Sanctuary for All: Effective Criminal/Immigration Policy Fixes

SANCTUARY FOR ALL Effective Intersectional Criminal/Immigration Policy Fixes

STATE LAWS

Pre-Plea Diversion

• Amending Deferred Entry of Judgment to include Pretrial Diversion: Cal. Penal Code § 1000

Prosecutorial Accountability

• Mandating prosecutors take into account immigration and “interests of justice” consequences when plea bargaining: Cal. Penal Code § 1016.3 • Creating sentence modification tool for prosecutors: AB 2942

Sentencing

• Retroactive Misdemeanor 364-day Sentencing: Cal. Penal Code § 18.5. Other states: WA, NV Pending: NY

Post-Conviction Relief

• Vacatur for Certain Drug Offenses: Cal. Penal Code § 1203.43 • Vacatur for citizens with claims of actual innocence and noncitizens who didn’t understand immigration consequences: Cal. Penal Code § 1473.7 • Eliminating felony murder rule and allowing people to replead: SB 1437

Youth

• Juvenile Confidentiality. Establishes juvenile confidentiality by prohibiting unauthorized disclosure of juvenile records to federal officials, including immigration officials: Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 831.

Gang Database •

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Prohibit Sharing Gang Database Information. Requires notice to an individual before being placed on a gang database, makes the database accessible to the public and provides a mechanism for individuals to challenge erroneous designation: Cal. Penal Code § 186.34 Fair and Accurate Gang Databases. Makes Department of Justice responsible for administering and overseeing any shared gang database, requires the department to promulgate regulations governing the use, operation, and oversight of any shared gang database (including a prohibition on disclosing information in a shared gang database for purposes of enforcing federal immigration law): Cal. Penal Code § 183.36

Marijuana and Other Decriminalization

• Ensure that marijuana decriminalization law has proper vacatur language, is prospective and retroactive: Cal Prop 64 • Decriminalization of other behavior like California’s SB 946 re street vendors

Prosecutorial Accountability • •

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LOCAL ADVOCACY

Expanded pre-plea diversion Expanded consideration of immigration and other consequences when plea bargaining Expanded access to clean slate/post-conviction relief Community point-person and community engagement

Policing • • •

Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) Cite and Release (See Austin Freedom City policy) Data collection, reporting, and required justification for discretionary arrests (See Austin Freedom City policy)

Holistic Public Defense

• Advocate for funding for public defenders • Include Padilla counsel, deportation defense counsel, and holistic defenders

Probation

• Advocating for community alternatives to probation • County prohibition on probation info sharing

Bail Reform (state also)

• End cash bail and decrease pre-trial detention • Release people directly from court on OR or PR bonds, rather than bring them back to jail for outprocessing

Fight Jail and Prison Expansion and Construction

• Successful intersectional campaigns include Richmond, CA

A constellation of amazing advocates gets credit for advocating for these policies. The ILRC co-sponsored and/or drafted some, but not all of these pieces of legislation.

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is a national nonprofit that works with immigrants, community organizations, legal professionals, and policy makers to build a democratic society that values diversity and the rights of all people. Through community education programs, legal training & technical assistance, and policy development & advocacy, the ILRC works to protect and defend the fundamental rights of immigrant families and communities.

For more information and resources, visit ilrc.org.