Pardon Seekers Guided To A ​“Fresh Start”

Ivelisse Cruz needs to fill out an application, write three essays, provide three reference letters, prepare proof of her community service, and obtain a transcript. She’s not applying for college — she’s asking the state to pardon her for crimes she committed when she was younger and struggling with addiction.

Cruz, who spent much of her life in the Fair Haven neighborhood, said she has been drug and crime free for six years. She’s hoping a pardon for her crimes will open up opportunities for a job and access to help with housing.

She and 18 local people in similar straits landed in City Hall one day last week to receive guidance in that quest.

“I’ve been clean for six years, and I got my kids back four years ago,” the mother of five said. ​“I have my driver’s license back. I’m doing better than before and I don’t want to stop.”

Though it’s been years since she’s had any scrapes with the law, Cruz said every time she tries to take another step toward improving her life, her criminal record gets in the way.

She applied for Section 8 housing rental assistance, but was told that she would have to wait two more years to be eligible because of her criminal record.

“I have a lot of misdemeanors and one felony for carrying paraphernalia and violating probation by using drugs,” she said. ​“When I was denied it was just really depressing.”

When she saw a flyer about help with the pardon process, she made the trip from Meriden where she now lives to New Haven.

“I didn’t know there was a second chance for me,” she said. ​“I want a second chance.”

The pardon session at City Hall, which took place last Wednesday evening, was hosted by Project Fresh Start Reentry Program, the city’s agency charged with helping to reduce recidivism.

The road to getting that second chance is not an easy one Project Fresh Start’s Chance Jackson said. In fact, he said the state makes the pardon process intentionally daunting. ​“The way they see it, if you don’t have time to put in the work, you’re not ready for a pardon,” he said.

There are two options for people who petition the state: a full pardon, which would erase their criminal record completely and a certificate of employability, which in effect is the state asking employers to over look the person’s crime.

Jackson said Project Fresh Start and its allies are looking to change the law on the certificate of employability to seal the record from employers. To get the certificate from the Board of Pardons and Parole, a person must be at least 90 days on probation, or 90 days post jail. He focused the bulk of the meeting on how to get a full pardon, which is much more labor intensive.

First thing, you can’t apply for a full pardon unless it has been at least five years since your last felony, and at least three years since your last misdemeanor conviction. After Jackson said that, one man got up and left the room.

Another asked what the odds were of getting a full pardon.

Jackson said it depends on the state Board of Pardons and Paroles timeline for hearings and whether or not you can get through the first and biggest hurdle — filling out the application correctly. Most people get denied because they don’t fill out the paperwork properly or provide everything that is required in the right time frame.

In addition to filling out the multi-page application, a person will have to spend about $25 to get their fingerprints and obtain a $50 money order to pay a processing fee for their official criminal records. Then, the person has to obtain a police report from every city where they committed a crime in the last 10 years. Anything that happened before 2006 doesn’t have to be reported, Jackson said. But that too costs, depending on the police department, it can be as much as a $1 a page, which could get pricey if you have an extensive criminal history.

His words were a relief to one woman who said that her crimes happened more than 25 years ago, but keep popping up. ​“Every time I put in an application they always come up,” she said. ​“It’s embarrassing. Those things happened in my early 20s. I’m damn near in my fifties.”

But Project Fresh Start intern Jordan Johnson said one’s efforts could be all for naught in the end particularly if you are a registered sex offender, or been convicted of murder, manslaughter, or ​“if you consistently go to jail for the same gun charge. It’s not impossible, but it will be hard.”

That means people can write their essays, get their references and all of the other required paperwork, which can’t be a year old before it’s filed, meet all other criteria and still be denied after the board takes its six to nine months to process the application and deliberate.

There are three outcomes, Jackson said, after an application is received and processed by the board: it could be granted and expedited, which means after a phone interview your record will be expunged from every place it can be viewed including the credit bureaus; the pardon could be denied and you will receive information about why it was denied, which could help if you reapply; or you might have to appear in person at a hearing.

“It will be just like going to court,” Jackson said of the hearing. ​“You’ll have to present your case.”

Jackson concluded the meeting by encouraging people to start brainstorming what they would write in their essays and offering his assistance to help people write them and to help review any of their applications. He also offered attendees one-on-one help afterward.

“It’s on you from here,” Jackson said.

Many people took the application material and left. But several like Cruz stayed to ask further questions or to explain their individual situation.

One woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said that her crime happened in Puerto Rico. She was a victim of domestic violence and forced by her husband to sell drugs and got caught by the police.That was in 1997. At the time of her arrest, she had two small children under five, and was pregnant. She gave birth while she was incarcerated. She served four years in prison. During that time she lost custody of her children.

When she got out of prison, she said she turned her life around. Remarried now and mother to an autistic son, she has rekindled her relationship with her eldest daughter, who is now 21, and living with her. She said she wants to start her own business and eventually be a life coach and help other women.

“I never gave up,” she said. ​“I decided to change my life. That’s the reason I’m here.”

She learned at the meeting that should couldn’t get a pardon in Connecticut because her crime didn’t happen in the state, but she didn’t leave discouraged.

“They said they would still help me,” she said.

The Project Fresh Start pardon session is held every other Wednesday at City Hall. The next scheduled session is on Jan. 27. Jackson said the meetings on average attract about 15 people, and about a third actually complete the application.