Archive for June, 2011

Call 714-465-5111 ~ DUI Defense Seal Beach

oclawyerdui.com Call 714-465-5111 ~ DUI Defense Seal Beach www.drivingunderinfluencelawyerorangecounty.com DUI Attorney for you! Call today: 714-465-5111 ~ Debbie Dec is your DUI Orange Attorney & Los Angeles DUI Lawyer in Orange County who will Fight for Your Rights. Have you ever been charged with a DUI case in Orange County or Los Angeles County courts? Experienced DUI Orange Attorney & Los Angeles DUI Lawyer who will fight for your rights in OC or LA courts. Schedule a DUI OC Attorney Consultation Today: 714-465-5111 14 Monarch Bay Plaza #337, Monarch Beach, CA 92629 www.drivingunderinfluencelawyerlosangeles.com

San Jose Schools-programs and Projects

San José Schools are members of a large urban school district serving about 32,000 students from kindergarten through grade twelve. San Jose Schools represent the eleventh largest urban school district in California, with thirty one elementary schools, seven middle schools, and seven high schools. The student population is 31% Anglo, 49% Hispanic, 13% Asian, 3% Black and 4% other minority. The district’s web page states the following Vision Statement: “San Jose Schools [are] learning communit[ies] that inspire students to be the best they can be, equipping them with world class skills, a commitment to lifelong learning, active citizenship in a diverse society, and respect for self and others.”

Service Projects: San Jose Schools students learn about service projects through a partnership with Youth Re:Action Corps (www.yrcorps.org), a high school based program to educate young people about local, national and international issues, empower them to create plans for social change, and invest financially in their visions of a better world.

Awards: On May 27, 2007, San Jose Schools announced that the Capitol Expressway Auto Dealers Charitable Foundation donated $50,000 to 12 elementary schools
and supports 38 third grade classroom libraries. San Jose Schools Superintendent Don Iglesias, stated, “We are very grateful…for their generosity and commitment to education displayed by their…donation. Literacy is the key to successful learning for our students.”

New Program: One San Jose Schools high school, Leland High School, has instituted the “Every 15 Minutes” program. This is an anti-DUI program which emphasizes good decision making for high school juniors and seniors. The program has two phases; phase one is a simulated accident scene and phase two is a funeral that includes guest speakers who have lost loved ones in alcohol related collisions. The program brings the San Jose Schools students as close as possible to losing a loved one, and brings home the reality of an alcohol related collision.

Just For the Kids: Another new program that San Jose Schools are participating in is the Just For The Kids program. This helps schools and communities compare their schools to similar schools in the state. Parents and educators can access the Just For The Kids web page at www.jftk-ca.org. The data is free and gives easy to understand data on every public school in California, including San Jose Schools. The information is designed to help schools and communities raise student achievement.

Opportunity: On Monday, April 2nd the non-profit California Dictionary Project, in
conjunction with San Jose Schools and 100 volunteers from the community, will distribute dictionaries to all 3rd grade San Jose Schools students. Founded in 2002, the California Dictionary Project has distributed more than 75,000 dictionaries to kids who attend San Jose Schools.

School Choice: Giving families a choice in what school their children attend is all the rage these days. San Jose Schools meet this demand with magnet programs. The Magnet Schools Assistance Program in San Jose Schools funds six school sites for the 2004-2007 school years.

Excellent Bilingual Education: Two San Jose Schools – Olinder and Grant Elementary- recently received the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) Seal of Excellence Award. This award honors exemplary bilingual education programs. For more information please visit San Jose School Reports and San Jose School Ratings

Originally published here.


Patricia Hawke

Expungement of Criminal Records in Washington State -7 Steps to Clearing Your Record

You don’t have to be stuck with a criminal conviction on your record.  Your Washington State criminal conviction can be expunged if you meet the criteria.  And after your conviction is expunged, Washington State law permits you to state you have not been convicted for employment purposes.

 

Expungement is an often misunderstood term and process.  In Washington State expungement of a criminal record or criminal conviction is accomplished by Vacating the Criminal Conviction.  The terms Expungement and Vacating are largely interchangeable, the difference being that Vacating is the legal term.

 

Expungement of a criminal record by vacating the conviction does not destroy or seal the file.  However, it is possible to destroy, or expunge, an arrest record if the eligibility requirements are met.  When an arrest record is expunged, the booking photos and fingerprints are destroyed and removed from the police record.

 

In Washington State, the expungement process differs between felony and misdemeanor convictions.  The following 7 steps are an overview of what is involved.

 

1.  The Required Time Period has Passed Since the Case Completed.

The first eligibility requirement to expunge your conviction in Washington State is passage of the required time period.  For a misdemeanor, the time period begins to run on the date the case is Closed.  For a felony conviction, the time period begins to run on the date a document called a Certificate of Discharge is filed with the court.  In both instances, a case is Closed or a Certificate of Discharge is filed after all the sentence conditions are completed as required.

 

2.  The Conviction is Eligible for Expungement.

Certain convictions, and classifications of convictions, are not eligible for Expungement in Washington State.  Generally, class A felonies (the most serious), sex crimes, and violent crimes cannot be expunged in Washington State.  Among misdemeanors, Washington State does not permit a DUI conviction to be expunged.

 

3.  You Meet the Clean Behavior Requirement.

Two situations will make your conviction ineligible for expungement.  For a misdemeanor, if you were convicted of another crime on a later date then you would not be eligible to have the misdemeanor expunged.  For example, if you were convicted of a misdemeanor in 1995, and another crime in 1997, then the 1995 crime would not be eligible to be expunged.  For a felony, if you were convicted of another crime after the date the Certificate of Discharge was filed then you cannot expunge the felony.

 

4.  Special Rule for Misdemeanors.

Washington State has an interesting rule that applies only to misdemeanor convictions.  To expunge a misdemeanor, you cannot have had any other conviction expunged (vacated).  What this means is if a person has a felony conviction and a misdemeanor conviction, and the person expunged the felony conviction first, then the misdemeanor could no longer be expunged.  However, if the misdemeanor was expunged first, and if the misdemeanor conviction occurred before the felony conviction, then the felony could still be expunged.

 

5.  Preparation.

An expungement, or vacation of a criminal conviction, requires a judge to sign a court Order.  The court process is begun by filing a Motion to Vacate Conviction with the court.  Prior to filing the Motion, you should get copies of the Docket and the Judgment & Sentence from the court clerk.  You should also obtain a criminal history report, called a WATCH Report, from the Washington State Patrol website.

 

6.  Your Day In Court.

Most Washington State courts require a hearing to Expunge, or Vacate, a criminal conviction.  Most courts do not require you to attend if you have a lawyer appearing at the hearing on your behalf.  If the preparation has been done properly, then the hearing should go very smoothly and the judge will sign the Court Order Vacating your criminal conviction.

 

7.  Your Criminal Record is Cleared.

The court clerk processes the Order and sends a certified copy to the Washington State Patrol, which removes the conviction from the public database.  The FBI record is updated based on the Washington State record.  And, if the Order was prepared correctly, a copy will also be sent to the police department that handled the case and your record will also be cleared in their file.  Your conviction has now been expunged (vacated), and your criminal record is cleared.

 

As you can see, you don’t have to be stuck with a criminal conviction on your record.  It is not difficult to expunge a conviction in Washington State if you meet the straightforward criteria.  In most cases, these 7 steps take only a few weeks to complete.

 

Copyright (c)2008 Douglas Stratemeyer.  All Rights reserved.

Originally published here.


Douglas Stratemeyer