The UC Berkeley Criminal Law & Justice Center, in partnership with pro-bono counsel at Salahi PC, has filed a class-action lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) for failing to provide the legally required $200 gate money to people released from prison. Filed in September 2024, this landmark case seeks to recover money owed to hundreds of thousands of people released from California prisons over the past 30 years who were denied crucial financial support needed to rebuild their lives after incarceration.
As part of the litigation, the legal team is reviewing thousands of confidential CDCR documents that reveal problematic policies and practices related to gate money distribution. Though the case is ongoing, it has already achieved significant impact: CDCR has stopped deducting transportation and apparel costs from people’s gate money and has committed to changing one of the decades-old regulations at issue in the case.