PJLC Files Racial Justice Act Lawsuit Demanding
Prosecutorial Records

The Peace and Justice Law Center (PJLC), together with Chicanxs Unidxs de Orange County and the ACLU Foundations of Southern California and Northern California, has filed a lawsuit against Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer for unlawfully refusing to release public records about how his office enforces California’s Racial Justice Act (RJA).

The Racial Justice Act, passed in 2020, prohibits convictions and sentences based on race, ethnicity, or national origin and allows people to challenge prosecutions tainted by racial bias. For the law to work as intended, the public must be able to see how prosecutors charge cases, apply enhancements, and train their staff. According to the lawsuit, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office has blocked that transparency by denying or delaying multiple public records requests for over a year.

Between 2021 and 2022, the ACLU and Chicanxs Unidxs submitted five separate Public Records Act requests seeking prosecutorial data, policies, and training materials related to the Racial Justice Act. The District Attorney’s office refused to produce any of the requested data, relying on overbroad legal exemptions and claiming that records could not be provided in the requested formats, even though similar data had been released in the past.

This refusal matters because prosecutorial data is essential to identifying racial disparities in charging and sentencing. Prior reports based on older Orange County data showed that people of color, particularly Black and Latino residents, were more likely to face harsher charges and sentence enhancements. More recent data has been withheld, preventing communities, researchers, and defense attorneys from evaluating whether those disparities persist under the current administration.

Through this lawsuit, PJLC and its partners are asking the court to order the District Attorney to comply with California’s Public Records Act, release the requested records, and take steps to regularly publish key prosecutorial data going forward. The case is part of PJLC’s broader strategy to use transparency and accountability tools to enforce the Racial Justice Act and challenge systemic racial bias in the criminal legal system.

PJLC will continue to litigate this case and provide updates as the court considers whether the District Attorney must finally open his office to public scrutiny.

ACLU sues DA Spitzer for 'stonewalling' on release of racial bias records. OC Register.

ACLU sues OC District Attorney Over Racial Justice Act Documents. KFI.