Tag: David Schlussel

VIDEO: Governmental Barriers to Small Business Financing for People with a Criminal History

On November 18, the Georgetown Center for Business & Public Policy hosted an informative and provocative forum on “Understanding Governmental Barriers to Small Business Financing for People With a Criminal History.” A video recording of the program is now available on YouTube. This event marks the first public discussion of our organization’s new initiative aimed at illuminating and reducing barriers to small business financing based on criminal history. The panelists were Sekwan Merritt, owner of an electrical contracting business in Baltimore, David Schlussel of CCRC, Awesta Sarkash of the Small Business Majority, and Chris Pilkerton, a former SBA general counsel and acting SBA administrator. Sekwan Merritt, who has built a thriving business and employs several people who also have a record, illuminated the challenges he faces as a justice-affected entrepreneur in gaining access to business capital. Merritt, a graduate of the Georgetown Pivot Program, was one of the plaintiffs in the litigation that led to the SBA’s rollback of its PPP restrictions after he was denied this emergency COVID-19 federal relief. He explained that because he is still on parole he is ineligible for the SBA’s general loan programs and that the kinds of questions asked on SBA application forms […]

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Model law proposes automatic expungement of non-conviction records

An advisory group drawn from across the criminal justice system has completed work on a model law that recommends automatic expungement of most arrests and charges that do not result in conviction.  Margaret Love and David Schlussel of the Collateral Consequences Resource Center served as reporters for the model law.  It is available in PDF and HTML formats. “Many people may not realize how even cases that terminate in a person’s favor lead to lost opportunities and discrimination,” says Sharon Dietrich, Litigation Director of Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, and one of the advisors of the model law project.  “Over the years, my legal aid program has seen thousands of cases where non-convictions cost people jobs.” In proposing broad restrictions on access to and use of non-conviction records, the project aims to contribute to conversations underway in legislatures across the country about how to improve opportunities for people with a criminal record.  Already in 2019, states have enacted more than 130 new laws addressing the collateral consequences of arrest and conviction.  The group regards its model as the first step in a broader law reform initiative that will address conviction records as well. Law enforcement officials make over 10 million arrests […]

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