Race and Criminal Justice

Zaidi balances her multiple passions — building a pipeline for Muslim Indian lawyers, her professional ambitions and advocacy, and a deep love of music — with pinpoint precision.

Rogers, who has forged a stellar career in the reproductive justice movement, knows it’s a pivotal time in the fight to protect bodily autonomy — and is ready for it.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recently considered the 2010 fatal beating of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, thanks to years of work from the International Human Rights Law Clinic. 

With basic rights in peril at home and around the world, the law school community is answering the call.

A recent celebration of 39 works that probe compelling issues across and beyond the legal landscape highlights the faculty’s far-reaching expertise. 

Obasogie says he is “thrilled and grateful” to be one of this year’s 180 recipients of the prestigious fellowship.

Berkeley Law student Nahlee Lin plays a pivotal role in creating the new policy-driven repository.

Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and a panel of experts analyzed how the doctrine has evolved, and how changing it could increase accountability for officers and other government officials. 

Professor Osagie K. Obasogie aims to build bridges between the law school and the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, where he has been a professor since 2016. 

Chacón, who specializes in immigration and constitutional law, and education scholar Glater further bolster a faculty on the rise, with nearly two dozen hires in recent years. 

“The Fire and the Forgotten” will air on PBS in May, on the centennial of what’s known as one of the worst incidents in American history of racial violence against Black people.

Gov. Gavin Newsom partners with Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Berkeley Law’s Death Penalty Clinic on a historic amicus brief about racial discrimination’s impact on how capital punishment is imposed in California. 

The executive director of Berkeley Law’s Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice, Trepczynski discusses race hierarchy and its far-reaching implications.

Members of the Berkeley Law Staff Circle on Anti-Racism (SCAR) contributed to a letter sent to Chancellor Carol Christ regarding the relationship between the campus police department and the school community.

“Precisely the kind of legal scholar the moment demands,” Asad Rahim earned his Ph.D. at Berkeley Law’s Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program.

Professors Taeku Lee, Bertrall Ross, Ian Haney López, Kathryn Abrams, and Abhay Aneja weigh in during a livestreamed Berkeley Conversations event moderated by Dean Erwin Chemerinsky.

Oscar Sarabia Roman ’21, Emma Nicholls ’21, and Gaby Bermudez ’22 honor the work of iconic Judge Thelton Henderson ’62 by advocating for marginalized people of color.

While students, faculty, and staff are scattered around the world, Berkeley Law has brought them together through a variety of online events—many focused on the pandemic and the implications of the death of George Floyd.

An eye-opening report from Berkeley Law’s Death Penalty Clinic shows that racial discrimination is a deeply ingrained part of jury selection in California.

Savala Trepczynski ’11, executive director of Berkeley Law’s Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice, says white people working to overcome their own fears and uncertainty is essential for bridging the racial divide.

As the COVID-19 crisis grips the region, the center’s staffers are finding new angles for advocacy—and seizing the chance to shape the post-coronavirus landscape. 

Two Berkeley Law clinics give immediate financial relief to vulnerable families by persuading California to stop collecting government debt during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Oakland effort has ignited a national call for greater housing rights.

A flurry of new work, including an amicus brief in a hot-button Supreme Court case, shows the depth and reach of Khiara M. Bridges’ intersectional scholarship.

Founded by Berkeley Law students, the organization now supervises two of the school’s student-led initiatives.

More than 50 researchers, public defenders, journalists, activists, and impacted young people probed the role of GPS tracking in juvenile court.

The school’s new faculty bring top credentials and a huge range of practice-area and doctrinal expertise.

Thanks to the initiative of two Policy Advocacy Clinic students, Nevada families will no longer have to pay thousands of dollars for everything from food to a public defender when they have a child in the juvenile delinquency system.

Rachel Gonzalez ’94 discusses moving in-house from Big Law and the challenges of working for an iconic global company. 

Berkeley Law students Karin Bashir and Safa Ansari-Bayegon share insights from their memorable work.

Filed by the East Bay Community Law Center and four partner organizations, the suit also addresses other harmful policing practices on public housing property.

The five journal leaders reflect the growing diversity within Berkeley Law, and within its African-American community.

The program provides paid law-related internships and classes that integrate a legal curriculum with life and leadership skills.

A Berkeley Law clinic’s yearlong effort prods the South’s first court to stop charging administrative fees to families of youth in the juvenile system.  

Tyler is one of 26 Berkeley Law faculty members of the institute, which helps clarify the law and improve how it’s administered.

The coveted two-year fellowship supports promising lawyers who develop innovative projects serving low-income populations.

Clinic leaders, faculty scholars, and student advocates work to level the playing field within America’s legal institutions.

Oscar Sarabia Roman and two Berkeley Law classmates were among 10 finalists chosen from more than 1,200 entries.

Public- and private-sector panelists call for more prosecutor discretion, police accountability, and restorative justice programs.

The director of Berkeley Law’s Policy Advocacy Clinic is honored for his effective, community-driven teaching and research.

Symposium examines the history and enduring challenges of the longtime safeguard against unlawful detention.

Lawyers, researchers, and advocates discuss best practices and strategies for abolishing these regressive charges nationwide.

Daylong conference tackles issues including police tactics, race relations, violent crime, and the marijuana legislation debate.

Record number reflects concerted effort by faculty, staff, and alumni to help offset the lack of racial diversity in America’s judicial chambers.

Angela Onwuachi-Willig and three colleagues fuel effort to eliminate such policies in a growing number of American schools.

Nu has quickly emerged as a leading voice for human rights in Burma.

Education advocates at Berkeley Law collaborate with local public defenders to help vulnerable minors.

The Los Angeles prosecutor steered a multi-agency effort that led to a major award from the Anti-Defamation League.

A two-year standout at Berkeley Law’s Death Penalty Clinic, Tiet was honored for her work ethic and legal acumen.

Athletes, agents, team counsel, and other insiders address current issues in the ever-expanding sports world.

The clinic has earned a national reputation for diligent, effective work on behalf of indigent capital defendants.

A new major grant fuels momentum for Policy Advocacy Clinic to extend its work on the issue.

Professors Melissa Murray, Kenneth Bamberger, Christopher Tomlins, Sonia Katyal and Angela Onwuachi-Willig were feted at a recent ceremony.

The event tackled issues ranging from immigration and domestic surveillance to women’s rights and race relations.

The students offer advice and share empowering legal knowledge in classroom sessions on 4th Amendment and immigration issues.

Alumni and faculty experts will tackle the future of juvenile courts, the state of the U.S. Supreme Court and law’s role in encouraging entrepreneurship in the startup world.

Llanes and 11 other members of her class were selected for coveted opportunities to launch their social justice careers.

Four Berkeley Law scholars analyze how the court decided key cases dealing with abortion, immigration, affirmative action and gun rights.

A nearly six-year legal battle for justice took a new turn as the International Human Rights Law Clinic filed a petition against the U.S. for the death of a Mexican national by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The Policy Advocacy Clinic faculty and students at Berkeley Law and the East Bay Community Law Center have launched an Initiative to End Racial and Economic Disparities in Juvenile Justice, a collaborative, interdisciplinary, and experiential approach to better understand and ultimately eliminate racial and economic disparities in the juvenile justice system.  More information about this exciting initiative will be coming soon.

Working with the Goldman School’s Steve Raphael, Professor Justin McCrary helped to build a new website for the California Attorney General with extensive information on arrests, violence against officers, and deaths in custody. Although there are still gaps, thanks to their work California now has the most comprehensive and user-friendly system in the nation for providing this kind of information.  You can check it out here: http://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/

Clinic provides legal roadmap for families of those killed by federal agents.

The Henderson Center sponsored 10 current Berkeley Law students to attend the #Law4BlackLives conference hosted by the Center for Constitutional Rights on July 31, 2015 in New York, Hear the students share their experiences Sept 17, 12:45 p.m. in 132 Law Building. Event details are here. To reserve a lunch, please RSVP at: http://tinyurl.com/pp2b4zs.

The International Human Rights Law Clinic is working with Alliance San Diego to document abuse by Customs Border Patrol (CBP) agents, elevate the most egregious cases of abuse in the media, seek justice for the aggrieved, and pursue administrative and legislative policy solutions to improve oversight and accountability of the agents. There has been substantial progress made on policy, but advocates, victims, and their families have been frustrated by the lack of legal accountability.