board of Pardons has scheduled two full sets of pardon hearings over the next four months: November 6, 8 and 9 and January 10, 11 and 12. (Commutation hearings will be on different days.) Put these dates on your calendars now and plan to watch for at least 30 mins.

If you are a Pardon Coach, we have added materials to the Pardon Coach Toolkit that will help you and your client prepare. (Coaches: if you’ve forgotten the passcode, write probono@plsephilly.org). 

Coaches AND applicants are invited to a one-hour “Town Hall” that is being hosted by the Pardon Project Steering Committee on Preparing For YOUR Pardon Hearing, November 1 at 6pm via Zoom. Five people who have recently gone through the process (3 of whom are STILL waiting for their pardons — see Call to Action, above!) will offer their insights and tips, as will Brandon Flood, the BOP’s former Secretary. Put it on your calendars NOW! 

It’s been three years in the making. Susan Sherman and the Independence Foundation were the first (outside PLSE) to support its creation; BC/PS of Berks County was the first to screen its rough cut; Ken and Andrea Frazier were the first to support its Impact Campaign (which kicks off next week); and, on September 13, the ACLU of Pennsylvania was the first to hold a screening and fundraiser for Pardon Me, www.PardonsNOW.org. Shuja Moore’s documentary short film on pardons in Pennsylvania. What an incredible, emotional night it was. 

The venue – the World Café Live – was perfect. The planning and execution by Sarah D. Johnson,| Director of Philanthropy, and Diona Akens, Donor Relations Officer was deep, thorough, and flawless. The event was sold out. The movie made us cry. The panel discussion afterward included the two people whose pardon stories were followed in the film – Antoinette (Tonie) Griffin and Evan Figueroa-Vargas and ACLU staff attorney Solomon Worlds. The evening was nothing less than a string of highlights. Among the 150 in attendance were:

• Shuja’s parents, Cynthia and Calvin, “who always stuck by me and never gave up on me”
• The Hon. Kathryn Streeter Lewis (Ret.), the Judge who had convicted Shuja on September 16, 2004, almost exactly 19 years ago, gave him a reduced sentence in part because she had faith in him (photo above)
• Abdul Quadir, Shuja’s “walkie” from SCI-Mahanoy, who was his “older bro, mentor and confidant,” who spoke about the pride that he and others in the prison have in Shuja, 
• Ronnie Polaneczky, the Daily News Columnist who published “Con from a Con?” on July 9, 2014, questioned the sincerity of the letter Shuja had written from prison apologizing for what he had done. 

It was at the screening that Tonie Griffin learned for the first that the Governor had finally signed her pardon last month, 16 months after the Board of Pardons had recommended it! (See Call to Action, above!!!)

Taking an Uber back to his hotel, the film’s Oregon-based cinematographer Sean Grasso got to talking with his driver, Jamil. He “asked me where I was coming from and I told him about the screening. He proceeded to tell me about his criminal record and how he’s being held back from becoming a chef from a crime he got into 10 years ago. I told him about the film, the website and PLSE and he seemed really excited to check it out and apply. Truly speaks to why we need more pardons and further supports my belief in this film!”

The ACLU event was an amazing kick-off to a very aggressive “Pardons for the People” fall screenings tour that kicks off next week, as he goes to screenings across the state hosted by many different Pardon Projects. Shuja expects to show the film extensively in this region starting in January. 

Click Here if your organization would like to host a screening.

Click Here if you would like to make a contribution to the Pardon Me Impact Campaign.

At the invitation of the Kennedy Summer School in New Ross Ireland, Executive Director Renee Chenault Fattah participated in a panel discussion on voting and race and democracy.

For more than a decade the Kennedy Summer School, located in JFK ancestral home of New Ross has hosted a global discussion of politics, human rights, law and diplomacy.

The panels and speakers during the three day event also reflected on JKF’s legacy of leadership, democracy and enduring Ireland-US friendship and partnership.

Changing the world is hard enough, right? But just imagine yourself being out on parole, having to get the permission of your parole officer before you can leave the area. Grateful to have a job as a reentry specialist but passionate about filmmaking and wanting to help your own community find its own voice and tell its own story, you quit your paying job to devote yourself to your craft full-time, living off savings and charitable contributions. So really… change the world?!?! C’mon, man!

If you read the credits at the end of Pardon Me, you may miss maybe the most important one – a one-liner: Bonnie Benjamin-Phariss.

If you Google her, you’ll learn that she is “an award-winning production executive with a proven track record of leveraging storytelling and powerful alliances to engage, change opinions and lead people to action, Bonnie has worked with the film industry’s greatest brands and creative leaders.” According to the Huffington Post, “Before her seven years with Disney, Benjamin-Phariss worked as an independent on productions in San Francisco and New York. She served as director of research and development for public affairs programming for WNET in New York, working on productions including Mandela: Free at Last, Intifada: The Palestinians and Israel, and public affairs local programming. Benjamin-Phariss was also a science reporter for the nine-part series, The Mind, and a science researcher for the eight-part PBS series, The Brain.” Wow, right?

Bonnie started volunteering to help Shuja back in June. Back then, she was using words and concepts we didn’t even understand. She was incredibly patient, teaching us, doing drafts, and critiquing ours. She was instrumental in creating the 15-month “Impact Campaign” that we are now using to raise awareness, obtain screenings, and inspire grants and contributions. Why did she do it? “Because you have made a wonderful film and it can make an incredible difference.” 

We really have NO idea what we’d be doing without her. So to Bonnie: Thank you! You’ve brought “change the world” clearly within our vision, and maybe even within our reach.

Congratulations to PLSE Board Member Rev. Dr. Michelle Simmons for receiving the Malik Aziz Championship Award for Human Excellence. Also honored with the Award was Sydia Bagley, who is featured in an episode of Walkies by Shuja Moore.

At 4:30pm on September 17, 2018, the Honorable Michael J. Stack, Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania, opened the first CLE ever held on Pardons in Pennsylvania. It was hosted by the Louis D. Brandeis Law Society, co-sponsored by PLSE and the PA Board of Pardons, held at Blank Rome, and convened thanks to the leadership of long-time pro bono advocate the Honorable Anne E. Lazarus, Judge of Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Presenting the 2-hour program were the Honorable John P. Williams, MD, Member of the BOP; Steven Burke, Secretary of the BOP; Pam Brightbill, who is today the Secretary’s chief Administrative Assistant; Lancaster Attorney Mark Walmer; and several of us from PLSE including one of our founders, Ryan Hancock.

At the end of the program, PLSE assigned its first 10 Pardon Clients to what would later be called Pardon Coaches, and Brandeis became the first bar association in the state to offer pro bono assistance with pardons.

Back then, the pardon application was 9 pages long with 14 pages of VERY dense instructions – and 86% of all clemency applications ended in failure. Today, the application form is free, short, and accessible; the hearings are held via Zoom; there are Pardon Projects helping low-income clients in 15 counties; the number of pardon applications has surged from just over 400 to over 2,000 per year; and the Board is recommending over 80% of the applicants whose cases they hear.

WOW! What a change!!! THANK YOU to the Board of Pardons and its staff (especially Pam Brightbill for persevering!); to Judge Anne Lazarus, for giving us the credibility we needed to get started; to Jennifer Coatsworth (one of our earliest supporters, STILL going strong); and to the Brandeis Law Society for getting our ball starting to roll. 

[Wilkes-Barre, PA. September 22nd, 2023] The PA Pardon Project has done it again! A new pardon project has begun in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Say hello to the Pardon Project of Luzerne County! This pardon project is the result of a partnership between the county’s Public Defender office and Wilkes University. The Luzerne County Public Defender’s office recognizes a need for pardons in their area, and a lack of capacity to provide this service. Wilkes University Counsel, attorney Elizabeth Leo recognizes both the community’s need for pardons and her students’ want for legal experience, as the first pardon coaches will be a trained cohort of Wilkes students.

We tabled our first event on September 12th, at a Career Link career day event. The event was tabled by a mix of potential employers and community resources. We were glad to be added to the list of community resources. Our table was very…underdressed for the event as we didn’t have much to offer: just a blue tablecloth, a half-dead laptop, and a handful of my PLSE business cards. We didn’t set our expectations very high as we had no publicity for our group. We didn’t even have a website! But the turnout was greater than we imagined, with about 15 participants at the event approaching us for information. It is clear that Luzerne, like all of Pennsylvania, needs pardons. 

This first tabling event has inspired our vision for our pardon project, where we work with clients on their applications and support them along the way as they continue to better themselves. Where we help them to advocate for themselves in different areas of their lives. This event may seem like a small step, but it is the first of many steps toward more just outcomes for the people of Luzerne County. 

And now we have a website! www.PardonMePA.org/Luzerne

–Randee Wismer, Pardon Project Coordinator

We lost two very special people from our community this past month, so we wanted to end this newsletter by expressing our condolences for the passing of:

JoAnne Epps – a stalwart of the Philadelphia legal community for decades, who – rising from a professor of law, to Dean, to Provost, to President of Temple University – always kept service to others at the top of her “must do” list, serving hundreds and inspiring thousands by her words and deeds.

Cheryl Yvonne Cannon – mother of Ernest Garrett, President of AFSCME District Council 33, whose lived experience in the Pennsylvania criminal justice system and personal application for a pardon has inspired him to bring that hope for a second chance to all of his members.

May their memory be eternal.

Event Description: Join us for “An Evening of Justice, Food and Art” on November 16, 2023 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at The Lucy by Cescaphe. This first of its kind fundraiser for PLSE is a chance to raise much needed funds for our work, and celebrate well known and upcoming artists, where passion and purpose unite to drive positive change in our community. World-renowned artist, Valentino Dixon, will join us for this special evening and auctioning off one of his incredible works of art, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting PLSE. Spend the evening with us supporting local artists from Mural Arts Philadelphia and critical social justice work in our community.

EventBrite Link: bit.ly/JFA-PLSE

It’s always nice to get feedback from our readers and supporters. Here are a few comments we’re received over the past month:

“Whatever I can do to help the next person, I’m all for it.” - Hakeem Canada, pardon client, in authorizing the use of his pardon application as an example for others.

“Thanks even more (no pun intended) for everything you are doing to make this world a better place!”  - Prominent Philadelphia attorney Arthur Kaplan to Shuja Moore after the screening, confirming his contribution to the Impact Campaign

“Thank you for reconnecting us. I am blessed to witness his talent, promise and commitment to helping others.” - Hon. Kathryn Streeter Lewis (Ret.) referring to her meeting with Shuja Moore at the screening on September 13. It was Judge Lewis who sentenced Shuja to prison on September 14, 2006, almost exactly 17 years earlier, and had not seen him since. 

“Put simply, pardons release potential, and when people thrive, communities thrive, and everyone benefits.” ~ Hon. Joanna McClinton, Speaker, Pennsylvania House of Representatives

“This film shows where criminal justice, philanthropy, governments of all levels, and individuals with caring hearts can come together in common purpose to help end inter-generational poverty.” ~ Bill Golderer, President and CEO, United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey

“It sure was a magical evening. I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of it, from the work in the trenches to the moments like last night. All of it. I will surely remember it for the rest of my life.” ~ Hunter Bartlett, Cinematographer/Editor, Pardon Me