"The law allows convicted defendants to challenge the length of their prison terms if they can demonstrate racial disparities or discriminatory practices in the California jurisdiction where their case was prosecuted. But five years after its passage, the law has hardly been used, according to an analysis of newly obtained sentencing data by the Stanford Law School Three Strikes Project and NAACP's Legal Defense Fund."
"Across California "there has been no finding by any judge of disparate sentencing" as outlined by the law, according to Michael S. Romano, director of the Stanford Law project. On Monday, the Stanford Law group and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund announced the filing of 18 new petitions between five counties - including Los Angeles and Riverside - citing "gross racial disparities in sentencing for low level common crimes under the Three Strikes law.""
California enacted the Racial Justice Act in August 2020 to allow convicted defendants to challenge prison term lengths by proving racial disparities or discriminatory practices in the prosecuting jurisdiction. Five years after passage, newly obtained sentencing data indicate the law has been rarely used and that no judge has found disparate sentencing under its standards. Stanford Law School Three Strikes Project and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed 18 petitions across five counties, including Los Angeles and Riverside, alleging gross racial disparities and disproportionate life sentences under the Three Strikes law.
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