Local Affiliate

Laredo Webb County Social Justice Night Court
By:  Adriana Rodriguez

Thousands of Texans, disproportionately people of color, are saddled with the burden of an arrest record involving crimes never charged, prosecuted, or convicted. These Texans, including veterans, struggle to find jobs, apply for educational licenses, and access other important benefits. And, unfortunately, many low-income Texans cannot afford to pay a private attorney to have their arrest records cleared. To address this need, the Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Webb County’s Board of Judges, the Laredo-Webb County Bar Association (LWCBA), the Webb County District Attorney, and Isidro Alaniz began the Laredo Webb County Social Justice Night Court.

No one could predict how the project would fare when it started in 2003, but it has grown into a successful event that, for over the past three years, has helped more than 200 indigent Laredoans expunge their criminal records in an after-hours, pro bono court. For these Laredoans, erasing their criminal record means removing barriers to finding better jobs to support their families and improve their overall quality of life.  

Because there are not enough legal aid attorneys to meet the enormous legal needs of low-income residents in our community, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) depends on the pro bono service of the members of the LWCBA to assist low-income Laredoans by taking uncontested cases at the Social Justice Night Court. This has proven to be a monumental undertaking, but one that everyone finds worth it in the end.

The event has been so successful that the State Bar of Texas featured the expunction project at the Access to Justice Track of the 2015 Bar Leaders Conference in Houston. There, many bar leaders found the inspiration to implement similar programs within their own communities. If successful, this will change a number of lives for the better. Many Texans with arrest records are burdened by the past mistakes hanging over them every time they apply for a job. They don’t know they have a right to expunge their arrest records. Hopefully, this program and others like it will change that.