Someone San Diego Should Know: Jamie Beck
Written By: Jan Goldsmith
Jamie Beck sat in the audience during a presentation given by two prosecutors about challenges facing victims who escape human trafficking. At the end of the presentation Beck asked how she could help. Little did Beck know that her question would lead to life changes for her and hundreds of trafficking survivors.
At the time, Beck was an attorney with the Procopio law firm, which encouraged their attorneys to donate time to worthy causes.
Toward that end, Beck joined with San Diego’s Lawyers Club to create a mentoring project aimed at helping survivors rebuild their lives.
That’s how Beck met Susan.
Susan (not her real name to protect her identity) was 16 and living at home when she was trafficked by her boyfriend and his family. At first, it happened on weekends. Verbal threats controlled her. After she turned 18, threats became more forceful and physical. She was kidnapped and held against her will in Mexico. It took her five years to escape the traffickers and return to San Diego.
She entered a program for trafficking survivors where Beck was volunteering.
Beck learned that, in the midst of dealing with anxiety and an emotional readjustment, Susan — not the traffickers — faced criminal charges stemming from her captivity.
After doing research, Beck determined that Susan’s plight was common. Victims who escape trafficking often face lingering prostitution, drug and theft charges for conduct forced on them during captivity. In essence victims of trafficking are treated as the criminals.
“Meeting her, hearing her story, I felt there was something I could do to help,” Beck said, who enlisted help from another Procopio attorney with criminal law experience.
“We were able to get her cases dismissed. But the charges remained on her record and prevented her from getting a good job and fresh start. There was no process for removing those charges.”
Inspired by Susan’s story, Beck helped lead a successful effort in 2016 to enact legislation allowing survivors to obtain court orders removing from their record nonviolent charges resulting from their trafficking.
After the law was changed, Beck’s petition on behalf of Susan to erase her record was among the first filed statewide and was successful.
In 2017, Beck left her lucrative law practice and decided to devote her career to helping survivors of trafficking. “I became really passionate about this work when I heard their stories,” Beck said.
She created Free to Thrive, which became one of only a few nonprofits nationally dedicated to helping survivors deal with legal problems stemming from their captivity.
Free to Thrive helps empower survivors to overcome obstacles to regaining their lives. In addition to criminal record erasure, survivors often face the need for court orders to protect them from ongoing harassment by traffickers and their agents. Some seek a name change for protection and a fresh start. Some need help obtaining custody of children born during their captivity.
“I went to law school to help people and be a public interest lawyer,” said Beck, 36.
“I learned at a young age that if you don’t know the law you can be taken advantage of. My mom did not understand the law, and I saw our landlord take advantage of her.
“I had a sense that with knowledge comes power. And the way to help people is through the law.”
So, she decided to become an attorney.
Today Free to Thrive, with 12 employees and numerous volunteer attorneys, has helped hundreds of survivors recover their lives. It has grown to become a regional Southern California organization and has plans to expand further. “There is a need everywhere. We want to help create similar efforts around the country,” Beck said.
Beck has become a widely recognized leader in helping survivors. Among other honors, the American Bar Association listed her as one of eight attorneys nationwide “who inspired us in 2018.”
In 2020 Free to Thrive produced a film, “Starfish,” which has won awards at 30 film festivals. It educates the world about challenges victims face after escape.
And to think it all started with a simple question.
About this series
Jan Goldsmith is a former member of the U-T Community Advisory Board. He is an attorney and mediator. He is also a former Superior Court judge, California state legislator, Poway mayor and San Diego city attorney.
Someone San Diego Should Know is a weekly column about local people who are interesting and noteworthy because of their experiences, achievements, creativity or credentials.
If you know of someone you believe San Diego should know, please send your idea to someone@sduniontribune.com