Category: Law & Justice

Xavier España is 19 years old, and though young, says he has already learned important life lessons that have focused him for his future. He is an Evergreen College student, a parishioner of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and works at his uncle’s auto body repair shop. Xavier is currently entangled in the court system.

There is currently a proposal to dramatically restrict inmates in the Santa Clara County jail system from receiving letters. Steeda McGruder, founder of Sisters That Been There, writes about the profound power of receiving letters while incarcerated, and shares correspondence from women currently behind the walls who write about the "life-saving" value of letters.

National media attention may help prompt a public backlash against abusive behavior by law enforcement in this heavily Latino region of California. See addition at end of article from San Jose Police Department Duty Manual on "Onlooker" policy.

As ACJP launches a new training series for organizations to impact their local court system, we are releasing this mini-documentary to give a glimpse into the stories, strategies, and triumphs we have witnessed. From a mother freeing her son, to a church creating an ACJP hub, this video shows the early stages of our growth (recorded a year and a half ago.)

We dedicate this Mother's Day to all the moms of the Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project who fight for their children's freedom. Their enduring love ultimately is greater than the criminal justice and immigration systems which threaten to separate their families.

Next week marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most significant Supreme Court decisions this country’s criminal justice system has ever known – Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), which guaranteed criminal defendants the right to a defense attorney regardless of their ability to pay.

Photographer Charisse Domingo captures a powerful, yet rare, moment of family connection in the separating experience of immigration court.

As an installment of Sisters That Been There weekly writing posts, the women respond to the acclaimed film "Crime After Crime" -- a documentary centered around a woman who found freedom after 27 years of wrongful incarceration.

A profile of an ACJP San Mateo case where letters from the family changed the outcome of a juvenile criminal case that had immigration consequences.

This week, we at ACJP worked with a family and their attorney to put together an almost 100 page mitigation packet to help support their loved one’s deportation proceedings and hopefully convince immigration officials to let their brother stay in the US. Their brother was a victim of a horrific crime, one that has traumatized him and his family for years.