Tamara Holder is an Illinois attorney and founder of the Law Firm of Tamara N. Holder, LLC, a criminal defense firm, which also provides full services for expungement. Her talks with students are geared toward broadening their horizons for new beginnings.
Holder recently held one of those talks at the Carruthers Center for Inner City [CCICS] Studies on April 10, 2004.
She addressed a class of students who have been exposed to crime and are looking for a fresh start on life. “Young people make mistakes all the time,” Holder says, “and unfortunately some of those mistakes cost them more than others. But it shouldn’t cost them their future.” Holder focuses most of her legal attention in criminal practice upon seeking pardons and expunging criminal records.
Although expungement is not free, it is a valuable tool for former criminals to begin life with a clean slate. Not all cases are expugnable or sealable, but Holder’s firm helps clients determine this so that they can take applicable steps toward bettering their future.
To clarify: a record includes all arrests, whether the defendant was found guilty or not guilty. When expunging a record, the arresting agency i.e. Chicago or Illinois Police, will physically destroy a record, as if it never existed.
The Clerk’s Office will seal your record and remove it from the electronic index. Sealing a record involves the same process, with the exception that a judge can issue an order for the public to view the record. However, while your record is not available to the public without a judge order, it can still be seen by law enforcement agencies.
After a record has been expunged or sealed, it is no longer mandatory for the citizen to inform employers of their record. In order to achieve this point, persons must be proactive in finding solutions and methods for expunging records according to Holder.
She has recently begun work with Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. and the Rainbow Push Coalition. She holds an expungement and pardon meeting open to the public every Monday at 6pm at the Rainbow’s headquarters, located at 50th and Drexel in Chicago.
Holder’s efforts to assist ex-offenders are gaining national attention, and she holds a conviction that it should be addressed. Holder states, “Many people are losing or unable to get jobs because of something they did years ago. We must change the laws so ex-offenders get a second chance at life.”
Holder’s credentials include a degree from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago; interning with Miramax Films in Los Angeles; being a member of The Trial Advocacy Team and the Negotiation Team; early graduation, and work with a criminal defense firm. She has worked throughout the state of Illinois, although her focus is on the Chicagoland area at present.
For more information about expungments, please visit: www.xpunged.com or call 1-877-XPUNGED.