California Racial Justice Act Support Group

08/09/2026

Chief Deputy State Public Defender and CPDA member Christina Spaulding spoke to Bloomberg Law about the Racial Justice Act and the necessity of funding county public defenders offices to make it effective. The win for defendants, which allows them to challenge both past and present cases, is creating a strained caseload for already-stretched public defenders.

County public defenders’ systems were granted $1.28 billion in fiscal year 2022, as seen in a published report. This is nearly $1 billion less than local district attorney offices.

“California’s Office of State Public Defenders, which handles RJA cases across the state and tracks the act’s developments, among other things, said in a statement that this funding disparity ‘leaves defense offices struggling with the increased complexity of defense work.’

‘While public defenders are eager to deliver on the RJA’s promise for their clients, chronic underfunding and understaffing of local public defense offices makes engaging in RJA litigation a challenge,’ Chief Deputy State Public Defender Christina Spaulding told Bloomberg Law… ‘The RJA can only be effective if public defenders have the resources and support to take on and carry out this critical litigation,’ she said.”

Read more here: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/california-racial-justice-act-aims-to-redress-bias-clogs-courts

04/26/2026

04/10/2026

AB 1958, authored by Assemblymember passed Assembly Public Safety 👏🏼

Next Step: Assembly Appropriations Committee

📧 Make sure join our email list for updates, action alerts, and more: InitiateJustice.org/Sign-Up

04/09/2026

03/27/2026

Please support AB 1958, which continues the progress of the Racial Justice Act by strengthening protections against racial bias in the justice system. This bill helps ensure that individuals who were impacted by discrimination have a fair opportunity to have their claims heard. By clarifying the law and improving access, AB 1958 moves us closer to true fairness and accountability. I urge you to contact your legislators and ask them to vote YES on AB 1958.

This site was designed to facilitate the submission of position letters to committees as bills move through California’s legislative process. The site is still a work in progress and we are striving to provide you and committees with features that streamline the overall position letter process.

03/11/2026

California Racial Justice Act Claim Succeeds in Granting Franklin Lynch a New Trial

After spending 32 years under a death sentence, 1 on February 9, 2026, the Superior Court of the State of California, Alameda County vacated the conviction and sentence of Franklin Lynch and ordered a new trial under California's Racial Justice Act

02/10/2026

This site provides summary data representing the raw numbers, rates per population, and disparity gaps by race of adults in the California criminal justice system using data provided by the California Department of Justice as well as by the Census Department. Access the Census data here. (See Proving Actionable Racial Disparity Under the California Racial Justice Act, 76 UC L. Journal 1 (2023); see also The Paper Prisons Racial Justice Act Data Tool, 29 Berkeley J. Crim. L. 29 (2024).)

01/30/2026

If the county of conviction does not have a dedicated Racial Justice Act (RJA) team, the next step is to contact the county Public Defender’s Office to ask about RJA review or referral to qualified counsel. If the Public Defender has a conflict or cannot assist, the court can appoint independent or conflict counsel (often through the Independent Defense Counsel Office). Statewide resources such as the ACLU RJA materials or Ella Baker Center’s RJA guides can also help families understand how to initiate an RJA claim and locate experienced attorneys.

01/30/2026

01/28/2026

After the police killing of George Floyd in June 2020, a call for transformative racial justice emerged from the streets. Former Public Defender and current State House representative Ash Kalra took up the challenge of racial justice reform, introducing the Racial Justice Act (AB 2542) to give indiv...