Get cost-free soul meals and lawful tips in Tacoma on Thursday
DND Soul Delicacies serves platters of fried seafood, pork chops and po’boys at 308 E. 26th Street in Tacoma, Washington.
Navigating the criminal justice system can be daunting, whether you’re looking to get re-licensed to drive or want to clear your criminal record to make it easier to secure housing or work.
Sometimes all you need is the advice of an expert, and maybe some free fried shrimp or po’boys.
Tacomans can get both Thursday, April 25, at a free legal clinic near downtown hosted by The Way to Justice, a Spokane-based nonprofit law firm founded and led by women of color. Attendees will be able to meet with an attorney for limited legal advice, including on restoration of rights, legal financial obligation relief, driver’s re-licensing and vacating your record.
The first come, first served event, dubbed Justice Night, is 5-7 p.m. in DND Soul Cuisine, a Black-owned restaurant located at 308 E. 26th St.
Virla Spencer, CEO and co-founder of The Way to Justice, said she hopes people can come and find some relief from the challenges that can follow a person’s life when they have a criminal record. She also wants those who show up to feel a sense of community.
“It is brave of someone to be able to show up to a legal clinic to be able to say that, ‘I need help,’” Spencer said. “In the Black and brown communities, you do not see that at all.”
There are no fees associated with the help provided, Spencer said. At other law firms, she said, such work could cost a person thousands of dollars.
Attendees can expect to fill out an intake form that will allow the law firm to run a background check so an attorney can understand exactly how to help. Spencer said a case file catered to specific needs would be created, and the law firm would be in touch with the person after they’re given everything they need.
Spencer started The Way to Justice in 2020 with Camerina Zorrozua, an attorney who’d previously worked for Maxey Law Office PLLC, a firm founded by prominent lawyer and civil rights leader Carl Maxey, who was born in Tacoma and raised in Spokane. Spencer and Zorrozua met through their work with the now-closed Spokane nonprofit The Center for Justice.
“It was actually Virla’s idea to keep our programs going under a new organizational name and formation that was untraditional, that was holistic, that focused on racial justice and decarceration,” Zorrozua said.
The law firm does work with clients across Washington state, Zorrozua said, and they’ve hosted free legal clinics in Eastern and Central Washington, as well as in Moses Lake and Yakima. Helping fund that work, according to Spencer, is a grant the firm received through the state Office of Civil Legal Aid’s Community Reinvestment Plan.
Spencer said a goal of that plan was to target communities that have been affected by the war on drugs, and she said she knew Pierce and King counties were among those that they needed to focus on. The firm now has a satellite office in Tacoma located at . 6450 Tacoma Mall Blvd, Suite 3. Spencer sees a big need in the community, noting that close to 80 people had pre-registered for a legal clinic it put on Wednesday night.
Meeting people where they are is a focus of The Way to Justice, said Alethea Dumas, the firm’s director of community engagement. She said the need for these services extends beyond Spokane, and they want to reach as many people as possible.
“It felt right to extend Justice Night and kind of take justice on the road,” Dumas said.
This tale was originally revealed April 25, 2024, 5:15 AM.
Peter Talbot is a legal justice reporter for The Information Tribune. He started with the newspaper in 2021. Before that, he attained his bachelor’s diploma in journalism at Indiana University. In school, he labored as an intern at NPR in Washington, D.C. He also interned for the Oregonian and the Tampa Bay Instances.