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Civil Rights

Jan. 15, 2025

Stubblefield ruling sets new standard for racial bias in courtroom language

In People v. Stubblefield, the court applied California's Racial Justice Act to vacate a conviction, finding the prosecutor's language implicitly appealed to racial bias, expanding the definitions of "appeal" to include both explicit and implicit racial references and "about" to include explanations in which race is but one factor.

Sam Jacobs

Adjunct Lecturer, UC Berkeley School of Law and USF School of Law

She spent her litigation career representing people sentenced to death in state and federal post-conviction proceedings.

Shutterstock

California's Racial Justice Act codifies a promise that biased language has no place in the courtroom. In People v. Stubblefield, No. H048598, 2024 WL 5231745 (Cal. Ct. App. December 26, 2024) the Sixth Appellate District offered guidance on what constitutes (1) an "appeal" to racially charged or racially coded language, Penal Code Section 745, subdivision (h)(4); and the meaning of "discriminatory language about a defendant's race." Penal Code Section 745 (a)(2). The ...

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