Mass. Criminal Justice Reform Bill Passes with Input from BU Law Clinical Program
The Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Program advocated for legislation to help survivors of human trafficking vacate convictions.
Since 2016, the Boston University School of Law Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Program (IRHTP) has worked with Mintz Levin, the EVA Center, and others to draft and file a bill to vacate criminal convictions for survivors of human trafficking. That advocacy was rewarded recently when Governor Charlie Baker signed into law landmark criminal justice reform legislation that includes a cutting-edge provision to allow just that: Survivors of human trafficking will now be able to vacate certain criminal convictions related to their victimization.
In July 2017, Clinical Associate Professor and Director of the IRHTP Julie Dahlstrom testified before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary in support of the bill. In fall 2017, versions of the vacatur bill were adopted as amendments to the Massachusetts House and Senate criminal justice reform bills. BU Law students Lynexa Owens (’19) and Margaret Chrusciel (’18) submitted a letter to the conference committee, encouraging inclusion of the vacatur provision in the final committee report. Following the bill’s passage, the IRHTP plans to represent survivors as they take advantage of the new law and vacate criminal convictions.
“This legislation represents an important step forward in the fight against human trafficking in Massachusetts,” Dahlstrom says. “For many survivors of human trafficking in Massachusetts, their experiences in the criminal justice system stay with them long after the trafficking ends. This legislation allows them to move forward with their lives by providing an avenue to vacate certain criminal convictions.”
The Boston University School of Law Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Program is an innovative clinical legal program in which law students provide pro bono representation to vulnerable noncitizens and survivors of human trafficking. Since Massachusetts passed state human trafficking legislation in 2011, BU Law has been on the forefront of anti-trafficking efforts in Massachusetts.
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