Every legislative session, we work to advance a legislative agenda that pushes our state forward.
Racial and Economic Justice
We envision a world where unhoused people are treated with the dignity and respect to which they are entitled. Sadly, on any given night, California has around 173,000 unhoused individuals. As a result, unhoused people …
Criminal Justice & Policing, Racial and Economic Justice
Every year, law enforcement agencies search tens of thousands of people in California without any warrant, probable cause, nor even any reason to suspect a crime. These baseless “consent searches” occur when police stop someone …
Reproductive Justice & Gender Equity
Reproductive freedom is under attack, and California is no exception. While other states ban abortions, reactionary groups in California are trying to prosecute pregnancy loss. Pregnancy criminalization is a rising threat – in the past …
Criminal Justice & Policing, Privacy & Technology, Racial and Economic Justice
Biometric Surveillance (face recognition) on police body cameras enables pervasive monitoring of the public without their knowledge or consent, registering and reporting who we are and where we go. These tracking systems are inconsistent. Facial …
Racial and Economic Justice
The word “squaw” is a profoundly offensive term that epitomizes the racism and sexism Native American women face. Language that sexualizes, degrades, and dehumanizes Native American women encourages and sanctions violence against them. This depiction of Indigenous …
Criminal Justice & Policing, Education Equity
Decades of research show the long-term harm to young people of even minimal contact with the juvenile or criminal legal systems. Once students make contact with law enforcement, they are less likely to graduate high …
Criminal Justice & Policing
All 58 counties in California have a sheriff’s department but not all have a separate coroner or medical examiner’s office. The duties of the coroner are currently combined with the sheriff’s department in 48 counties. …
Immigrant Rights
Too many of our community members who have served their time and been deemed eligible for release have been transferred unnecessarily from our jails and prisons to immigration detention. The VISION Act protects those individuals …
Criminal Justice & Policing, Reproductive Justice & Gender Equity
Everyone has a right to feel safe in their communities. California’s law that criminalizes loitering with intent to commit prostitution gives law enforcement a tool to harass and discriminate against Black and trans communities, particularly …
Criminal Justice & Policing
The California Racial Justice Act (Act) prohibits the state from seeking or obtaining a criminal conviction, or from imposing a sentence, based upon race, ethnicity or national origin (AB 2542). While this landmark Act made …