Expungement clinic provides free service for community, opportunity for CSUB students
Fatima Rodriguez, a Cal State Bakersfield alumna, is eager to work as a volunteer attorney next week during a pop-up expungement clinic that’s part of the CSUB Pre-Law Program.
Rodriguez has seen how the pre-law program has dramatically changed since she was at CSUB from 2013-17 after she had graduated from Foothill High.
Rodriguez believes that she and other volunteer attorneys can make a difference in the community while also helping students.
“It’s important because it’s one of the ways that local attorneys can volunteer and give back to our community,” Rodriguez said of the clinic from 1 to 5 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Kern County Administrative Building. “There are a lot of individuals out there who can’t get jobs or can’t get housing due to their criminal history. There are a lot of new laws that have been recently passed that make people eligible to get their cases expunged. There’s a lack of information out there for the public that they can be benefiting from.”
An expungement of a misdemeanor or criminal conviction does not mean the conviction is wiped, sealed or destroyed. Rather, the conviction is dismissed, which can help in matters of employment background checks, housing and other areas.
Representatives from the Kern County Probation Department will also be on hand at the expungement clinic to help assess eligibility of clients.
Jeanine Kraybill, a CSUB political science associate professor and the prelaw program director, is seeking more volunteer attorneys and she wants to get the word out about the expungement clinic so that the community knows about a needed, free service.
A little more than a year ago, Kraybill set up the CSUB Legal Information & Support Clinic to help CSUB pre-law students attain hands-on experience.
Kraybill also saw a need for the clinic because Kern County “is a legal desert.”
“It’s an opportunity for our students to learn but also to really meet our community’s need for legal services,” Kraybill said. “We are trying to meet people where they are and provide legal services. Many of them don’t even know how to navigate the expungement process.”
The expungement clinic is also necessary for those who can’t afford legal services.
Kraybill and Rodriguez are excited to help provide CSUB students with internship opportunities such as the ones found with the expungement clinic and the CSUB Legal Information & Support Clinic.
The students, who recently received training in the expungement process, will work alongside volunteer attorneys.
“To be able to have clinical experience as an undergrad is really rare because you usually do not get that until your second year of law school,” Kraybill said. “This also shows the growth of our pre-law program and our partnerships with the legal community.”
Kraybill is proud of CSUB’s “very robust program.”
In addition to the clinic, the students also have a court observer program through the Kern County Superior Court that takes place each spring. The program is a residency that includes observation of trials and gaining mentorship from a judge. The CSUB pre-law program also hosts networking events with the legal community.
“We have such dedicated attorneys in our community that will partner up with us as an educational provider,” Kraybill said. “Our dream is to help our community and homegrow the next generation of attorneys in Kern County.”