SANTA CRUZ >> Proposition 47 could help more than 10,000 former criminals in Santa Cruz County clear their court records and get better employment and educational opportunities, and leaders from the county, the Public Defender’s Office and service providers have sponsored a Jan. 28 event to guide them.
Proposition 47 was a state ballot initiative in 2014 that reduced penalties for some drug, gun and property crimes. It also gave former offenders the ability to reduce some nonviolent felony convictions such as drug possession to misdemeanors in their court records.
Such changes can help former offenders because they can been barred from jobs and higher education with a felony record. There are also other ways to expunge convictions from a court record, yet many people don’t know that such services are available, said Cassie Licker, an attorney with the Santa Cruz County Public Defender’s Office.
“I think record clearance in general is really transformative for people. It opens doors to employment and housing, it’s really a great thing,” Licker said Wednesday.
One of her clients, 35-year-old Jesus Catarino of Capitola, was addicted to drugs in his 20s but has been sober for seven years. He had a felony drug possession conviction in 2004, but through Proposition 47, it was reduced to a misdemeanor and later dismissed, according to court records.
Although Catarino still has other convictions related to drugs on his record, he said Wednesday that clearing his record has helped him take steps toward a degree in respiratory therapy at Skyline College in San Bruno because the program requires a background check. Catarino spends most of his time caring for his 8-year-old daughter, who has spinal muscular atrophy and lives on a ventilator.
“If I didn’t get sober and get this court stuff done, I wouldn’t be able to care for her,” Catarino said.
A 2014 study by San Jose State’s Record Clearance Project also found that people who have had old offenses expunged have increased their incomes and reduced their reliance on government assistance.
County spokesman Jason Hoppin said up to 11,000 Santa Cruz County residents could benefit from record clearance through Proposition 47. The law requires people to make changes before November 2017, he said.
Opponents of Proposition 47 have objected to other parts of the law, such as the reduction of crimes such as possession of a stolen gun and possession of a date rape drug from felonies to misdemeanors. Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel also recently said that overall crime in the city has risen 8 percent in the first nine months of 2015 compared with the first nine months of 2014, although it’s not clear if the primary cause was Proposition 47.
On Jan. 28, Santa Cruz County leaders will join representatives of the United Way of Santa Cruz County, Watsonville Law Center, Communities Organizing for Relational Power in Action and the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County for a public resource fair at Temple Beth El in Aptos.
The event will explain services and include information from service providers. It takes place from 3-7 p.m. at the temple at 3055 Porter Gulch Road.
Proposition 47 Summit
What: Leaders from Santa Cruz County, the Public Defender’s Office, United Way of Santa Cruz County and other groups will participate in a public resource fair to explain services and options for criminal offenders who could benefit from Proposition 47. Light refreshments and free child care will be available.
When: 3-7 p.m. Jan. 28.
Where: Temple Beth El, 3055 Porter Gulch Road, Aptos.
Cost: Free.
Information: www.prop47scc.org.
Source: Santa Cruz County
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Jesus Catarino’s name.
