The Contra Costa Reentry Project (CORE) assists the Contra Costa County Office of the Public Defender with its Clean Slate Unit, which works to help remove the barriers that a prior arrest or conviction can present to employment, housing, public benefits, and family reunification. CORE also assists with the Office’s Post Conviction Unit which assists incarcerated clients with re-sentencing, parole, and other types of post-conviction relief.
Students will work with attorneys and advocates in the Clean Slate and the Post-Conviction Units of the Contra Costa County Office of the Public Defender.
For Clean Slate Unit projects, students will assist with expungement, early termination of probation, and factual innocence relief. Students will have the opportunity to:
- Draft applications and petitions for clean slate relief
- Work directly with clients to gather required documentation and guide clients through the post-conviction relief process
- Attend Contra Costa Clean Slate Intake events and assist with screening clients for relief eligibility, drafting personal statements, and registering voters
- Observe clean slate hearings and visit the Contra Costa County Public Defender’s Office
- Support a campaign to help incarcerated clients register to vote
For Post-Conviction Unit projects, students will review parole hearing transcripts and help formulate plans for incarcerated clients to meet parole standards and re-entry goals. Students will have the opportunity to:
- Review parole transcripts and provide information to attorneys including:
- Next steps for clients who were denied parole, including getting them connected with necessary programming
- Recognizing patterns in parole denials and errors in parole hearings that could be raised with the DA
- Analyze various other documents to determine what type of post-conviction relief clients may be eligible for
- Review clients’ prison files to determine what programming they participated in and any disciplinary action they’ve been involved with
- Strategize with attorneys to develop reentry services for clients
- Potentially draft research memos on parole and post-conviction related legal issues
Supervision: Students in CORE provide legal services under the supervision of attorneys at the Contra Costa County Office of the Public Defender.
Time Commitment: Time commitment is roughly 25-30 hours per semester, variable with workflow (not including transportation to/from the office). No weekly commitments. Students will work on assignments independently and check in regularly with leaders and CCPD staff for support. There will be opportunities to visit the Contra Costa County Public Defender’s office on Fridays and a Clean Slate Intake Event per semester, which occurs on Saturdays (exact dates TBD).
For more information, please contact the student leaders at contracostareentry@law.berkeley.edu.