Reflecting the strength of our criminal law program and faculty, this year UCLA Law was ranked seventh in the nation in criminal law by U.S. News and World Report.

CJP is thrilled to welcome to UCLA Law Shirin Bakhshay, a legal scholar and social psychologist whose research focuses on criminal adjudication and punishment processes. Professor Bakhshay joined us from Stanford Law School where she was a Thomas C. Grey Fellow and lecturer in law.

Professor Joanna Schwartz’s book Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable received the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association in recognition of “outstanding work that fosters the American public’s understanding of law and the legal system.”

Over 200 people from across the country came together at UCLA Law for a two-day multidisciplinary conference, Decarceral Visions, to explore efforts to end the construction of jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers. Co-organizers included the UCLA Criminal Justice Law Review, ACLU’s National Prison Project, The Sentencing Project, the Vera Institute of Justice, Detention Watch Network, and Interrupting Criminalization.

This coming year marks the tenth year since the launch of the UCLA Prison Law and Policy Program led by Professor Sharon Dolovich. UCLA has since become the premier law school in the nation for students committed to advocating for the incarcerated. An anniversary celebration is in the works for Spring 2025.

CJP’s Director Alicia Virani co-authored a groundbreaking new judicial resource with CJP Fellow Isabelle Geczy (’22) and Judge Sherrill Ellsworth: California Pretrial Release Considerations, A Bench Book for California Superior Court Judges. Published by the California Judicial Council, the new resource supports California judges with guidance on the law of pretrial hearings as well as research on public safety, flight risk, bail affordability, and risk assessment instruments.

CJP released a new report: The Ties That Bind: Relationships Between Law Enforcement and the Department of Children and Family Services in Los Angeles County. The report reveals how practices that facilitate the sharing of information between child protective services in Los Angeles County and criminal law enforcement agencies can result in family separation and over-criminalization of parents.

In a case handled by the Prisoner’s Rights Clinic, Finley v. Huss. (No. 23-1083), the Sixth Circuit reversed and remanded a grant of summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds for Eighth Amendment claims brought by an incarcerated person against wardens who kept him in solitary confinement despite his acute mental health crisis. Pictured: Aaron Littman, Faculty Director of the Prisoners’ Rights Clinic.

The Veterans Justice Clinic, together with Disability Rights California and the National Association of Minority Veterans of America, released a new report on policing within Veterans’ Affairs (VA) health centers: Unmasking Policing in Veterans Healthcare: Advocating for Equitable Access to Services for Disabled and Unhoused Veterans. Pictured: Sunita Patel, Faculty Director of the Veterans Justice Clinic, and Jeanne Nishimoto, Executive Director of the Veterans Justice Clinic.

Two clients of the Criminal Defense Clinic were awarded gubernatorial pardons for past criminal convictions by California’s Governor Gavin Newsom. Pictured: Ingrid Eagly, Faculty Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic.