Statistical Analysis in the Racial Justice Act

The California Racial Justice Act (RJA), enacted in 2020, allows defendants to file a claim if they believe they have experienced racial bias through disparate charging and sentencing or blatantly racist language.

There are 4 types of RJA claims:

1. a(1): During prosectution, someone (e.g., judge, lawyer, witness, etc.) showed racial bias.
2. a(2): During prosectution, someone (e.g., judge, lawyer, witness, etc.) used racist language.
3. a(3): The defendant was charged or convicted of a more serious offense than other similarly situated defendants, and there is evidence the prosecution more frequently sought or obtained more severse offenses for defendants of the same race as the defendant.
4. a(4): A longer or more severe sentance was imposed on the defendant than other similarly situated defendants, and there is evidence the prosecution more frequently sought or obtained more severse sentences on defendants of the same race as the defendant.

Both a(3) and a(4) claims can be supported with statistical evidence. I have served as a testifying expert witness and authored multiple expert declarations in support of these claims.

For an example case study and recommended best practices see RJA examples repository. Paper coming soon!