Here is our opinion, and our concerns on SB 1477
Attention Volunteers, Website Visitors, And All Who are Affected
By DA:
As you all have probably heard by now, a few days ago, Governor Perry did sign
into law Senate Bill 1477,
which offers some limited expunction relief for Texans.
The news of passage of SB 1477 is good news indeed, but....
Here are the facts: After 5 years for misdemeanors and 10 years for felony DA's have passed, that individual then becomes *ELIGIBLE* to go in front of a judge for an expunction hearing to make the determination if his/her record is allowed to become expunged. This represents a significant amount of time, effort, and money (to hire a lawyer in order to maximize your chances of success) in getting a final expunction. Here is the *REAL* kicker...even if a person does have the money for a lawyer and even if the judge DOES rule in your favor....here is the downside...
(1) Law enforcement agencies, school districts, and I believe church organizations will still have access to your records! That's right! Even though an expunction order has been signed by the judge...it is not a true expunction. The records will still be there, available for certain groups to see!
(2) Who is to say that, if an employer wants to know a person's criminal record, that such an employer can contact one of his buddies that he goes to church with, or one of his buddies that is a cop, or one of his buddies that works for the school district and "sneaks" a background check!!! See what I mean....that is the problem with the law. It is NOT true protection at all. It is better than nothing, which is what we had, but the true value in getting this law passed is that, for the very first time ever, the Government of the state of Texas, has *FINALLY* admitted that the horrible, lingering effects of deferred adjudication do represent a continuing problem to many, many Texans. This is significant for us because it gives us a victory/foundation with which to build upon by passing future legislation. What this means is that we must all be diligent and not stop with this. For if we "declared victory" on this issue and stopped pressing ahead for passing a bill that offers automatic, final, and *TRUE* expunction of criminal records, then we will be cheating ourselves.
Therefore, we are asking each of you to stop and think about this. Do any of
you, as individuals have any friends, family members, or acquaintances who are
attorneys and who might be willing to do some "pro bono"
(free service) legal services for our organization, TRDA? At this point, we
want to start putting together a legal team who can start pressing ahead in
court for us.
Another thing that we need to be doing right now is growing the size and scope of TRDA. The more people we bring into our cause, the more donations that we can collect and thus start taking legal action. Up until this point, we as an organization have never asked anyone for money, ever. It is only now, after the legislative session has ended, that we are considering accepting donations. I realize that many of you do not have the time or the inclination to contribute towards our efforts working as volunteers on a volunteer basis. We understand that. But also understand this. TRDA is the ONLY organization in the country that is dedicated to working in YOUR behalf to try to change the law so that you all can one day be free from the legal curse of DA. The sooner we put together a legal team to "get the ball rolling", the sooner we will all have true and universal criminal record expunction relief. Please support us in the future when we begin to ask for donations, at that point we will be a true non-profit organization and we will be equipped to handel donations.
Another thing that we need to be doing is holding regularly scheduled meetings in the geographic areas that you live in. The purpose of these meetings is this:
(1) To grow TRDA and promote our cause and ideals - which is to help people
(2) To offer non-legal related support to those who are suffering from DA and
need to find a solution to their immediate problem, such as unemployment, housing,
etc, etc..
(3) To brainstorm with each other and come up with ideas to help change the
current laws, and help elect officials who will be friendly to our cause.
(4) Camaraderie/friendship. One can never have too many friends.
So, if you are in the Houston area and are interested in attending a monthly meeting, then please e-mail Mike Wasson or Val Gonzalez at:
mlwasson@hotmail.com
val@houston.rr.com
Or, if you live in the Dallas area, please contact myself, Rob Sandifer at: robs@dallas.net
When contacting us, please give your name, e-mail address, and a phone number
that you can be reached at.
We will then give you meeting time/place details.
Let's continue to work together just as a big family would.....sharing, growing,
getting together ever so often,
and making new and lasting friendships! The passage of Senate Bill 1477 is a
good start for us! TRDA was instrumental in getting "out the word"
and urging Texans all over the state to contact the Governor's office as well
as all of the state representatives. If we continue to do this and also continue
to grow as an organization, then we can look forward to greater success at the
79th legislative session in 2005 or sooner, if we get the opportunity to take
this issue to a Federal court in Texas. I would also like for all of you to
continue to visit our website and post your thoughts, feelings, and ideas on
the "Discussion
Board" section of our website. For any of you who may not know about
the website, it is located at:
www.deferredadjudication.org
In closing, I would just like to thank all of you who supported our efforts in getting at least one expunction law relief bill passed through the congress and signed into law by the Governor. As you can see, our efforts did pay off. I look forward to getting to know all of you and working with you in the coming months. It is a pleasure to work with people who truly care and want to make a difference!
Warm Regards,
Rob Sandifer