Criminal Justice

Professor Charles Weisselberg weighs in on the push for clemency for people who were convicted of crimes committed before November 1987, when the federal parole system was abolished and replaced with new U.S. sentencing guidelines. 

Rio Scharf, staff attorney for the Criminal Law & Justice Center said the suit currently has two plaintiffs, Vaesau and Colin Scholl. If the suit becomes a class action lawsuit, however, the Criminal Law & Justice Center could represent more than a million individuals who allegedly received only a portion of, or none of, the money they’re entitled to.

UC Berkeley Law’s Criminal Law & Justice Center and Edelson PC file lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, for alleged unlawful failure to provide some or all of the $200 “gate money” to possibly more than a million people.

“The Supreme Court just ripped away the biggest incentive that cities had to build more shelters and supportive housing for the homeless,” write Berkeley Law Professor Jeffrey Selbin and Jamie Suki Chang, associate professor of Social Welfare at UC Berkeley. 

Professor Jeffrey Selbin and Laura Riley, director of the Clinical Program at Berkeley Law, comment on the Grants Pass decision.

Professor Colleen Chien talks to NPR about Maryland’s mass marijuana pardons, drawing attention to not just the proclamation, but the implementation of relief.

“We are talking about incarcerating people and taking away the most fundamental of liberties—one’s freedom, one’s liberty in the truest, purest sense,” said Professor Amanda Tyler. “At its core, habeas reflects the idea … that we want to get it right.”

Professor Elisabeth Semel joins host Christopher Wright Durocher to talk about her recently released report, Guess Who’s Coming to Jury Duty? 

Professor Elisabeth Semel discusses the implications of Batson v. Kentucky (1986) and California’s capitol punishment system. 

Laura Riley, the director of the Clinical Program at Berkeley Law and author of Homeless Advocacy discusses the City of Grants Pass vs. Johnson case.