The webinar will examine the process for securing waivers for criminal records, and juvenile records, for purposes of enlistment in the U.S. armed forces. It will also explore the broader socio-legal theme of the structure and relationships between institutions of disciplinary power such as the modern military and carceral systems.

Presenters:

Nateel Sharma is a policy fellow at LSPC and an advocate working on criminal justice reform. He has encountered firsthand the systemic barriers faced by individuals with prior convictions, having personally experienced employment discrimination in the federal sector, particularly in regard to positions requiring security clearance. For many in similar circumstances, he observes, being denied opportunities can be deeply disheartening and tends to reinforce cycles of exclusion.

Eric C. Sapp is a Staff Attorney at LSPC. Prior to that, in the 2010s he was a member of Stanford University’s Peace and Justice Studies Initiative. An anti-imperialist, he also organized with the (now-defunct) group Alternatives to Militarism, doing counter-recruitment vis-à-vis the U.S. intelligence and military industrial complex.