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 […]
By Alonzo Harvey and Colleen V. Chien Examples of Letters received by the Paper Prisons Initiative The Judicial Council of California is proposing, as described in its invitation to comment W26-05, to change Form HC-001, the official Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus used in California courts. Form HC-001 is a form that can be
By Audrey Im, Berkeley CS ‘23 grad, Paper Prisons research associate, Shreya Shankar, Berkeley CS PhD candidate The California Racial Justice Act provides a mechanism for defendants (and the convicted) to challenge a charge, conviction, or sentence if it is sought or obtained in a racially disparate manner. Paper Prisons’ RJA data tool provides data
At least 10M Americans have lost their licenses for reasons unrelated to driving. What is the impact of reforming license suspension practices and restoring licenses to drivers? Using CPS data and a staggered diff-in-diff design, our new working paper suggests an unexpected payoff – measurable increases in state-wide employment when reforms are of high-quality and
By Alivia Dawson, 2nd year undergrad student, Berkeley The Paper Prisons Initiative recently presented our Racial Justice Act (RJA) tool, forthcoming “Digital Juneteenth” expungement notification campaign with the Santa Clara Public Defender, and how AI tools can be leveraged to increase access to justice, before hundreds of public defenders during a webinar on Technological Developments
By Adriana R., Age 17 My name is Adriana, and I am a 17-year-old African American child from Riverside County, California. I have never seen my father face to face… When I was still in my mother’s belly, my father was arrested for a case that would forever impact my life and upbringing. On December
By Ryan Flaco Rising, a PhD student at UC Irvine My name is Ryan Flaco Rising, and I am empowered by the Racial Justice Act to stand up against the injustices of a racist system that has manipulated our judicial system to uphold white supremacy. Being labeled as a documented gang member, I have experienced
By Shaunak Chaudhary, a Master’s Graduate in Computer Science from Santa Clara University and a member of the Paper Prisons tech team. As an international student from India studying in California, my journey in the United States has been a mix of excitement, opportunities, and challenges. One of the most significant challenges has been navigating
By Esther Wolczynski, CEO of Checkmate My name is Esther Wolczynski, and I’m honored to lead the work of the non-profit agency CheckMate as the CEO. Our mission is to enhance individuals’ quality of life and increase accessibility to resources by providing safe, inclusive, and uplifting experiences for all families in San Joaquin County. Our
By Chesa Boudin, Executive Director of the UC Berkeley Criminal Law and Justice Center I’ve been face-to-face with the racial disparities in the criminal legal system my whole life. When I was 14 months old, my parents, both White, were arrested and, later, sentenced to decades of incarceration. My earliest memories are of waiting in