'Justice also has to come with some sense of mercy,' says UD law student on pardon project
DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF) -- Law students at the University of Dayton are taking what they’ve learned in the classroom and applying it to help others in the community.
“People want justice and that can look different but I think justice also has to come with some sense of mercy and some sense of grace and forgiveness,” said third-year UD law student Ricky Murray.
Murray and 11 of his classmates are taking part in Gov. Mike DeWine’s Expedited Pardon Project. It’s a project where students will help people who are seeking pardons for past criminal offenses.
DeWine launched the project in 2019, where he partnered with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and the University of Akron School of Law.
The program offers free services to help applicants seeking legal pardons for past criminal offenses.
Now, new funding from the state’s operating budget has allowed the University of Dayton School of law, the Cleveland State University Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and the Ohio Justice & Policy Center in partnership with University of Cincinnati College of Law to be added as services providers in the project’s expansion.
“It’s a great opportunity for them (UD law students) to put the skills they’ve learned in law school in action,” said Ericka Curran, assistant professor at the University of Dayton School of Law and director of the Leadership Honors Program (LHP).
She said the pardon program helps people re-enter the community.
“Especially when they’ve had such a lengthy period where they’ve been volunteering, giving back to the community, the kinds of things that they have done to rehabilitate themselves,” Curran said.
“It (the Expedited Pardon Project) opens up a lot of doors for them that they wouldn’t have through the traditional process,” said third-year UD law student Christopher Lewis. He says the traditional pardon process is open to everyone, which is why it can take years.
However, the expedited pardon process has a strict list of criteria for applicants, so the system isn’t ‘bogged down’ with people who wouldn’t necessarily qualify for a pardon.
He said a pardon through this program could be completed in 6 to 12 months.
“Additionally, with the parole board hearings, they have special hearing times set aside specifically for the pardon project so we don’t have to wait to get those scheduled,” said Lewis.
He said this work is important, especially since people who have been convicted are denied certain rights.
“With certain felony convictions you’re not allowed to be a juror, you can’t hold public office, you’re not allowed to have a firearm, a lot of employment opportunities are denied to those individuals,” Lewis said.
Murray added that impacts a person’s ability to get a job.
“A lot of us have been in a spot where you’ve had to fill out a job application and say, ‘Do you have a criminal background?’ 'Do you have a felony conviction?’ and there are companies that flat-out will not hire people with criminal backgrounds,” Murray said.
Chelsea Small, third-year law student at UD, said she is the first in her family to graduate from college and law school. She wanted to become a lawyer to help others.
She said these pardons help people move past their wrongdoings and move forward with their lives.
“Just because somebody made a mistake doesn’t mean that that’s who they are as a person. They could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time and we need to help people see them in the same light as everybody else,” Small said.
To apply or learn more about the eligibility criteria for Gov. DeWine’s Expedited Pardon Project, visit https://www.ohioexpeditedpardon.org/how-to-apply/
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