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Chicago’s Rising Star Attorney
Tamara N. Holder Renowned
For Seeking Expungement and Pardons

Founds Weekly Pro Bono Clinic At Rainbow PUSH
CHICAGO, IL (January 29, 2008) – Criminal Defense Attorney, Tamara N. Holder, founded www.xpunged.com as a recourse for people to clear criminal records through expungement, sealing and pardons. After establishing her own practice, she quickly learned how even a dismissed arrest can return to haunt people, even if it was 20 years ago.

Whether one is seeking employment, access to credit, admission to college or even running for public office,a simple misdemeanor offense can hinder you. Many of Attorney Holder’s clients are those seeking to get ahead in life, one way or another, but a previous error in judgment is affecting their progress.
Every Monday night, between 6:00 – 8:00pm, Attorney Holder leads her pro bono expungement clinic at the national headquarters of Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago. Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., commented, “Our organization is fortunate to have Tamara share her knowledge of the law with her desire to help people. Until I met her, I did not realize how serious the problem is and just how many people can’t get jobs because of an error in judgment many years ago.”

An expungement destroys records of arrests and non-convictions, whereas sealing hides from the public a record with convictions and arrests that by law can’t be expunged. Many people are not aware that felony probation (except in rare cases) is an automatic bar to expungement and sealing; therefore, the only option is to seek a pardon. It should be noted, however, that pardons are never guaranteed and are only granted by the governor of the state of conviction.

Governor Blagojevich allegedly has over 900 pardons sitting on his desk, for those with a conviction.
However, that number is small compared to the number of those with conviction. The Justice Policy Institute released a study in December 4, 2007 and found that in 2002, the year selected for study, more than 166 out of every 100,000 people went to prison for a drug offense in Cook County, the ninth highest rate in the nation. And this study just looks at convictions. The number of those with arrest records that did not result in a conviction are unlimited.

Attorney Holder notes, “You may not think that those dismissed arrests matter, but do you think a bank would hire someone arrested for theft, even if the case was thrown out? They don’t.” Attorney Holder understands the need to have a second chance because she got one herself, after being arrested in high school and college for drinking misdemeanors; she had to explain those arrests to the Illinois Bar when she sought admission.
Attorney Holder is quickly becoming a leader in the work of criminal defense, expungement, race discrimination, police brutality, public policy, and pro bono practices. She has met with Governor Blagojevich on the issue of pardons and Attorney General Lisa Madigan regarding expungement and sealing legislation.