For more than one-third of a Americans, there is a record of their interaction with the criminal legal system. These records and the bureaucracy that controls them help make up a powerful paper prison that stops millions from ever accessing a meaningful second chance. Today, Hunter spoke with Professor Colleen Chien and Alyssa Aguilar about the Paper Prison Initiative to understand the problem. In some cases, people simply do not know how to access their second chance. In others, there are intentionally complicated barriers designed to get as many people as possible not to access their second chance. Whatever the reason may be, Colleen and Alyssa are dedicated to dismantling the impacts of these invisible but powerful Paper Prisons.

Guest:

Colleen Chien, Professor of Law, University of Santa Clara Law School, Founder, Paper Prison Initiative

Alyssa Aguilar, Juris Doctor Candidate 2023, University of Santa Clara Law School

Resources:

Professor Colleen Chien Faculty Page

https://law.scu.edu/faculty/profile/chien-colleen/

Paper Prison Initiative

https://paperprisons.org/

Follow Paper Prisons Project on Twitter

https://twitter.com/paperprisons?lang=en

Follow Alyssa on Twitter

https://twitter.com/AlyssaLAguilar

Follow Colleen on Twitter

https://twitter.com/colleen_chien

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

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