FALL 2025

Dear friends,

In a year of extraordinary assaults on vulnerable people and the rule of law itself, we continued to support clients engaged in campaigns to enhance community safety and wellbeing.

To help hold the line on criminal justice reform in California, we launched a new clinic for first-year law and public policy students to support statewide efforts to defeat bills that would expand the criminal system. The “bad bills” clinic was a big success with students and clients.

In the face of renewed threats from local, state, and federal government, we have undertaken a joint client project with the Homeless Rights Advocacy Project at Seattle University to support the rights and dignity of unhoused people.

Students also continued to represent Debt Free Justice California, including implementing groundbreaking restitution reform. Relatedly, staff authored a study of the impact of fee repeal efforts, finding that reforms have relieved Californians of almost $7 billion in debt since 2020.

Nationally, our Debt Free Justice coalition continued to support repeal of juvenile system fees and fines, making more progress in states across the country. We also joined the national End Justice Fees campaign to assist clients to repeal monetary sanctions in the criminal legal system.

In staff news, to reach broader audiences, Stephanie and Jeff published law review articles that grew out of clinic projects on restitution and police accountability. We are also delighted to welcome former public defender and policy advocate Samantha Lee as a new Clinical Supervisor.

Please read more about these exciting developments and more below. On behalf of the PACulty, we wish you wonderful holidays and a happy and healthy new year.

Warmly,

Devan, Jeff & Stephanie

New PAC Offering for First-year Law and Public Policy Students

We launched a new clinic for first-year students in January. Supported by returning students, 12 JD and MPP students researched and drafted advocacy materials for the Vera Institute of Justice to defeat bills that would expand the criminal legal system in California. In recognizing Berkeley as a top school for criminal law, the National Jurist singled out our new clinic.

New PAC Project Supporting Unhoused People

Clinic students worked with the Homeless Rights Advocacy Project at Seattle University School of Law and on behalf of the Western Regional Advocacy Project on a research project to ​trace how federal disinvestment from the social safety net and public housing has fueled (and threatens to continue to fuel) the modern homelessness crisis.

Debt Free Justice California

Staff and students continued to represent Debt Free Justice California (DFJC) working to end criminal monetary sanctions in California. Assembly Bill 1186, which DFJC sponsored to repeal youth restitution fines and discharge outstanding debt, became effective January 1, 2025. Students are working with DFJC to implement the new law and to evaluate its impact.

Relatedly, we released a new study documenting the outcomes of DFJC-sponsored bills since 2020, finding that DFJC efforts have led to the repeal of more than half of California’s 90 criminal fees, including supervision and public defender fees. Retroactivity provisions in the laws have relieved Californians of a staggering $6.9 billion in fee debt.

National Debt Free Justice (Youth)

This year, our national Debt Free Justice (DFJ) campaign to end juvenile court fees and fines reached an important milestone with reforms enacted in more than half of all states nationally. DFJ is working to extend these victories to additional states and to other systems that extract wealth from youth and families, including schools, municipal courts, and child welfare.

Students supported DFJ clients pursuing reform in Arkansas, where a bill to repeal juvenile fees and fines passed the Senate; in Hawai’i, where a similar bill passed both houses; in Colorado, where the Governor signed into law a bill to finalize comprehensive juvenile fee reform; and Illinois, which enacted a bill to ban police from fining students for minor infractions at school.

In August, DFJ held the Midwest Youth Economic Summit in Wichita, Kansas, bringing together youth organizers, community members, and advocates across America’s heartland. The Summit provided an opportunity to celebrate the important wins and to support directly impacted young people in shaping the goals and strategies of the campaign.

We continued to assist state DFJ clients implement prior reforms. The Arizona Administrative Office of the Courts released a report finding that juvenile fee repeal relieved more than 110,000 youth and parents of almost $40 million in outstanding debt; Illinois released a similar report finding that PAC-supported legislative reforms relieved youth and families of $30 million.

Pictured above: members of PAC’s team (L to R: Cam Clark, Supervisor; Montana Bloe, 3rd-year JD; Brenda Gonzalez Guerrero, 2nd-year MPP), engaging with students, parents, and staff at Berkeley High School. Pictured below: Participants in the Midwest Youth Economic Summit.

National End Justice Fees (Adults)

This year, we collaborated with the Fines and Fees Justice Center and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in the End Justice Fees campaign to support state efforts to end criminal system fees, including fee repeal bills in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and North Dakota, two of which were signed into law. In addition to these four states, we are working with clients on fee repeal campaigns in Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana, and Minnesota.

Pictured left: PAC students Neil Gallagher (2nd-year JD) and Uniqsha Batool (2nd-year MDP) after observing court proceedings in Shelby County, Indiana.

PAC Welcomes New Clinical Supervisor Samantha Lee

We warmly welcome our newest Clinical Supervisor, Samantha Lee (NYU Law ’16). As a public defender, Sam represented parents against child abuse and neglect cases. She later engaged in policy work to end pregnancy criminalization and to decouple health care from the criminal and family policing systems. Sam enjoys backpacking, hiking, and making ceramics.

PACulty Scholarship

Beyond clinic publications, we sometimes write for broader audiences. In 2025, PAC Co-Director Stephanie Campos-Bui published Reform’s Oversight: The Limits of Youth Restitution in the Columbia Law Review, and Co-Director Jeff Selbin published Suicide by Cop? How Junk Science and Bad Law Undermine Accountability for Killings by Police in the California Law Review.

Justice is a Collective Effort.



At the heart of Berkeley Law’s commitment to justice, the Clinical Program continues to stand out as a place where learning meets purpose. Over the past year, our 15 clinics — driven by the dedication and work of our students, faculty, and staff — deepened their impact in the East Bay, across the country, and around the world.

Read the Clinical Program’s 2024-25 Annual Report >

Thank you for your continued support of the Policy Advocacy Clinic and the Berkeley Law Clinical Program!