11-03-2025
Judge grants first-ever Racial Justice Act motion in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — For the first time in San Francisco since Racial Justice Act became state law in 2021, a judge granted an RJA motion filed by public defenders, attorneys said.
The San Francisco Public Defender's Office said it successfully raised the motion for a Black man, 22-year-old Adonte Bailey.
A police officer who arrested and testified at trial against Bailey 'exhibited implicit bias during the man's arrest and during trial testimony,' SFPDO wrote.
'Implicit bias plays a huge role in our legal system — from police to prosecutors to judge — and has historically resulted in the over-policing, over-charging, and over-sentencing of people of color,' said Deputy Public Defender Diamond Ward, who represented Bailey.
At a RJA hearing, the judge reduced some of Bailey's felony convictions to misdemeanors.
Since the Racial Justice Act went into effect, San Francisco public defenders have filed RJA motions in numerous cases, but few have resulted in judges granting evidentiary hearings. Bailey's case was the first RJA motion in San Francisco Superior Court that led to a judge grating a hearing and issuing remedies for the defendant.
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Bailey was arrested in late 2023 while a police officer was responding to a report of someone standing on the street with a gun. The officer's own words, recorded by his body worn camera, were used at the hearing to show evidence of bias, attorneys said.
'The officer's racially-coded words and discriminatory language amounted to a violation of the Racial Justice Act,' said Deputy Public Defender Lilah Wolf, who argued the RJA motion in court. 'While our office has always challenged instances of more explicit racial animus toward our clients, the Racial Justice Act now empowers us to address this kind of insidious implicit bias that undercuts due process and perpetuates the unfair treatment of Black and Brown people in the criminal legal system.'
California's Racial Justice Act states that implicit bias, which is often unintentional and unconscious, may inject racism and unfairness.
'We hope that this ruling stands as a testament to the power of the California Racial Justice Act that we can win these motions and help challenge unjust convictions and sentences,' said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju.
SFPDO said the 'groundbreaking' legal victory was achieved by Deputy Public Defender Lilah Wolf, Deputy Public Defender Oliver Kroll, and research director Sujung Kim.
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