Duke Law Wrongful Conviction Unit Exonerates 10th Client Overall and 4th in Last Two Years

Today in the Everyday Injustice Newsletter... 1.20.21

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***Sacramento City Council Hears, Sees Proof that Officers Treat White Supremacists Better than Police Brutality Demonstrators

While thousands of national guard troops, local and state police are protecting the nation’s capital and capital buildings in Sacramento and other states from pro-Trump white supremacists, the Sacramento City Council Tuesday waited until the late hours of their meeting to discuss the threat here, deciding instead to talk about re-zoning matters.

Community activists, lawyers and other residents stuck around, though, to charge that Sacramento Police officers have shown bias in favor of white supremacists and Trump supporters in the streets, and suggested city police officers should be investigated to see if they are members of those right wing groups.

The topic for discussion was police conduct – which many community members have decried as misconduct during the near weekly pro-Trump gatherings at the Capitol that have occurred since the Presidential election.

***"Guards laughed at incarcerated people for wearing masks”

Upon testing positive for COVID-19 in December, Robert became very ill to the point where he developed debilitating symptoms. He received little to no medical care during his time in quarantine.

During the initial months of the pandemic, CSP Solano had an extremely low cases count. Even in early December, only 50 active cases were reported within a population of 3000 people. This quickly changed. By Christmas Day, there were over 300 active cases in custody and over 800 total confirmed cases.

“COVID can’t come to them. They are the perfect population in quarantine. The only way it could reach them was through people from the outside,” said Michelle.

***Duke Law Wrongful Conviction Unit Exonerates 10th Client Overall and 4th in Last Two Years

The Duke Law Wrongful Conviction Unit exonerated Willie George Shaw, its tenth client, and fourth client to be exonerated in the past two years, along with Charles Ray Finch and Dontae Sharpe in 2019 and Ronnie Long in 2020.

Altogether, these men spent more than 115 years in prison for crimes they did not commit.

For Willie George Shaw, it all started back in June 2016, when, under an extreme amount of pressure, Shaw entered an Alford plea to a felony murder charge. An Alford plea allows Shaw to accept his punishment while maintaining his innocence.

***‘Racial Justice Act for All’ Legislation Introduced in State Legislature, Would Protect More People

Effective solutions to combating systemic racism in the US should not only focus on preventing systemic harm, but repair the harm that Black people have faced as well, according to one California Legislator.

And on Jan. 15, Assemblymember Ash Kalra announced the introduction of the California Racial Justice Act for All, AB 256, a few days before Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.

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