Advocacy

CURB is a proud co-sponsor of AB 1071 "The Racial Justice Act: Court Procedures" authored by Assemblymember Ash Kalra. AB 1071 would build on the Racial Justice Act/Racial Justice Act 4 All by making clarifying changes to ensure that RJA claims are processed in accordance with the original intent of the law. 

AB 1071 (Kalra) will affirm a low threshold for the appointment of counsel, ensure access to discovery, and reaffirm the importance of the courts imposing remedies that eliminate bias and redress past harms. 

Co-Sponsors: American Friends Service Committee, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, California Public Defenders Association, Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), Initiate Justice, Silicon Valley DeBug, USF Racial Justice Clinic.

Background on the Racial Justice Act/ Racial Justice Act 4 All: The California Racial Justice Act (RJA), first enacted in Assembly Bill 2542 (Kalra), extends civil rights in the courtroom to empower individuals to challenge racist conduct against them in their criminal court proceedings. Now, with its successor, Assembly Bill 256 (Kalra), signed into law in 2022, everyone can use the RJA to challenge racism in their California state convictions or sentences.

CURB is a proud co-sponsor of AB 622 "The Rehabilitation Recognition Act" authored by Assemblymember Kalra. AB 622 (Kalra) would reaffirm CDCR’s authority to award earned credits to individuals serving indeterminate sentences who have demonstrated good conduct and completed educational and rehabilitative programming. It ensures that those found suitable for parole are not held unnecessarily beyond their parole dates, acknowledging the work they’ve done to change and grow. This legislation is about recognizing rehabilitation, restoring hope, and respecting the integrity of the parole process.

Co-Sponsors: Initiate Justice Action, Initiate Justice, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, USC Post Conviction Justice Project, Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), UnCommon Law, Californians for Safety & Justice, and Bridges of Hope. 

CURB is an anchor coalition for and co-leads the Budget 2 Save Lives (B2SL) super collective, a workspace for budget advocates to collaborate on local and state budget issues in order to advance public health and our collective divest/invest goals. Focusing on budget analysis, a just transition to healthier economies, and the intersection of criminal legal reform and immigration, B2SL’s innovative advocacy training workshops help educate and prepare communities on how to fight for the resources they deserve. B2SL’s Campaign Coordinator is CURB staff member Michaé De La Cuadra. 

CURB is a proud member of the DropLWOP Coalition, whose mission is to end Life Without Parole sentencing in California. The #DropLWOP coalition supports those currently serving LWOP, no matter the conviction, through legislative change, public awareness and education, commutations, pardons, resentencing, and public awareness about the injustice of the LWOP sentence, the death sentence by another name. The coalition helped create Senate Bill 94 (SB 94), which would allow judges to provide judicial review for LWOP sentences for individuals who were sentenced to LWOP or sentenced to death.

CURB is a member of The Re-Imagine LA County Coalition (RELA) and serves on the  Coordinating Committee. In 2020, CURB co-led a public education campaign to re-imagine public safety that helped move over 2.1 million voters to pass Measure J, which permanently changed the County Charter to require a minimum of 10 percent of unrestricted revenue to go toward alternatives to incarceration and investments in Black and marginalized communities. 

RELA is the author of a Care First Budget. The coalition supports participatory budgeting and works diligently on Care First Community Investment (CFCI) and Measure J implementation, driving hundreds of millions of dollars toward public safety priorities like permanent supportive housing, harm reduction strategies and non-carceral form of community-based care.  

CURB is a founding member of the JusticeLA Coalition (JLA) and serves on the Executive Team. JLA was formed in 2017 from the community based advocacy of countless families separated by the largest jail system in the world. In partnership with grassroots organizations, advocates, directly impacted communities, and stakeholders, JLA works to reduce the footprint of incarceration by stopping jail expansion and reclaiming, reimagining and reinvesting dollars away from incarceration and into community-based systems of care. JLA successfully stopped LA County’s $3.5 billion jail expansion plan and helped co-create LA County’s Alternatives to Incarceration Workgroup report. Closing Men’s Central Jail is one of JLA’s key priorities.