PJLC Joins Economic Justice Coalition to Address
Poverty

The Peace and Justice Law Center (PJLC) has joined the Orange County Economic Justice Initiative, a countywide coalition of funders and nonprofit organizations working to reduce poverty and advance economic justice in Orange County. PJLC was invited to participate by the coalition’s convenors in recognition of its work addressing the legal and systemic harms that keep people trapped in poverty.

The Orange County Economic Justice Initiative brings together funders and frontline organizations to develop shared strategies for reducing economic insecurity and addressing inequality at its roots. Rather than treating poverty as an individual failure, the coalition is focused on how policy choices, enforcement practices, and unequal access to power shape economic outcomes across the county.

PJLC participates in the coalition as one of the organizations with a representative seated in the core strategy discussions. Through these meetings, coalition members collectively assess conditions in Orange County and develop recommendations intended to guide funders toward investments that address structural causes of poverty rather than short-term fixes.

PJLC’s contributions are informed by its experience representing people whose lives are repeatedly disrupted by low-level, nonviolent arrests for so-called nuisance activity. Frequent police contact, even when it does not result in conviction, can lead to lost jobs, missed work, housing instability, and long-term barriers to employment. These disruptions are a significant but often overlooked driver of economic insecurity in Orange County.

By bringing this perspective into a funder-facing coalition, PJLC is helping connect economic justice conversations to the realities of criminalization, enforcement, and legal instability faced by low-income communities. The goal is to ensure that funding strategies reflect how closely economic security is tied to legal systems, employment access, and freedom from unnecessary state intervention.

The coalition’s work is ongoing, with priorities and long-term structure continuing to develop through shared analysis and collaboration. PJLC views this effort as an important opportunity to align legal advocacy with broader economic justice strategies and to help shape funding approaches that support lasting, systemic change.