The expungement team is helping ex-prisoners erase their records
The work has just begun. Shayla McElroy of Project Clean Slate estimates that 168,000 Detroiters with certain misdemeanors and felonies are eligible.
DETROIT (FOX 2) – Nicholas Dubose enjoyed the remaining summer sun at Rouge Park on Detroit’s west side on Monday. The clouds that followed Dubose for 20 years are gone, he said. That’s because Dubose is getting a second chance.
Earlier this year, he says he had two felony convictions for low-level drug offenses expunged.
“It’s like a burden has been lifted,” Dubose said.
Beliefs shaped his life – especially as the owner of a trucking business.
“I knew if I was going to be an owner and operator, I wouldn’t have to ask anybody for a job, and that comes from a mindset of being turned down so much,” he said. “Now my company is in a position to do international business – I couldn’t go to Canada before.”
Dubose is one of 2,400 who have received help from the city of Detroit’s Project Clean Slate program. Mayor Mike Duggan started it in 2017.
This year alone, the free program has expunged the criminal records of 1,000 Detroiters.
“Right now the city of Detroit has a team of attorneys and paralegals working specifically on settlement to help Detroiters have access to anything that can help them in life,” said Shayla McElroy.
The work has just begun. McElroy, of Project Clean Slate, estimates that 168,000 Detroiters with certain misdemeanors and felonies are eligible.
“We’ve also found that people who are given a settlement, they see a 23% increase in salary after the settlement,” she said. “In addition they also have the opportunity to live in better housing options.”
This week is National Atonement Week. Now the team at Project Clean Slate is raising awareness.
“Everybody deserves that moment to redeem themselves, and they shouldn’t be pigeonholed into a moment in time where they made a mistake,” McElroy said.
Their goal is to help every eligible Detroiter like Dubose clear their record and remove the clouds that come from a criminal conviction.
“We just had a family go to Canada about a month and a half ago,” Dubose said. “Without Project Clean Slate, that doesn’t happen.”
For more information on Project Clean Slate GO HERE for the link.
