By Judge Michelle Rick, 29th Circuit Court (Clinton and Gratiot Counties)
I have been a circuit court judge since 2007 and an
adjunct law professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law since
2015. I teach a class called “Access to
Justice,” where students learn about the civil and criminal justice gap, and
innovations that are used to lessen the gap. In December 2018, I combined my two roles to
create a traveling expungement clinic, which came to be named Project Access
[see related article about Michigan Legal Help’s role]. Project
Access was designed to be a one-stop shop where law students, volunteer
lawyers, courts and their staff, law enforcement, and other community
volunteers would join together to bring civil justice relief to six rural counties
in central and Mid-Michigan.
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| Judge Rick speaking during the Project Access kickoff news conference alongside Chief Justice Bridget McCormack and Detroit Mercy Law Dean Phyllis Crocker |
Detroit Mercy Law School obtained a grant from the
Michigan State Bar Foundation to fund Project Access. The grant was used to enable eight law
students, two full-time Detroit Mercy Law faculty, and me to travel over 10 days
to six counties in central and northern Michigan. Grant
proceeds were also expended to cover expungement clinic costs such as ICHAT
fees, paper, supplies, postage, and other miscellaneous expenses. Our group’s journey began on July 25 at the
Hall of Justice with a media kick-off, and we ended on August 2 in Gaylord. We caravanned to six counties (Gratiot,
Wexford, Missaukee, Crawford, Kalkaska, and Otsego), where we convened five
expungement clinics.
Project Access court partners included Judge Audrey
Van Alst (28th Circuit), Judge Colin Hunter (46th Circuit), and me (29th
Circuit); our respective court staff; local clerks; county sheriffs; pro bono
lawyers; and many other court and community volunteers. The 28th Circuit (Wexford and Missaukee
counties) held a one-day combined expungement clinic at the DHHS offices in
Cadillac. The remaining clinics were
held in circuit courtrooms in Ithaca, Grayling, Kalkaska, and Gaylord. At each location, students and volunteer lawyers
set up stations to screen applicants, run criminal histories, complete
expungement applications, obtain hearing dates, copy and assemble filings, and
then debrief applicants on what to expect when they returned for their
expungement hearing.
As noted in the related article, the Michigan Legal
Help expungement tool was absolutely critical to support our efforts. Local county clerks waived fees for certified
copies of convictions. Local law
enforcement agencies waived costs for fingerprinting litigants. IT staff were on standby to trouble shoot. Court and county employees served as notaries
and guides; others donated lunch for the volunteers involved. Project Access was also generously supported and
promoted by Chief Justice Bridget McCormack, Court of Appeals Judges Chris
Murray and Mike Riordan, SCAO Region IV Administrator Jerome Kole, and the Office
of Public Information (Court Relations Program Coordinator Lynn Seaks, in
particular). We couldn’t have done it
without them!
Suffice it to say, before Project Access, I had little
appreciation for the complexities associated with obtaining an expungement. There are many hoops to jump through. It is laborious. For those who hire counsel, it can also be
very expensive. On March 16, 2019,
researchers J.J. Prescott and Sonya Starr from the University of Michigan Law
School issued a report entitled “Expungement of Criminal Convictions: An Empirical
Study”.[1] The report is based exclusively on
expungements in Michigan. One noteworthy
finding was that only 6.5 percent of the persons eligible for an expungement
seek it within 5 years of eligibility. This
likely explains why expungement hearings appear infrequently on my docket. The report analyzed how persons who obtain expungements
see an increase in wages, and that people who obtain expungements have a low
likelihood of recidivism. We know as
judges that people with criminal convictions face difficulties obtaining
employment, finding and maintaining suitable housing, and qualifying for public
benefits, including housing, food assistance, and student loans. Expungements offer opportunities to those who
have paid their debt to society and otherwise atoned for their past wrongs.
Project Access is proof that large-scale, multi-county
collaboration with a variety of stakeholders can achieve positive results. Everyone connected with Project Access worked with
the common goal of helping low-income, rural Michiganders, many of whom find
themselves in the civil justice gap. The
experience was remarkable. I will admit,
at times during the planning stage of Project Access I felt uncertain. I worried this was too massive an undertaking
to be successful. I am glad I ignored
those thoughts. Project Access was a
success story in collaboration for all involved. I would rate it as one of the best over my
entire legal career.