December 12, 2023
Students help those with criminal records gain clean slates
By Caitlin Hayes
As part of the Pro Bono Legal Reentry Assistance program, Cornell Law School student Zaria Goicochea (left) and Jason Hoge (right), attorney from Legal Assistance of Western New York, work with a client at an Expungement Clinic at the Tompkins County Public Library on Oct. 23.
A collaboration between Legal Assistance of Western New York (LawNY) and Cornell Law School, the Pro Bono Reentry Legal Assistance program aims to fill a gap in legal services in upstate New York for the millions of residents who can benefit from reviewing and correcting or sealing their arrest or criminal records. More than 40 Cornell Law School students and undergraduates have helped clients – disproportionately people of color – who struggle to find employment, to gain professional licensure, to find housing, even to keep custody of their children because of records that are nonviolent, decades old or riddled with errors. The Einhorn Center has supported the program with an Engaged Opportunity Grant.