South Dade Alphas, County and State Agencies Collaborate to Restore Rights of Local Residents

MIAMI – In conjunction with the Miami-Dade Pubic Defenders Office of Carlos J. Martinez and Florida House Representative Kionne McGhee, the Iota Pi Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity hosted a restorative rights resource clinic in Homestead, FL on Saturday, July 20th.

Legal experts, and representatives from local and state administrative offices, provided their services at no cost to attendees.

Event attendees were treated to light refreshments and received counseling on a range of restorative rights resources; event facilitators helped to answer questions and determined what services patrons may best qualify for.

Correspondingly, qualifying participants were guided by onsite staff who helped prepare their Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Application for Certification of Eligibility and gather all necessary documents for the submission of the application.

Collectively, they were able to serve nearly 50 Miami-Dade County residents, 24 of whom received restorative rights services.  Our community partners for the expungement clinic included the Miami-Dade State Attorney Office of Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade County Elections, Miami-Dade County Police Department, Florida Restorative Rights Coalition, and Career Sources Florida.

Thanks to the Haitian Lawyers Association, Florida New Majority, and United&Unlimited they were able to provide several FDLE Application Fee Vouchers.

Due to the recent emergence of legal precedents that challenge American civil liberties, and/or hinder access to the democratic process, it has become essential to create opportunities that bring about restorative forms of justice geared towards those populations who are most in need of it.

We hope that by providing these services, participants hopefully regain equitable access to the workforce, education, and the ballot.  With this objective in mind, our organization has decided to target the often marginalized (and neglected) South Miami-Dade municipalities to facilitate a seal, expungement, and restorative rights processes event.

It is their hope that an event of this nature can bring solace to a multitude of families, and we also believe that a project of this scope may serve as an impetus to many others who wish to engage in future social service endeavors.