'One mistake shouldn't determine my whole life'

The Cleveland alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity hosted a free expungement clinic in Cleveland Heights on Saturday.

Expungement is when certain misdemeanors and felonies may be eligible to be cleared from someone's record. People with first and second-degree felonies, charges with mandatory jail times, violent crimes and most sexually related offenses were not eligible.

"As a fraternity, we want to make sure certain individuals in our community who've committed certain type of mistakes in their life didn't feel like their life was over and did not feel like no one cared enough about them to make sure they get a little judicial grace," said Kappa Alpha Psi member Antjuan Seawright.

Aqueelah Johnson is the chief assistant prosecutor for the City of Cleveland; she says most misdemeanors occur because of poverty.

"Some thefts are because they were stealing food from the grocery store to help feed the kiddos or cousins, and now you're out here trying to get a good job, so you don't go back to those type of poor choices," said Johnson.

The fraternity was able to help 200 people, including Cherlie Pearl and her sister, who had a few disorderly conduct charges on her record.

"On paper, it looks like I'm a disorderly and violent person, and that's totally the opposite of who I am. I love people, I'm a loving human being and I'm not that person that I once was. One mistake shouldn't determine my whole life."

Pearl says her record was negatively impacting her job search and preventing her from accomplishing her dreams of working with children. But today, Pearl says she received a second at life after her record was cleared.

"I get to apply for all those companies that told me no and I get to show them the person that I am. I get to work with kids, I get to be in my community more and just to be that leader that I want to be," said Pearl.

The fraternity says this is a part of their mission to restore and give back to the community, and one of the reasons why people can't get their records expunged is financial obstacles.

"People hear the word expungement and lawyer and think how much is that going to cost me? If people are having to make the decision between gas in their car, clothing their kids back or food in their mouths, they are not choosing to expunge records. So, we provide a free resource like this where they can meet with law professionals and get help," said Johnson.

The fraternity says they plan to work with the City of Cleveland again to host a second expungement clinic.

"We're not trying to outdo the system; we're just trying to make the system work for those who've committed nonviolent misdemeanor crimes. And for those who need other type of assistance," said Seawright.