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
Nearly all white defendants were given the chance at parole. Nearly all Black defendants were not SAN DIEGO, Ca. (KPBS) – When Laila Aziz moved back to San Diego, the names on everyone’s lips were Brian Mason and Thabiti Wilson, the younger brothers of people she grew up with. They were both convicted of robbery
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS) — On February 5, a coalition of Illinois leaders, advocates, and community members gathered at the Illinois State Capitol Building Rotunda to rally support for the Clean Slate Bill. This legislation aims to modernize the state’s record-sealing system by replacing the outdated petition-based model with an automated system. The bill seeks to remove
NORTH CAROLINA (NC Justice Center) -A criminal record often gives rise to significant barriers to gainful employment, affordable housing, family unification and a variety of other essential benefits and opportunities. For assistance in understanding the statutory barriers to opportunities that may arise because of a criminal record, please use the UNC School of Government’s Collateral Consequences
BERKELEY, Ca. (Berkeley Law) – Berkeley Law’s Paper Prisons Initiative, led by Professor Colleen V. Chien, recently unveiled an innovative database aimed at helping defendants and people convicted of crimes challenge a charge, conviction, or sentence under the California Racial Justice Act (RJA). The initiative’s Racial Justice Act Tool, which is currently in beta mode, reports on data provided
On March 27, 2023, the California Committee on the Revision of the Penal Code held a hearing on the California Racial Justice Act (CRJA) (recording here*, RJA portion starts at 52:02). Paper Prisons founder, Professor Colleen Chien testified before the committee about the data infrastructure supporting implementation of the CRJA , alongside Chief Assistant District