Dear friends,
In 2024, PAC staff and students continued to support state and local partners in campaigns to end regressive and racist laws and practices in the juvenile and criminal legal systems.
In California, the clinic represented Debt Free Justice California in a successful campaign to enact pathbreaking reform to a broken restitution system. The clinic also co-authored a new report on how bail reform continues to fall short in the state.
Nationally, our Debt Free Justice campaign continued to make progress toward our goal of repealing juvenile fees and fines across the country, including hosting a convening of advocates and impacted youth in Berkeley last month, passing reform in Washington that relieved thousands of youth and families of $43 million in outstanding debt, and passing a data resolution as a precursor to repealing juvenile fees and fines in Hawaii.
In invited essays in the Wisconsin Law Review, three PACulty members wrote about our work in relation to what scholar Bernadette Atuahene calls “stategraft,” or the practice of public officials raising revenue off the backs of people who are poorly positioned to fight back.
Finally, in staff news, Co-Director Stephanie Campos-Bui received another prestigious campus award, and we welcomed two new Clinical Supervisors to the PAC family. We also said goodbye to Clinical Supervisor Rachel Wallace, but we are thrilled she is still nearby.
Please read more about these exciting developments below. And on behalf of the PACulty, we wish you wonderful holidays and a happy and healthy new year.
Warmly,
Devan, Jeff & Stephanie
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