A new pilot legal clinic will assist individuals who are formerly or currently incarcerated, and have been unfairly or overly sentenced. The clinic, called Beyond Guilt Hawaiʻi, will begin in January 2022 at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law.
Beyond Guilt Hawaiʻi’s mission will be to serve the community by offering free legal services to those with unjust sentences, train law students in the area of criminal justice, and bring together social service organizations and providers who can help those freed by the clinic successfully re-enter society.
Hawaiʻi Innocence Project Co-Director Kenneth Lawson and Associate Director Jennifer Brown are starting the clinic to create access to justice for those in need.
This clinic, modeled after the Ohio Justice and Policy Center’s Beyond Guilt, was created by law professor and civil rights activist David Singleton. Singleton reached out to Lawson about Hawaiʻi serving as the first Beyond Guilt clinic outside of Ohio. Lawson jumped at the opportunity to start up the pilot clinic because, as someone who has been incarcerated and was given a second chance, he believes Beyond Guilt Hawaiʻi will similarly give others the opportunity to change their lives for the better.
Lawson said, “Everyone deserves a second chance at life once he or she has paid their debt to society.”
Beyond Guilt Hawaiʻi will assist people with: clemency (pardons and commutations of life sentences), compassionate release (kūpuna, domestic violence and sexual assault survivors), drug offenses, record clearing and sealing (expungements and court case sealing) and parole (petitions and hearings).
Applying to have a case reviewed
People interested in applying to have their case reviewed by Beyond Guilt Hawaiʻi should visit the website and complete an application.
While the applicant’s case will be handled by Beyond Guilt Hawaiʻi pro bono (for free), the costs to handle a single case in the clinic could cost thousands of dollars.
“Freedom unfortunately isn’t free and we must rely on our generous donors to fund our legal clinics,” said Lawson.
Tax free donations can be made through the UH Foundation to the Hawaiʻi Innocence Fund, with a designation to the Beyond Guilt Clinic.
This program is an example of UH Mānoa’s goal of Enhancing Student Success (PDF), one of four goals identified in the 2015–25 Strategic Plan (PDF), updated in December 2020.
