Nationally, as part of the Debt Free Justice campaign, faculty and students supported successful bills to abolish juvenile fees and fines in Arizona, Illinois, Montana, Texas, and Washington. Hawai'i also passed a resolution requiring collection of data on juvenile fees, fines, and restitution. In response to the clinic’s call signed by 180 groups across the country and political spectrum, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a “Dear Colleague” letter in April encouraging states and localities to eliminate fees and fines imposed on youth in the juvenile legal system.

On behalf of Debt Free Justice California and in collaboration with lobbyist Danica Rodarmel ’17, PAC supported efforts to reimagine the youth restitution system. Assemblymember Mia Bonta introduced Assembly Bill 1186 (the REPAIR Act) to provide crime survivors with more equitable and stable compensation from the state while setting youth who have caused harm on a more meaningful path towards rehabilitation and accountability. PAC student Arielle Rodriguez '23 co-authored an op-ed in Ms. Magazine with an impacted young person, Xochtil Larios, on the importance of such legislation. Now a two-year bill, the REPAIR Act passed the Assembly and will be considered in the Senate in January.

This year, PAC faculty members presented their work at several conferences across the country and overseas, including the Liman Center Budgeting for Justice Colloquium at Yale Law School, the Association of American Law Schools Conference on Clinical Legal Education in San Francisco, the Law and Society Annual Meeting in Puerto Rico, the Applied Legal Storytelling Conference in London, the Debt Free Justice convening in Washington, D.C., and the Clinical Law Review Writers’ Workshop at NYU Law School. (Photo: Interim Deputy Director Rachel Wallace, left, and Co-Director Stephanie Campos-Bui in London)

This summer, PAC Clinical Supervisor Maiya Zwerling and Interim Deputy Director Rachel Wallace collaborated with Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ) to host a four-part policy series in Oakland for Bay Area youth. With the goal of increasing the participation of youth in advocacy spaces, the series covered topics ranging from bringing the personal into the policy arena to analyzing and drafting legislation. During one of the sessions, Co-Director Stephanie Campos-Bui spoke on a panel about “Authenticity and Respectability Politics in Policy Spaces.”

Amanda Chang ’23 was awarded the Berkeley Law Pro Bono Champion Award for their commitment to the values of pro bono work. They organized the school’s first in-person Hawai'i Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trip (BLAST) and co-led the Free the Land Project. Amanda worked for two years on PAC’s Hawai'i project and testified last spring in support of statewide legislation ending juvenile fees and fines.

Meredith Huang ’23 was awarded the law school’s Brian M. Sax Prize for Excellence in Clinical Advocacy for her work in PAC and the Death Penalty Clinic. She supported PAC’s work in Utah, drafting for a statewide bill to eliminate juvenile fees and fines and advocating for district attorney offices to adopt local policies limiting the use of monetary sanctions. Congratulations to Amanda and Meredith!

More than 300 students enrolled in clinics last year, demonstrating their commitment to social justice and developing the skills to be effective advocates. Please take a look at the Clinical Program’s annual report to learn more about how clinics stand with threatened individuals and communities in pursuit of transformative justice.