By Alonzo Harvey, Paper Prisons Expert Advisor
As a formerly incarcerated advocate and member of the Paper Prisons team, I’ve seen exactly where the justice system fails the people trapped inside it. I’ve worked on Racial Justice Act (RJA) teams, and one truth is clear: incarcerated individuals cannot fight racial bias in their cases without access to the very tools required to understand the law. Most people inside do not have updated law books, working tablets, internet access, or guidance. Without these basic resources, even the strongest reforms become empty promises.
When I talk about the RJA and why access to legal tools matters, I’m not speaking from theory, I’m speaking from lived experience. During my incarceration, I’ve sat in cells with men trying to fight for their lives with nothing but outdated books, broken systems, and pure determination. I’ve watched people struggle to challenge racial bias when the very tools they need are behind a wall they can’t climb.
I remember my cellmate, who was a lifer, was known throughout the prison as the “Johnny Cochran of the prison.” Under his bunk, he kept thousands of legal documents stacked in boxes and folders because the prison library had no filing system. He built his own library by hand. He spent years sorting paperwork, researching cases, analyzing sentencing charts, and helping others. But brilliance doesn’t replace access. No matter how dedicated he was, he was working in a system designed without the tools he needed.
Imagine someone like him with access to the Paper Prisons’ RJA Tool. Instead of sorting through mountains of paper, he could quickly search for statistical comparisons, identify disparities, and find patterns across cases. Instead of guessing what documents to request or how to frame a claim, he could follow guided prompts and build stronger arguments. The tool would narrow down information instantly, something that currently takes years inside.
This is exactly why Paper Prisons’ RJA Tool is so important. It helps people evaluate their potential RJA claims, compare their situations to known disparities, and understand what evidence they need to gather. It organizes information in a way that is clear, structured, and user-friendly, something rare in a legal system that often feels intentionally confusing. But here’s the problem, people inside don’t have access to it. Without internet access, updated libraries, or computers, a tool that could save someone decades of time becomes unreachable.
That’s why the new RJA form itself is such a major breakthrough. It is simple, direct, and actually readable, designed for the reality that many incarcerated people read at a 6th–8th grade level and lack formal legal training. The form embeds the law directly into each question, allowing people to understand what they are claiming as they fill it out. Part C breaks down every type of RJA violation, from discriminatory remarks to harsher charging decisions to racial sentencing patterns, and then asks the petitioner to explain their situation in their own words. That structure is intentional. It gives people clarity and empowers even jailhouse lawyers to confidently guide others, almost like an attorney-client roadmap.
But even the best-designed form can’t overcome reality inside California prisons. Law libraries at places like Salinas Valley, Ironwood, and Centinela are outdated, disorganized, and lacking basic resources. Books are often missing, decades out of date, or scattered with no system at all. There’s no access to statistics, no digital databases, and no updated case law. Yet the legal system expects incarcerated people to produce detailed evidence about racial disparities in charging and sentencing, something nearly impossible with broken libraries and no internet.
If California is serious about rehabilitation and justice, it must allow incarcerated people access to this RJA Tool on tablets or computers in the law library. It should be as accessible as a dictionary. Giving people access to legal technology wouldn’t only help individuals; it would make the entire system more fair and reduce wrongful or excessive sentences. It would help people understand their rights, speed up appeals, and give them real clarity.
Right now, the RJA form and the RJA Tool represent hope, hope on paper, and hope on a screen. But hope means nothing without access.
People inside deserve better than outdated books and broken systems. They deserve tools that match the promises of the law. They deserve the ability to compare cases, gather evidence, and file meaningful claims without spending years buried under paperwork. They deserve a justice system they can actually navigate, not one built to hold them back.
The Racial Justice Act was created to correct racial inequities. The next step is making sure people inside have the technology and resources to actually use it. Until then, justice will continue to exist only in theory, not in practice.
Respectfully Submitted,
Alonzo Harvey
B.A. Political Science and Government, UC Berkeley (2025)
Expert Advisor to the Paper Prisons Initiative of Berkeley Law School
