ASC Presidential Panel: Racial Justice Act

Session Submission Type: Presidential Session

Abstract/Description

The California Racial Justice Act (RJA) was passed in 2020 and expanded in 2022 into the Racial Justice for All Act, allowing individuals with felony convictions to petition the court retroactively to seek relief if racial bias could be proven in their case. In the past, bias was extremely difficult to prove due to the precedent established in McCleskey v Kemp requiring evidence of intentional racial discrimination against a specific defendant. In contrast, RJA violations can consist of racially biased language or conduct toward a defendant by individuals involved in case inside or outside the courtroom, or racial/ethnic disparities in the charging or sentencing of similarly situated individuals within a county. In January 2024, individuals incarcerated for a felony became eligible to petition for relief on the basis of RJA violations in past judgements, sentences, and convictions.

Scholars have been uncovering evidence of racial and ethnic bias in the criminal legal system for years. The RJA provides opportunities for quantitative and qualitative research to be used in court to benefit incarcerated people directly. This panel features three researcher-practitioner partnerships in which criminal justice experts have supported public defenders in Racial Justice Act cases.

Sub Unit

• Area I. Presidential Panels

Chair

• Elsa Chen, Santa Clara University

Discussant

• Catherine Grosso, Michigan State University

Individual Presentations

• California Racial Justice Act and Access to Justice: Bridging the Law-Social Science Divide - Mona Lynch, University of California, Irvine; Lisa Romo, Office of the California State Public Defender

• “What’s in the car hombre?”: Body-worn Cameras, RJA Appeals, and Using Research to Contextualize Racist Interactions with Police - Patrick Lopez-Aguado, Santa Clara University; Karina Alvarez, Santa Clara County Public Defender’s office

• Building the Case for Three Strikes Sentencing and Resentencing - Elsa Chen, Santa Clara University; Elizabeth Lashley-Haynes, Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office

Speakers

• Elizabeth Lashley-Haynes, Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office

• Mona Lynch, University of California, Irvine

• Lisa Romo, Office of the California State Public Defender

• Patrick Lopez-Aguado, Santa Clara University

• Karina Alvarez, Santa Clara County Public Defender’s office