COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS TO COMBAT RACISM: ACADEMICS AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS IN THE PURSUIT OF RACIAL JUSTICE IN CALIFORNIA

Authors

Alvarez, Karina
Cameron-Wedding, Dr. Rita

Abstract

Lawyers and academics frequently cooperate to shape public policy and outcomes in specific cases, including in the area of racial justice. However, too frequently, lawyers and academics operate in silos—working towards the same goal of racial justice, but in different arenas. Lawyers are bound to their clients, foremost, and to advocacy before the court—often so much so that they might lose sight of broader challenges, achievements, and theories in racial justice. By contrast, academics spend their lives in the abstract, leaving them at risk of losing sight of the on-the-ground impact of their expert theoretical advances. This article aims to show lawyers and academics how they can more seamlessly work together to advance racial justice, including in the exciting new landscape available because of the California Racial Justice Act.

Recommended Citation

Alvarez, Karina and Cameron-Wedding, Dr. Rita, COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS TO COMBAT RACISM: ACADEMICS AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS IN THE PURSUIT OF RACIAL JUSTICE IN CALIFORNIA, 65 Santa Clara L. Rev. 201 (2025).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/lawreview/vol65/iss1/5