Please take a few minutes today to submit a letter of support for Senate Bill 504 by Tues 4/14 at 5pm on your organization’s letterhead. A sample letter of support is included directly below this message. You can either fax your letter in to the Senate Public Safety Committee (916) 445-4688or e-mail it to kim@youth4justice.org and we’ll deliver it.
This bill would make it free to seal juvenile records in California, so that young people will be Starting Over Strong when they turn 18 and apply for jobs, school, housing and other opportunities. SB 504 is co-sponsored by Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, Youth Justice Coalition, East Bay Community Law Center and the California Public Defenders Association.
SB 504 has its first hearing in Senate Public Safety on Tuesday 4/21 at 9:30am, and we’d appreciate your in-person support if you can come to Sacramento: State Capitol room 4203.
Thank you!!
————————————————————————————————–Sample Letter of Support
April 14, 2015
Senator Loni Hancock
Chair, Senate Public Safety Committee
Sacramento, CA 95814
Via Fax: (916) 445-4688
RE: SUPPORT – SB 504 “STARTING OVER STRONG” (LARA)
Dear Senator Hancock,
The (name your organization) is writing this letter in full support of Senate Bill 504. This bill improves economic outcomes for California’s youth and, in so doing, protects public safety by eliminating an unnecessary barrier to reentry for youth who are eligible for and seeking the juvenile record sealing remedy.
Add a paragraph about your organization here.
Current law allows counties to charge young people up to $150 for sealing their juvenile record; a prohibitively expensive cost for California’s poor youth. An inability to access the juvenile record remedy can result in an inability to access stable employment and housing.
SB 504 makes record-sealing more affordable for one of California’s most vulnerable populations—its youth. This fee, as currently imposed, does not generate substantial revenue, and, even if it did, we should use this opportunity to invest in and support our youth instead of saddling them with additional financial burden. By eliminating the fee for record sealing for youth under age twenty-six, SB 504 will increase public safety and reduce recidivism.
SB 504 is a small change that will positively impact public safety and economic opportunity for California youth in big ways. For these reasons, we are urging that the California State Legislature pass SB 504.
Sincerely,
Add your signature and title.
CC: Senator Ricardo Lara, ℅ shamoiya.washington@sen.ca.gov
