California Litigation Special Racial Justice Issue

Volume 33, Number 3, 2020

Presented by the California Lawyers Association Litigation Section and Racial Justice Committee. View the PDF version here.

Litigation-Racial Justice Committee Journal Introductory Statement

The California Lawyers Association (the “CLA”) Racial Justice Committee (the “RJC”) was formed in the response to the unlawful killing of George Floyd and numerous other African Americans by law enforcement. Read More

From the Litigation Section Chair

It is an honor and a privilege to be the Chair of the Litigation Section of the California Lawyers Association during one of the most consequential moments in American history. There are three major challenges facing the legal community and, more broadly, our society. First, we are living through the COVID-19 pandemic, which is the worst global pandemic in the past 100 years. Second, we are facing the most devastating economic crisis to hit the United States since the Great Depression. Third, we are living in a critical moment in the struggle for racial justice, civil rights, diversity, and inclusion. Read More

In this issue:

• Editor’s Foreword: At a Crossroads for a Juster System By Benjamin G. Shatz, Editor-in-Chief
• Preventing Discrimination in Jury Selection By William Schlaerth
• Obtaining Information from Law Enforcement Personnel Files: A Defense Attorney’s Perspective By Timothy E. Warriner
• The Guy Miles Case – Race and a Wrongful Conviction By Alissa Bjerkhoel
• The Impact of Innocence: A Lawyer’s Perspective By Melissa O’Connell
• Black Votes Matter By Justice Eileen C. Moore
• The Greatest of the Greatest Generation By Justice Eileen C. Moore
• This Land. Your Land. My Land. By Dawn Schock
• Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America By W. Caleb McDaniel; Reviewed by Marc Alexander
• My Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams By Kirra Jones McDaniel
• Words Matter. Perhaps Especially Ours as Lawyers. By Rupa G. Singh
• The California Supreme Court, 2019-2020: Continuing Evolution of a Diverse Court By Kirk Jenkins
• The Supreme Court’s Statement on Equality and Inclusion
• Masthead