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    The Tennessee TribuneThe Tennessee Tribune
    Nashville

    Expungement Event Finds Success

    Clint ConfehrBy Clint ConfehrMarch 1, 2018Updated:March 4, 2018No Comments4 Mins Read
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    During a Justice For All event, Deputy Clerk Lillian Machado, left, explains to an applicant how the expungement process works. Photos by Reggie Clay
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    By Clint Confehr

    NASHVILLE, TN — Community advocates are reporting many voter registrations and applications for expungement of criminal records because of their events at the Limelight Events Center.

    “The vast majority of those who apply are approved,” Criminal Court Clerk Howard Gentry said while volunteers from his office reviewed expungement applicants’ records during an event held by Justice For All.

    Joyce Page, right, a volunteer at the Justice For All program in the Limelight Events Center,
    confers with another volunteer, as a young woman fills out a voter registration form.

    Expungement includes: a court finding that someone convicted of a crime has paid their debt to society; and an order for erasure of their record with restoration of citizen rights such as voting.

    With a secure internet connection, Gentry’s staff accessed Criminal Justice Information System computer records “to see what can be expunged,” Deputy Clerk Lillian Machado said while a young mother held her baby at a table for computers, printers, papers and signatures. Envelopes were provided for applicants to write names and addresses so expungement papers could be mailed to them.

    Gentry’s office processes applications, forwards them to the District Attorney who can present them to a judge. If approved, self-addressed envelopes are stamped and carry expungements to applicants who may register to vote. It also lets them tell prospective employers there’s no court record of conviction.

     

    Limelight Events Center proprietor Dennis D. “DJ” Jones Sr. watches as NAACP Nashville Branch Vice President Sheryl Huff flips through voter registration applications filled out by scores of people during the Feb. 24 Justice For All program at the Limelight on Woodland Avenue. Photo by Clint Confehr

    Community organizer Marilyn Brown, the contact person for Justice For All on Feb. 24, announced “350 expungements” were processed that Saturday in the Limelight Events Center, 201 Woodland Ave. Nearly 200 applications were processed during a similar event on Dec. 18, Brown said.

    Limelight Events Center proprietor Dennis D. “DJ” Jones Sr. provided his venue to Justice For All. That morning, Rep. Brenda Gilmore gave Jones a state House proclamation recognizing him as a civic leader and respected businessman.

    “We had 74 newly registered voters today,” NAACP Nashville Branch Vice President Sheryl Huff said. “Close to 400-500 came through today.” Of 350 applications processed for expungement 62 were filed by people who were to “follow up on Monday” Feb. 26 to see what else could be done, Huff said.

    A reported 350 people completed applications on Feb. 24 to have court records expunged to regain their citizenship rights to vote. The Justice For All program was held at the Limelight on Woodland Avenue. Photo by Reggie Clay

    Those attending could get employment opportunities because: Trojan Labor’s Spence Lane office had a representative present; and the state Labor Department’s Mobile American Job Center van was manned in Limelight’s parking lot.

    “I’m praying they will do this one,” said Hazel Holmes, one of many parents and others attending with relatives seeking expungement.

    Charles Henderson, 49, complained he got a raw deal from street police and former Nashville

    NAACP Nashville Branch Vice President Sheryl Huff, left, stands with Limelight Events Center proprietor Dennis D. “DJ” Jones Sr., holding a state proclamation declaring him a pillar of society, as Justice For All organizer Marilyn Brown, right, looks on. Photo by Reggie Clay

    Judge Casey Moreland who faces federal charges alleging he tried to bribe someone with judicial favors. Henderson says he was stopped on Jefferson Street for a broken tail light in 2011 when an implied consent charge was dropped. The traffic stop included several injustices, he said. As Gentry arrived at the Limelight, he was asked if he could help Henderson. Gentry listened and later said, “His case is complicated” and he’s to visit the Criminal Court Clerk’s Office for a detailed conversation.

    Michael Hyde, 36, sought expungement, noting felons can’t own a gun. “If a robber comes in,” he asked, “what are you going to do, call 911? That’s what the judge says; ‘Use your empathy skills.’ Put yourself in my shoes. What would you do?”

    Antonio Henderson, 26, attended “to get expungement … and … better opportunities.” Two years in jail before pleading guilty, Henderson was sentenced to six years probation and time served for aggravated burglary.

    Jimmy West, 38, and Keyara Fisher, 27, said they got good information and seemed satisfied.

    Lauded for the program, Justice For All volunteers said more help’s needed for an April program.

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    Clint Confehr

    Clint Confehr — an American journalist since 1972 — first wrote for The Tennessee Tribune in 1999. His news writing and photography in South Central Tennessee and the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area began in the summer of 1980. Clint's covered news in several Southern states at newspapers, radio stations and one TV station. Married since 1982, he's a grandfather and is semi-retired from daily news work.

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