Law Commons^™

Beyond The Squabble: Putting The Tenderloin Community Justice Center In Context, Michael Cobden, Ron Albers

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

The Tenderloin Community Justice Center ("CJC") began operation in May 2009 amid a tense political and economic climate. Although it employs an innovative approach to alleviating crime, the CJC is not a novel concept, but rather modeled after successful community courts already in existence. As a product of community efforts, the CJC aims to address the shortcomings of the traditional court system, which has been ineffective in reducing crime and recidivism rates, by offering alternatives to incarceration. By coordinating service providers intimately with the court, the CJC provides a centralized system that allows it to comprehensively examine an offender's problems …

Defining The Problem, Hadar Aviram

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

Litigation Over Prison Medical Services, Aaron Rappaport

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

An Overview Of Special Populations In California Prisons, Eumi K. Lee

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

Reconceptualizing Restorative Justice, Kate E. Bloch

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

Decent Work, Human Rights, And The Millennium Development Goals, Gillian Macnaughton, Diane F. Frey

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

The Millennium Development Goals ("MDGs") have provided the global framework for international development and poverty elimination policy for almost a decade. This framework includes time-bound targets and indicators to monitor progress toward the Goals. Initially, full employment and decent work for all was not part of the MDG framework. In 2007, however, the UN General Assembly approved four new MDG targets, including the achievement of "full and productive employment and decent work for all." This article discusses this new MDG target and its indicators from social justice and human rights perspectives. It argues that uniting the overlapping agendas of the …

We've Been Waiting A Long Time - The Struggle To Pass The Filipino Veterans Equity Act And A Bittersweet Ending To A Sixty-Three-Year Battle, Paul Daniel Rivera

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into effect the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Buried amidst the hundreds of pages and the billions of dollars given out by the bill was Title X, Section 1002, a diminutive two pages of text authorizing the federal government to give "Payments to Eligible Persons Who Served in the United States Armed Forces in the Far East During World War II." However, Section 1002 was neither designed nor included to create jobs or stimulate the economy. In reality, Section 1002 was included to authorize a long-deserved $198 million payout to …

Humonetarianism: The New Correctional Discourse Of Scarcity, Hadar Aviram

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

Criminological accounts of penological discourse in the United States often focus on the transition to more punitive policies beginning in the late 1970s, which led the U.S. to top international charts of incarceration rates per capita. However, recent developments in punitive policies and practices suggest a reversal of the punitive pendulum. This article maps these developments, arguing that they represent the emergence of a new correctional discourse, called humonetarianism, which focuses on scarcity of resources and on cost-benefit analysis as its main raison d'être.

This article begins by tracing the history of humonetarianism, offering two complementary genealogies for this discourse. …

A Deadly Response: Unconscious Racism And California's Provocative Act Doctrine, Katherine N. Hallinan

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

In rural Northern California, two young black men are shot multiple times from behind. Their friend, who is also black, is charged with their murders, while the gunman, who is white, walks free. During an alleged gang brawl between teenagers, a young Latino man is stabbed and killed. His friends, and not the actual perpetrator, are charged and convicted of the crime. The defendants are Latino, the gunman is white. California's little-known provocative act doctrine, which holds felons liable for killings that are provoked by a felon's provocative act, is the vehicle prosecutors used to charge each of these young …

Dangerousness, Risk, And Release, Hadar Aviram, Valerie Kraml, Nicole Schmidt

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

Changing The Topography Of Sentencing, Kate E. Bloch

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

The Centerpiece To Real Reform - Political, Legal, And Social Barriers To Reentry In California, Eumi K. Lee

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

Sentencing Reform In California, Aaron Rappaport

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

Can These Bones Live - A Look At The Impacts Of The War On Drugs On Poor African-American Children And Families, Nekima Levy-Pounds

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

The war on drugs has resulted in sharp increases in prison sentences for many drug-related crimes. Due to the structure of the federal sentencing guidelines and the disparity in sentences relating to power cocaine and crack, the primary burden of these increased sentences has disproportionately affected poor African Americans. The war on drugs legislation has also had a marked impact on another population - the families and children of the incarcerated. This article discusses the rationales behind the war on drugs legislation, addressing both the initial enactments and subsequent statutes and cases that have changed the landscape of drug-related sentencing. …

Harming Vulnerable Children: The Injustice Of California's Kinship Foster Care Policy, Meredith L. Alexander

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

California denies state foster care benefits to nonfederally eligible foster children when they are placed with relative caregivers (a placement known as "kinship foster care"). This note explores the unique benefits and needs of kinship foster care, and analyzes the current legal framework regarding kinship foster care, including the justifications for California's policy. The author argues that this California policy fails to embrace the unique benefits and needs of kinship foster care. Furthermore, the policy is contradictory to the state mandated placement priority with relatives. By not properly supporting kinship foster care, California is harming the state's most vulnerable children …

Interrogation Is Not Ethnography: The Irrational Admission Of Gang Cops As Experts In The Field Of Sociology, Christopher Mcginnis, Sarah Eisenhart

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

Courts regularly qualify police officers as "gang experts" in prosecutions under California's Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act. This note argues that absent independent, scientifically-verifiable expertise, the use of police officers as gang experts violates even California courts' low standard for admitting expert evidence. The note begins by analyzing the language and the legislative intent of the Act, including its substantive offense components, sentence enhancement and alternative penalty sections. The note next discusses the evidentiary power of police officers when testifying as gang experts, focusing on the substantial risk of prejudice resulting from such testimony and the officers' ability to …