Peace And Justice Law Center

The organization's second largest program service by expense is its education and public-interest information program. This work advances several charitable purposes recognized in Treas. Reg. § 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(2), including the advancement of education, elimination of prejudice and discrimination, lessening of neighborhood tensions, and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency. The program also furthers IRS-recognized educational and charitable activities such as dissemination of public-interest research, professional training related to civil rights and criminal justice, and community education directed toward violence prevention, alternatives to incarceration, and public transparency. All activities in this program are conducted without charge. In 2024, the PJLC supported the statewide Data for Racial Justice Training by assisting with planning and by providing instruction to public defenders from across California. The training focused on methods for obtaining, interpreting, and presenting crime data to support statistical arguments under the California Racial Justice Act. This work advanced the charitable purposes of educating professionals engaged in the administration of justice, promoting nondiscriminatory practices, and supporting the dissemination of accurate, research-based information on race and criminal legal outcomes. The PJLC also presented at the University of California, Berkeley's Racial Justice Act Symposium. Staff participated in a plenary panel examining how community organizations, researchers, and other non-defense stakeholders can contribute to statewide efforts to implement the Racial Justice Act. This work advanced the charitable purposes of education, elimination of prejudice and discrimination, and the development of research-based strategies for improving fairness in the criminal system. The presentation delivered at the symposium was later revised and published as an article in the UC Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law. This publication further advanced the organization's educational mission by analyzing racial justice policies, documenting community-based strategies for addressing disparities, and making this information publicly available to scholars, policymakers, and practitioners. Throughout 2024, the PJLC continued to lead joint meetings of the Decriminalizing Neighborhoods Network and the California Alliance for Youth and Community Justice. These statewide coalitions meet regularly to examine and promote public health approaches to reducing community violence and state violence, with a particular focus on youth. By planning and facilitating meetings every two weeks, the PJLC advanced the charitable purposes of public education, dissemination of research on community safety, and lessening neighborhood tensions through nonpunitive violence-prevention strategies. In addition, Oxford University Press published a chapter authored by PJLC's Executive Director in its Handbook of Gangs and Society. The chapter examines community responses to gang injunctions and contributes to scholarship on violence reduction, community organizing, and alternatives to punitive policing practices. This work advanced the public's understanding of community-based strategies for combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency. The PJLC also supervised graduate students at the University of California, Irvine as they completed a capstone research project analyzing the effects of AB 333, a law passed in 2021. The project evaluated how changes to California law affected gang-related prosecutions and the operation of gang enhancements. This work advanced education and research related to criminal justice reform. Finally, the PJLC presented on racial justice advocacy at the University of California, Irvine School of Law's MLK Day Teach-In. The presentation provided law students with education on racial justice, civil rights enforcement, and community-based approaches to legal advocacy.

The organization's third largest program service provides direct civil legal services to individuals transitioning out of gang involvement or targeted for gang-suppression enforcement. This is a state-funded CalVIP violence-reduction pilot designed to test whether addressing legal barriers can support gang desistance and reduce community violence. The program advances charitable purposes including combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency, eliminating prejudice and discrimination, and promoting alternatives to incarceration. The program focuses on legal barriers that research shows can prolong gang involvement and increase violence risk, such as gang injunctions, diversion-program navigation, driver license holds, wage garnishments, child-support arrears, and immigration-related obstacles. These legal issues are linked to social marginalization, economic instability, and other adverse experiences associated with gang involvement. During the year, the organization maintained a docket of approximately 9 to 14 participants at a time, with each participant receiving services for about one year on average. Activities included outreach to individuals exiting gangs, comprehensive legal assessment, direct representation in civil and administrative matters, and coordination with re-entry service providers for non-legal needs. The program incorporates structured data collection and external evaluation to measure reductions in arrests, new charges, and probation violations as compared to a control group. Findings will help develop new legal-services-based violence-reduction strategies for broader community benefit.