Eliza Hersh quoted in The Boston Globe, March 8, 2015
“This is not a new problem, it’s just one that’s getting recognition now,” said Eliza Hersh. “One thing that often surprises people is they were arrested wrongly, or years and years ago, and it always remains on their records.”
Jeffrey Selbin, Eliza Hersh and Keramet Reiter write for Los Angeles Times, December 28, 2014
Significantly, the clean-slate process itself — not just the outcome — appears to create a kind of status enhancement ritual, or rite of passage, helping people move from their old life into a new one. Proposition 47 takes an important step toward addressing the consequences of mass incarceration in California.