Document Library

Affirmative Litigation 

Complaint — Scholl v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 9/11/24

Amicus Briefs

Amicus Brief – of Center for Constitutional Rights, Bates v. DeSantis, 8/14/25

Amicus Curiae letter brief from CLJC in Ricky Jay Lisby v. Contra Costa County Superior Court, 8/14/25

Amicus Brief — The People v. Superior Court (Touray), 3/10/25

Amicus Brief — State of Oregon v. Casuga, 2/24/25

Amicus Brief — Snap Inc v. Superior Court of San Diego County, 2/24/25

Amicus Curiae letter brief  in support of Ms. Teran’s petition for writ of prohibition – 2/19/25

Amicus Brief — McDaniel v. Superior Court of San Mateo County, 2/11/25

Amicus Brief — Hannah v. Oregon, 6/13/24

Amicus Brief — Silicon Valley DeBug, 11/8/2023

AI for Public Defenders

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being adopted in the U.S. criminal defense system, particularly among public defenders and private defense attorneys handling large caseloads. This portal focuses on existing AI tools and case studies of their implementation in criminal defense, highlighting how these technologies assist with case management, evidence analysis, legal research, and client communications.

Learn more about AI for Public Defenders here. 

Op-Eds

Voters want both ‘tough on crime’ and compassionate reform- Los Angeles Times, 11/4/25

La oposición a Trump busca equilibrio – EL PAÍS, 7/13/25

Trump’s hypothetical Alcatraz plan is scary. His move to end prison rape protections is scarier – San Francisco Chronicle, 5/6/25

Broken rules, broken justice: The DNA evidence problem — Daily Journal, 3/5/25

With all eyes on Trump, this crucial California criminal case has flown under the radar — San Francisco Chronicle, 1/26/25

The Supreme Court could make homelessness worse in America — Salon, 4/20/24

San Francisco is punting its failures on homelessness to Trump judges — San Francisco Standard, 3/2/24

Why I’m Not Running for Office in 2024 — San Francisco Chronicle, 5/31/23

Policy Briefs

Contracted to Fail: How Flat-Fee Contracts Undermine the Right to Counsel in California — The Wren Collective, 3/19/25

Using Discretion to Achieve Prop 36 Goals

Scholarship 

California Resentencing Guide For Life Without Parole Sentences (LWOP), 9/15/25

Defense Lawyers and the Separation of Powers — forthcoming, Wake Forest Law Review, 2/17/25

The Intersection of Climate Justice and Criminal Justice Extreme: Heat and Health Inequities in Carceral Facilities — JAMA, 1/22/25

Attribution Matters: How Causal Explanations Influence Perceptions of Dangerousness and Racial Classification — Criminal Justice and Behavior, 12/31/24

Towards Pretrial Criminal Adjudication — forthcoming, Boston College Law Review, 11/19/24

Establishing National Standards for Carceral Health Care — The Federal Prison Oversight Act, JAMA, 11/18/2024

California’s Mental Health Diversion Courts: Navigating Failures and Charting Solutions — IAFMHS Newsletter 2024 9 – 4 Quarter

Criminal Justice Reform is Health Care Reform — JAMA, 12/14/2023

Berkeley Empirical Research in Quantitative Justice (BERQ-J) Workshop

Are you conducting quantitative research related to crime and justice? Would you like to share your findings with colleagues from adjacent disciplines working on similar issues? We’re thrilled to invite you to a new workshop series!

We’ve launched a new lunchtime meeting series emphasizing grad students and early-career researchers, to build the quantitative criminal justice research community at UC Berkeley. Learn more about BERQ-J here.