Since 2008, the USC Gould School of Law Post-Conviction Justice Project has co-sponsored or written nearly every juvenile justice bill in California, impacting tens of thousands of lives.
For more than 40 years, PCJP has relentlessly advocated for incarcerated people, providing vital parole workshops and courtroom representation and writing effective legislation that gives people who were once staring at the possibility of dying behind bars a chance at redemption. Our focus is on men and women sentenced to life-terms – many sentenced when they were juveniles 30 and 40 years ago, many sent away to die for defending themselves and their children from their abusers.
Restoring parolees' right to vote
In California, nearly 50,000 people who are currently working, paying taxes, raising families and on parole cannot vote. Through the efforts of PCJP and many re-entry focused organizations, we hope to restore the right to vote to Californians on parole.
Youth access to rehabilitation
In 2018, PCJP consulted and advocated for Senate Bill 1391 to prohibit 14- and 15-year-olds from being tried in adult court and sent to adult prison, ensuring that every young person has access to the rehabilitative services the juvenile system can provide.
Proof required to be convicted of murder
PCJP co-sponsored the 2018 Senate Bill 1437 to end California’s felony murder rule by requiring the prosecution to prove that a defendant killed or intended to kill to be convicted of murder.
Counseling for life-term youth offenders
PCJP, in partnership with Human Rights Watch and former inmates sentenced to juvenile life without parole, conducted workshops throughout the California prison system for every person sentenced to juvenile life without parole in 2018.
Youth offender parole hearings
PCJP co-sponsored Senate Bill 394 in 2017 to provide Youth Offender Parole Hearings for juveniles sentenced to life-without-parole
Youth rights counseling
PCJP consulted and advocated for the 2017 Senate Bill 395 to provide counsel to children under the age of 16 prior to waiving their rights under Miranda law.
Extending parole eligibility
PCJP co-sponsored the 2017 Assembly Bill 1308, extending youth offender parole eligibility to people who were 25 years old or younger when they committed their crimes.
Enhanced public safety, expanded rehabilitation
PCJP consulted and advocated for Proposition 57, which was approved by more than 65% of voters. The 2016 proposition strengthened California’s justice system and increased public safety by expanding rehabilitation in prisons and improving the process by which youth can be tried as adults.
Youth-offender parole eligibility
PCJP consultsed and advocated for Senate Bill 261 in 2015 to create youth-offender parole eligibility to people who committed crimes as youth.
Client Spotlight: Edel
Edel Gonzalez, represented at his parole hearing by PCJP in 2015, became the first person sentenced to juvenile life without parole to be released through the California Fair Sentencing for Youth Act and SB 260.
Ensuring consideration for every youth offender
PCJP consulted and advocated for Assembly Bill 1276 in 20214 to ensure young people under the age of 22 at the time they enter prison are less likely to be placed on the most dangerous prison yards and are more likely to have access to rehabilitative programs and services.
Youth Offender Parole Process
PCJP co-sponsors Senate Bill 26 in 2013 to create the Youth Offender Parole Process, which provides meaningful opportunity for release to children who were tried and sentenced as adults after 15, 20 or 25 years in prison.
Client Spotlight: Mary
Mary Jones, represented by PCJP students in 2013, is released from prison after serving 32 years for a murder committed by her abuser.
Client Spotlight: Edel
PCJP client Edel, who was sentenced to life without parole for a crime he committed at age 16, becomes the first person resentenced under the California Fair Sentencing for Youth Act in 2013.
California Fair Sentencing for Youth Act
The California Fair Sentencing for Youth Act, co-written and supported by PCJP, passes the California legislature in 2012 and is signed into law by the governor, giving a second chance to men and women sentenced to life without parole for crimes committed as children.
"Sin by Silence" bills
PCJP drafts and consults on Assembly Bill 593 and AB-1593 — known as the “Sin by Silence Bills” after the documentary of the same name which features many PCJP clients. AB-593 expands habeas relief for those whose crime related to a history of battering. AB-1593 requires the parole board to give great weight to a history of battering in the parole process.
Client Spotlight: Elnora
Professor Michael Brennan and PCJP students win parole release for Elnora after she served nearly 24 years for the 1984 murder of her abusive husband — a crime she did not commit.
PCJP expands representation
PCJP expands its representation in 2009 to include California clients sentenced to life without parole for crimes committed as children.
Juvenile LWOP advocacy
PCJP advocates for Senate Bill 399 in 2009 regarding juvenile life without parole sentences, which was a precursor bill to SB-9 (which ultimately passed in 2012).
Client Spotlight: Connie
In 2009, PCJP client Connie is released on parole after spending 29 years in prison for sitting in a car while her husband robbed and killed a shop owner. PCJP law student, Adam Reich, launches an aggressive social media campaign to help bring awareness to the injustices of her case.
Landmark Case wins: In re Lawrence
Expansion of Penal Code Section 1473.5
In 2004, PCJP lobbies for important expansion of penal code section 1473.5 to all prisoners convicted of any violent felony where expert testimony on “battered women’s syndrome” would have reduced their culpability.
Habeas relief for survivors of intimate partner violence
In 2001, PCJP partners with Convicted Women Against Abuse, an inmate-led group at the California Institution for Women, to pass penal code section 1473.5 creating habeas relief for survivors of intimate partner violence convicted of killing their abusive partner prior to the admissibility of expert testimony on “battered women’s syndrome.”
Representing women serving life sentences
In 1993, PCJP begins representing women serving life sentences for murder convictions at the California Institution for Women.
PCJP leadership installed
In 1984, Professor Michael Brennan returns to USC to supervise PCJP full-time.
PCJP founded in 1981
The Post-Conviction Justice Project launched at the University of California Gould School of Law launched as a clinic in 1981, and began representing clients at the all-male Federal Correctional Institute on Terminal Island.