UCLA Law CJP Resources for Formerly Incarcerated and Systems-Involved Applicants
UCLA Law School, Criminal Justice Program
Resources
Applying with a Criminal Record
Yale Law School
Can I still go to law school and become a lawyer if I have a criminal record?
Yes! In fact, many current law students and lawyers have asked this same question. Criminal records are not an automatic bar from anyone attending law school, and almost all states allow persons with records to apply to be an attorney.
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UNLOCKING THE BAR: Expanding Access to the Legal Profession for People with Criminal Records in California
Stanford Law School
This Report identifies and examines the barriers to joining the California State Bar for individuals with criminal records, and provides recommendations for expanding access for qualified applicants. Law school admissions offices and the California Committee of Bar Examiners function as the California State Bar’s successive gatekeepers, assessing, among other criteria, whether applicants possess the requisite “moral character and fitness” to be allowed entry into the ranks of California’s lawyers. Each takes into account an applicant’s earlier involvement with the criminal justice system when making the decision whether to admit or deny.
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RWU School of Law May 4 2023 Integrating Doctrine and Diversity
Roger Williams University’s YouTube channel @RWUEDU
Webinar by various Administrative Staff of Roger Williams University School of Law, discussing the overall importance of integrating system impacted persons into the legal profession.
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Why Should Formerly Incarcerated People be Allowed into Law School?
Formerly Incarcerated Law Student Advocacy Association’s YouTube Channel @filsaa1562
Law school is possible with a felony conviction. Even after spending years in prison, formerly incarcerated people on probation and parole get admitted into law schools and pass the Bar in several states.
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New York Character and Fitness Teach-In (February 27, 2021)
Unlock the Bar’s YouTube Channel, @unlockthebar1030
On the heels of the February Bar exam, Unlock the Bar, in conjunction with NYU, Columbia, and CUNY law schools, hosted a teach-in about the Character and Fitness (C&F) and our fight to explore what championing liberatory principles can look like in the legal profession.
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Unlock the Bar: Profile of the Profession, New York Lawyers in 2022
Unlock the Bar
The data within this report shows disparities in the representation of marginalized identities within the legal profession and gives us a sharper insight into how the profession’s structural features lay the groundwork for a legal system that prevents the liberation of marginalized communities.
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Transcending the Stigma of a Criminal Record: A Proposal to Reform State Bar Character and Fitness Evaluations
Yale Law School
This Essay illustrates the harmful effects of collateral consequences through the lens of my personal journey from prison to bar admission. The journey has been riddled with almost-overwhelming barriers as I have fought to overcome the stigma of my criminal record. However, the support of countless friends and mentors allowed me to overcome these barriers—and has motivated me to work to ease the process for others. Against the backdrop of my personal experience, this Essay proposes a solution to make bar admission more accessible for others with a criminal record: the creation of a conditional approval process.
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Application for Admission to Practice as an Attorney and Counselor-at-Law in the State of New York
New York State Board of Law Examiners
Character and Fitness Application
New York State Board of Law Examiners
An example of an admissions application to a state bar. Details the character and fitness questions asked in New York State.
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St. Francis College, Justice Initiative, formerly incarcerated
St. Francis College
The Justice Initiative provides extensive academic, scholarship and mentoring support to formerly incarcerated men and women within a rigorous college program. St. Francis College’s mission is helping underserved and first-generation students earn a degree, the Justice Initiative provides extensive academic, scholarship and mentoring support to formerly incarcerated men and women within a rigorous college program.
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E3MC: Manhattan College’s Engaging, Educating, Empowering Means Change Program
Manhattan College
The E3MC Program is a multi-partner initiative that offers free college level courses to those incarcerated and formerly incarcerated in New York City.
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Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison
Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison
Non-profit in the US run by formerly incarcerated individuals to provide college degree-granting programs inside prisons and education support to people reentering.
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Mapping the Landscape of Higher Education in New York State Prison
The Prisoner Reentry Institute (PRI) at John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Mapping the Landscape of Higher Education in New York State Prisons, which is the first of its kind in examining both the history and scope of college-in-prison programs across the state. The report describes the existing programs and incorporates the perspectives of DOCCS (Department of Corrections and Community Supervision) officials, college administrators, and incarcerated students.
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Columbia University- Justice In Education Scholars Program
Columbia University, Center for Justice
The Justice-in-Education Scholars Program at Columbia University provides educational opportunities to formerly incarcerated individuals.
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FILSAA: Law School is Possible Videos
Formerly Incarcerated law Students Advocacy Association (FILSAA)