Rising Scholars Declarations

A declaration usually has three parts:

1. Your Personal Statement: this is basically a letter from you to the judge explaining what was happening in your life when you had your convictions and how things have changed since then.
2. Supporting Materials: pretty much any document that shows that you have moved on in your life.  Some examples are school transcripts, certificates showing that you have completed rehab, enrollment in job training programs, or awards for volunteering.
3. Letters of Support: these are just like letters of recommendation or character references. They can be from anyone who has good things to say about you –  professors, current or former supervisors, sponsors or sponsees, loved ones, neighbors, coaches, fellow volunteers, even your kids!

Your statement should be one to two pages long, and should give the judge a sense of who you are and why they should grant your petition. Without it, the judge only sees your record of convictions – and that is not representative of who you are. We’ve provided many samples below to get you started. Take a look at them, and then use this form to start your draft. A copy of what you fill in will be sent to you as an MS Word document, and you can continue to work on it from there.

If you need more help, you can email us and ask that a volunteer be assigned to interview you and help create your draft, but please try using the form first. It will help you and the volunteer work together more efficiently. Either way, someone from The Access Project will review your draft and suggest any needed edits before we file it.

You can ask anyone who you are comfortable asking, and who can talk about your character and any changes you’ve made in your life.  Most often, letter writers are professors, advisors, past or current supervisors, loved ones, sponsors or sponsees, coaches,  clergy or spiritual advisors,  or people you’ve volunteered with.

Ask for letters of support as early as possible to give your supporters time to write something for you.  There are several examples below.  follow and be sure they know that the deadline is December 22!  

Letters of support can be handwritten notes, typed letters, (whether on professional stationery or not), or emails.  We’ve even submitted crayon letters from small children!

Usually, applicants submit one to three letters of support, but if you don’t feel comfortable asking for letters from anyone, or if they don’t get done in time, don’t worry!

Letters of support are helpful but not necessary. You can file your petition without them.

When we emailed you to let you know you needed to prepare a declaration, we included a link to a Google Drive folder where you should upload your documents.  Once you've gathered your letters, be sure to upload them to your folder.  You can also mail or fax them to us to ensure that they become part of your file.

Gather any documents you think might be useful and then upload them to your Access Project Google Drive folder.  You were given this link in the email where we let you know you needed to prepare a declaration.  You should try to upload these documents as soon as possible so that your letters of support and other documents will be submitted to court, so you need to send us clean, scanned copies.  Photos of documents you take with your phone are not clean enough!