In partnership with allied law firms and advocacy organizations, CLJC is working to protect the right to counsel in California’s 58 counties. Through research, education, and litigation, the Center works to ensure all Californians receive zealous defense when charged with a crime, regardless of where they are charged or what they can afford.
CLJC will soon be co-publishing a report documenting the excessive caseloads borne by attorneys working under flat-fee indigent defense contracts, whereby counties pay private lawyers and firms a set amount of money to represent a limitless number of clients. The report draws on large-scale criminal justice data from counties across California to illustrate the human cost of this failed funding model.
CLJC also serves as the institutional home for the newly launched California Independent Commission on Public Defense, a distinguished body of jurists, legislators, practitioners, and scholars convened to develop a concrete legislative and budgetary framework for reforming California’s public defense system. The Commission will produce a legislative roadmap, a five-year state funding plan, and comprehensive statewide funding and compensation standards—all designed to be enacted by the California Legislature. Its first public meeting will be held on October 9, 2026, at Berkeley Law.