California Racial Justice Act of 2020

The California Racial Justice Act of 2020 (AB 2542) bars the state from seeking or securing a criminal conviction or imposing a sentence on the basis of race, ethnicity or national origin. The Act, in part, allows a person to challenge their criminal case if there are statistical disparities in how people of different races are either charged, convicted or sentenced of crimes. The Act counters the effect of the widely criticized 1987 Supreme Court decision in McClesky v. Kemp, which rejected the use of statistical disparities in the application of the death penalty to prove the kind of intentional discrimination required for a constitutional violation.[1][2] The Act, however, goes beyond countering McClesky to also allow a defendant to challenge their charge, conviction or sentence if a judge, attorney, law enforcement officer, expert witness, or juror exhibited bias or animus towards the defendant because of their race, ethnicity, or national origin or if one of those same actors used racially discriminatory language during the trial. The CRJA only applies prospectively to cases sentenced after January 1, 2021.[3] The Act is codified in Sections 745, 1473 and 1473.7 of the California Penal Code.

The CRJA reflects and is part of a growing movement to address racial injustice in the criminal legal system, including police brutality, disparate charging practices, and mass incarceration, particularly in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.[4] The Act was part of a trio of major criminal justice reforms that were passed in the last few days of the 2019-2020 legislative session, despite certain limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] The other two reforms included AB 3070 (a jury selection reform requiring clear and convincing evidence that a preemptory strike was not related to a protected class) and AB 2512 (amending the death penalty disability statute to prevent anyone who satisfies the scientific definition of intellectual disability to be eligible for the death penalty).[5] Of the three, the CRJA is considered to be the most expansive.[5] However, given its recent enactment, few defendants have brought claims and little is known about how robustly courts will interpret it.[6][7]

  1. ^ AB 2542, Sec. 2.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cal. Penal Code § 745(j).
  4. ^ 1 Witkin, Cal. Crim. Law 4th Intro--Crimes § 120 (2022).
  5. ^ a b c "California Legislature Confronts Racial Discrimination in New Criminal Justice Reform Package". American Bar Association. October 28, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).