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Formerly incarcerated individuals will have the chance to learn how to clear up their criminal records and “put the past behind them” when Congressmember Barbara Lee and several East Bay officeholders and agencies host the third annual Clean Slate Summit this weekend. 

The event will be held Saturday 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at Berkeley High School, 2223 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

Citizens with criminal records who wish to have records cleared will be able to attend workshops to learn how that is done, as well as begin the process under the guidance of volunteer attorneys and service providers who will be available at the event for consultation.  

According to Margaret Richardson of the East Bay Community Law Center, no record purging will take place on Saturday. “That involves a process that includes going to a judge and getting a court order,” she said.  

Criminal records are considered one of the major impediments for formerly incarcerated individuals to obtain the employment needed to keep from committing criminal acts to support themselves. 

Along with Lee, co-sponsors of the event include Assemblymember Sandré Swanson, Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Gordon Baranco, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Trin Thompson, and representatives from the Alameda County Superior Court, Alameda County District Attorney's and Public Defender's Offices, All of Us Or None, and the East Bay Community Law Center.