- About Us
- What We Do
- Special Projects
- Clemency
- Federal Litigation Advisory Group
- Forensic Science Project
- Immigrant Justice Practice
- Impact Litigation Project
- Access to Appeals
- Justice First Project
- Legislation Committee
- Racial Justice Project
- SORA
- Survivors Advocacy Practice
- The Plea Project
- Youth and Emergent Adult Resentencing Project
- Youthful Offender Reapplication Project
- For Clients & Families
- For the Legal Community
Clemency
Executive clemency is a powerful tool for those who are still suffering the consequences of past convictions.
Clemency consists of two separate forms of relief: pardons and sentence commutations. Pardons can reduce or eliminate the continuing legal and collateral consequences of convictions. Sentence commutations are requests to terminate or reduce the sentences of people who are incarcerated, making them eligible for earlier release.
The Clemency Project submits applications for current and former CAL clients seeking both forms of relief. Clemency is a tool that is often either underutilized or pursued without the benefit of experienced counsel. The Clemency Project works with clients—sometimes for years—to advocate for clemency on their behalf. Lawyers in the Clemency Project collaborate closely with clients to understand and represent their stories in a way that is authentic, compelling, and reflective of their full humanity.
The Clemency Project is an important part of CAL’s efforts to advocate for our clients beyond their convictions and appeals. We believe that people should not suffer forever because of their convictions. Pardons recognize that convictions can impose lasting and disproportionate consequences long after a sentence has been served. Commutations recognize that people evolve and grow, and should not be defined forever by a single act that, in many cases, occurred years or decades ago. The Clemency Project provides back-end advocacy for clients who continue to bear the consequences of old convictions.
Other Special Projects
CLEMENCY PROJECT
Executive clemency is powerful tool for those who are still suffering the consequences of past convictions.
FEDERAL LITIGATION ADVISORY GROUP
Although CAL legal advocacy for its clients often ends at the Court of Appeals, it is essential that we devote meaningful attention to criminal federal court proceedings.
FORENSIC SCIENCE PROJECT
Started in 2018, FSP litigates (and supports the litigation of) claims involving forensic science.
IMMIGRANT JUSTICE PRACTICE
Our Immigrant Justice Practice (IJP) zealously pursues post-conviction relief for noncitizen clients to advance their rights and protect them from the threat of immigration incarceration and deportation as a result of their criminal conviction.
Impact Litigation Project
The Impact Litigation Project develops and implements impact-litigation strategies for changing the law by fighting for legal rulings in criminal and civil cases that bolster liberty.
IN FORMA PAUPERIS & ACCESS TO APPEALS
After an indigent individual pleads guilty or is found guilty at trial, they are all too often forgotten about and lost to the system
JUSTICE FIRST
There is no longer any debate that the criminal justice system generates wrongful convictions, cases in which innocent people are sentenced to long periods of prison for crimes they did not commit.
RACIAL JUSTICE PROJECT
The criminal legal system is a particularly stark and sobering example of the myriad ways in which racial bias and inequity infect our society.
SORA
In New York, individuals who are released from prison after completing their sentences for sex offenses must register with the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
SURVIVORS ADVOCACY PRACTICE
CAL’s Survivors Advocacy Practice represents survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking who are seeking post-conviction relief.
Youthful Offender Reapplication Project
Youthful Offender Adjudication is an immensely important disposition for young people since a "YO" adjudication is not a conviction.
Youth and Emergent Adult Resentencing Project
Haunted by the reality that young adults whom CAL represented years and sometimes decades earlier are still serving the crushing sentences imposed by the trial court and unremediated on appeal, CAL developed the YEARS project.