Proclaim the week of September 19-26, 2021 to be National Expungement Week
Whereas, National Expungement Works (N.E.W.) is a movement to emancipate justice-impacted individuals exploited by systemic inequality through record clearing/sealing and access to services; and
Whereas, people with an arrest or conviction on their record face 48,000 legal and socioeconomic barriers restricting access to the most basic of human rights, including education, housing, voting, employment, and governmental services, among many others; and
Whereas, N.E.W. is a diverse collective, guided by seven core principles, of healing, solidarity, creation, ascension, education, legacy, and fellowship, and powered by BIPOC, formerly incarcerated, LGBTQIA+, and people living with arrests and convictions, and their allies; and
Whereas, through the annual N.E.W. Week of Action and Awareness over 1,600 people nationwide, including many in Portland, have successfully cleared or sealed their criminal records, resulting in a public benefit of over $17,000,000. Additionally, over 7,000 people have received related social services; and
Whereas, from September 26, 2021 through October 3, 2021 N.E.W. Week of Action and Awareness events will offer the services of inspired attorneys, organizers, and activists to increase expungement opportunities for those who need it; and
Whereas, the City of Portland will for the first time ever, join the National Expungement Week’s “Week of Action,” and we will join cities around the country to organize and host free legal clinics to expunge, clear or seal eligible criminal records, and offer access to social resources, and wrap around services to support re-entry.
Now, therefore, I, Ted Wheeler, Mayor of the City of Portland, Oregon, the "City of Roses", do hereby proclaim the week of September 19-26, 2021 to be
National Expungement Week
in Portland and encourage all residents to observe this week.