VANGUARD WEBINAR: Lawsuit Challenges the California Death Penalty as Racially Discriminatory
In April, an unprecedented lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of California challenging the state\u2019s death penalty statute as racially discriminatory and unconstitutional under the Equal Protection guarantees of the California Constitution.\n\nThe filers which include the ACLU, LDF (Legal Defense Fund), and the Office of the State Public Defender on behalf of OSPD, Witness to Innocence, LatinoJustice PRLDEF (Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund), the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, and Eva Paterson, co-founder of the Equal Justice Society, claim, \u201cThis is the first time a petition of this nature has been filed with the court.\u201d\n\n\u201cNumerous empirical studies by leading social science experts reveal troubling disparities: Black people are about five times more likely to be sentenced to death when compared to similarly situated non-Black defendants, while Latino people are at least three times more likely to be sentenced to death.\u201d\n\nThe 95-page complaint stated, \u201cThe parties agree that persistent and pervasive racial disparities infect California\u2019s death penalty system.\u201d\n\nThe Vanguard recently hosted a webinar to discuss this historic suit.\n\nPanelists:\n\nAvi Frey, Counsel from ACLU of Northern California\nLisa Romo, Office of State Public Defender (OSPD)\nMorgan Zamora, prison advocacy coordinator at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights\nKaren Munoz, from LatinoJustice\n\nModerators:\n\nMadison Whittemore, Vanguard News\nSophie Yoakum, Vanguard News