PJLC Presents on Racial Justice Advocacy at UCI Law Teach-In

The Peace and Justice Law Center (PJLC) presented on racial justice advocacy at UC Irvine School of Law’s 2024 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Teach-In, joining students, faculty, alumni, and public interest attorneys for a day focused on advancing justice through law. PJLC was invited to participate in a panel examining how legal advocacy can be used to challenge racial discrimination in the criminal legal system.

UCI Law’s annual MLK Jr. Teach-In, established in 2017, is designed to connect the history of public interest law with the urgent justice challenges facing vulnerable communities today. This year’s program explored both civil rights traditions and emerging strategies in areas such as racial justice, labor rights, environmental justice, police accountability, and movement lawyering.

PJLC Co-Executive Director Sean Garcia-Leys participated in the panel titled “The California Racial Justice for All Act: The Law, Its Possibilities and Challenges,” jointly organized by UCI Law’s National Lawyers Guild and Movement Lawyering groups. The panel focused on how California’s Racial Justice Act can be used to confront racial disparities in charging, convictions, and sentencing, and why access to prosecutorial data is essential to enforcing the law.

During the discussion, PJLC shared insights from its ongoing public records litigation against the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, which seeks the release of data needed to evaluate whether prosecutions comply with the Racial Justice Act. PJLC explained how resistance to data transparency undermines the law’s promise, and why litigation, data analysis, and community partnerships must work together to make racial justice protections meaningful in practice.

PJLC also emphasized its movement lawyering approach, which treats legal advocacy as one tool in a broader, community-led effort to reduce harm and advance equal protection of the law. Rather than viewing litigation as an end in itself, PJLC described how impact cases are used to support organizing, shift policy, and create long-term accountability.

The Teach-In featured an opening plenary on “New Horizons in Public Interest Law,” followed by multiple breakout sessions organized by student groups, including the Black Law Students Association, Environmental Law Society, Labor & Work Society, National Lawyers Guild, Movement Lawyering Group, and the Police Misconduct Pro Bono Project. A closing reception allowed participants to continue conversations about justice-centered legal careers.

PJLC’s participation in the MLK Jr. Teach-In reflects its ongoing commitment to education, transparency, and mentoring the next generation of public interest lawyers. By engaging directly with law students and emerging advocates, PJLC continues to build the legal and community capacity needed to enforce civil rights laws and challenge racial bias where it persists.