Sitting In The Fire: Film Screening and Q&A
Tuesday, July 9th | 6:30pm | The New Parkway, Oakland, CA

Learn how former UnCommon Law client Vaughn Miles transformed himself and has returned from a life sentence to work toward ending gun violence in the place he once helped destroy.

After the film, stay for an audience Q&A discussion featuring Vaughn and filmmaker Alec Goldberg, moderated by UnCommon Law’s Founder and Executive Director, Keith Wattley.

Virtual Town Hall: AB 2310 - The Parole Hearing Language Accessibility Act
Thursday, June 6th | 6pm PST | Online

UnCommon Law and our partners in the California Alliance For Parole Reform Coalition were proud to host a virtual town hall on our co-sponsored bill, AB 2310 (Hart).

Participants heard from advocates, currently and formerly incarcerated community members, and certified interpreters about the importance of language access in parole hearings. Programming was available in English and Spanish and participants were able to ask our team questions about the bill.

Parole: Problem or Solution? 
Wednesday, April 10th | 11am PST | Online

The National Parole Transformation Project hosted a national dialogue on the topic of parole. Originally designed as a mechanism for early release, national trends depicting the rising rate of parole denials suggest parole boards have become a roadblock, rather than a pathway, to discretionary release—from California, where release is increasingly denied through “non-decisions,” to Mississippi, where the rate of parole board denials is helping expand its prison system. Join us for a virtual dialogue analyzing the institution of parole from a national perspective and outlining the ongoing barriers to meaningful reform.

Panelists for this discussion included Emmett Sanders, Policy and Advocacy Associate at the Prison Policy Initiative, Keith Wattley, Executive Director at UnCommon Law, Pauline Rogers, Founder, Director and Recidivism Reduction Specialist at the RECH Foundation, and Ben Austen, author of the new book, Correction: Parole, Prison and the Possibility of Change. The conversation was moderated by Timmy Chau, Community Outreach Lead of the National Parole Transformation Project.  

2023 Lifer School
Saturday, December 2nd | 9am PST | Oakland, CA

UnCommon Law staff & other community members held our annual “Lifer School!”

Lifer School is an all-day educational symposium for advocates and community members who are supporting people navigating the parole process in California. Attendees heard from experts - people with lived and learned expertise in the parole process - on the ins and outs of California’s parole system, and got practical advice on how to best prepare for a hearing.

More info on the event here.

2023 UnCommon Heroes

Saturday, Oct 21 | 1pm | The Overlook | Oakland, CA

Each year, UnCommon Heroes presents a special opportunity for our growing community to come together and say "welcome home" to former clients, loved ones, and others who have recently returned home from prison. It also provides us with a platform to celebrate folks in our community doing the hard, often unrecognized work of making these reunions outside prison walls possible.

More info on the event here.

26.2 To Life: Inside The San Quentin Prison Marathon
Friday, Sept 22 | 7pm | Smith Rafael Film Center

UnCommon Law and SURJ Marin hosted a special premiere screening of the award-winning documentary 26.2 To Life: Inside The San Quentin Prison Marathon. After the film, our Executive Director, Keith Wattley, moderated a Q&A panel.

Watch Q&A here.

A Race, Tech, and Justice Salon: How Can AI Be Used For Good in the Criminal Legal System?
Wednesday, Sept 13 | 12pm | Virtual

UnCommon Law and the Center on Race Inequality & The Law at NYU Race partnered togeether for a conversation about using artificial intelligence to advocate for justice.

California: Barriers and Avenues to Meaningful Parole Reform
Wednesday, Sept 6 | 10am | Virtual
WATCH HERE!

Join UnCommon Law and the National Parole Transformation Project for a virtual teach-in on key challenges and opportunities for reform in California’s parole system.

Life without Parole in the Era of Mass Incarceration
Virtual | March 14, 2023 | 2:00pm
WATCH HERE

UCL Executive Director, Keith Wattley joined The Sentencing Project and others for a discussion on the origins of life without parole sentences and their transformation from a rarely imposed punishment to a starkly common sentencing option today.

Sansón and Me
The Roxie Theater, SF | March 18, 2023 | 1:30pm

UCL and Represent Justice presented a special screening of Sansón And Me, a powerful and meditative new film that traces a young immigrant’s journey from coastal Mexico to prison in California.

UCL Executive Director, Keith Wattley joined the film's director, Rodrigo Reyes, for a post-film Q&A.

UnCommon Law’s 7th annual UnCommon Heroes celebration

Each year, UnCommon Heroes provides an opportunity for our community to welcome home those who have recently gained their freedom (some who spent decades behind bars), and uplift members of our community who are doing the hard, often unrecognized work to create justice for those being denied it.

In 2022, we were finally able to gather back in person for the first time we two years! We were able to uplift some incredible advocates in our community and “welcome home” all who have returned from prison in the last year.

How We Heal: Reframing responses to violent crime (Part Two)

On June 23rd, UnCommon Law and other advocates met to explore the intersecting experiences of survivors and perpetrators of harm, and the ways in which people who hold these identities can come together to build solutions that will keep us all safer. WATCH HERE.

How We Help: Sending solidarity to folks inside prison

On June 14th, we drafted virtual postcards with messages of love and support and mailed them directly to folks inside. Our volunteers spread love to hundreds of people across California!

Lifer School 2022

On June 11th, UnCommon Law held our annual one-day advocacy workshop for family members, loved ones, and advocates of people serving life sentences in California state prisons. Lifer School aims to demystify the Board of Parole process for communities facing life sentences.

How We Heal: Reframing responses to violent crime

On May 24th, UnCommon Law and other advocates came together for a conversation to lay the groundwork about why and how hyper-punitive approaches are ineffective at preventing and addressing violence, and begin exploring other frameworks for safety. WATCH HERE.

UnCommon Law’s 6th annual UnCommon Heroes celebration

Each year, UnCommon Heroes provides an opportunity for our community to welcome home those who have recently gained their freedom (some who spent decades behind bars), and uplift members of our community who are doing the hard, often unrecognized work to create justice for those being denied it.

In 2021, UnCommon Law is asking the question: what does it look like to "do justice differently" - and what might our world look like if we did? We're celebrating some incredible advocates and thinkers, all of whom are imagining and fighting for a different kind of justice for their loved ones and communities.

Watch here.

Decarceration for All: Why people serving life sentences should come home - on May 12th, we heard from Keith Wattley, Romarilyn Ralston, and Danielle Sered in the final episode of our series on race, trauma, and mass incarceration.

Watch HERE.

Juneteenth 2021: ACA 3 Press Conference & Rally - We stood in solidarity with other organizers and supporters of ACA 3 on Juneteenth, 2021 at the State Capitol.

Watch HERE.

Learn more about the California Abolition Act here.

Additional sponsors include: The 10P Program, The Abolish Slavery National Network, The Anti-Recidivism Coalition, Anti-Violence Safety and Accountability Project, Bend the Arc, The Center for African Peace & Conflict Resolution-California State University Sacramento, Courage Campaign, EMPACT, Fair Chance Project, F.U.E.L., March On, Pride and Truth, Prison from the Inside Out, The Village Advocates, and The Young Women's Freedom Center.

Write for Freedom - over the course of April and May, volunteers joined UnCommon Law and Flikshop to create digital postcards for hundreds of folks inside prison as part of UnCommon Law’s Fight for Freedom campaign.

Race as a Proxy for Risk: How discretionary parole undermines BIPOC communities - on April 26th, we heard from Keith Wattley, Emile DeWeaver, and Nicole Porter in the second episode of our series on race, trauma, and mass incarceration.

Watch HERE.

How to Dismantle Mass Incarceration: A trauma-informed approach to healing our systems and ourselves - on April 20th, UnCommon Law partnered with California ChangeLawyers to launch a series on race, trauma, and mass incarceration.

Watch the first episode, featuring Keith Wattley and Zach Norris HERE.

UnCommon Heroes 2020: Authors of Change - on Thursday, November 19th, UnCommon Law welcomed home those returning from prison, and celebrated California State Senator Nancy Skinner and James King, State Campaigner at the Ella Baker Center, as “Authors of Change”: folks rewriting their own stories and the stories society tells, while creating a new reality in which meaningful healing and real justice are accessible to all. The evening included special remarks from Rahsaan Thomas, currently incarcerated at San Quentin, and a live musical performance from local artist and activist Maserati E.

Watch the recording HERE.

Evolving the Narrative: From Police Brutality to Police Criminality - on Wednesday, September 9th, UnCommon Law, the 10P Program, A.S.A.P. and The Family Project hosted a discussion on police criminality and how it contributes to community destruction and mass incarceration.

Watch the recording HERE.

Reimagining Justice: Creating a New Vision of Policing, Prosecution & Punishment - on Friday, September 19th, UnCommon Law’s Keith Wattley joined the Bail Project’s Robin Steinberg, and Re:Store Justice’s Adnan Khan to examine public safety through a social justice lens.

Watch the recording HERE.

Special thanks to the Loyola Project for the Innocent, Sean Kennedy, and the Center for Juvenile Law and Policy!

We Keep Us Safe: Reimagining Safety in the Age of Mass Incarceration - on Wednesday, June 3rd, UnCommon Law’s Keith Wattley joined Zach Norris, Executive Director for the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights for a fireside chat to answer the question: after decades of repressive and racist systems that keep our communities struggling, how can we reimagine safety in the age of aggressive policing and mass incarceration?

Pro-Bono Consultation Training - on Wednesday, May 27th, UnCommon Law hosted a pro-bono Consultation training for dozens of attorneys and law students. These trainings and subsequent volunteer support are a critical part of UnCommon Law’s work providing free legal resources and advocacy to those serving lengthy sentences in California state prisons.

"Sending Solidarity" Postcard Day - on Thursday, May 21st, dozens of volunteers joined UnCommon Law and our friends at Flikshop for an afternoon and evening-long opportunity to craft and send digital postcards carrying messages of love, hope and support for people inside prison. Together, we mailed over 1,600 postcards in one day!

“Counseling in Quarantine” - on Tuesday, May 12th, UnCommon Law’s Director of Clinical Support Julie Hess, our Therapist Intern Ritika Aggarwal, and former client and current MSA graduate student James Cavitt joined the Peace Alliance to discuss their experiences providing counseling to people in prison during the spread of COVID-19.

Recording available HERE.

“From Prison to Quarantine” - on Tuesday, May 5th, UnCommon Law joined Impact Justice for a virtual conversation examining criminal justice issues that are in the spotlight and exacerbated by COVID-19. Panelists included Terah Lawyer, who leads the Homecoming Project at Impact Justice, and Keith Wattley, Executive Director of UnCommon Law.

Recording available HERE.

“Circles” - On January 28th, UnCommon Law hosted two back-to-back screenings of “Circles”. UnCommon Law Executive Director Keith Wattley was joined by Eric Butler, star of “Circles”, for a post-film discussion on Restorative Justice practices and Eric’s tireless work to keep children out of the criminal justice system.

The Meaning of Life - On November 14th, UnCommon Law hosted Marc Mauer and Ashley Nellis of the Sentencing Project, co-authors of "The Meaning of Life: The Case for Abolishing Life Sentences” for a discussion on life sentencing in the United States. Marc, Ashley and UnCommon Law’s Keith Wattley were joined by Miguel Quezada, former life-sentenced UnCommon Law client and current community organizer.

UnCommon Heroes - On November 13th, 2019, UnCommon Law hosted our annual “UnCommon Heroes” Celebration to honor and uplift those who have returned home from prison. We also honored two “UnCommon Heroes” - David Cowan and Taina Vargas-Edmond - for their exceptional work with currently and formerly-incarcerated people. See photos from UnCommon Heroes here.

Q Ball - On November 4th, UnCommon Law partnered with For The People for a special screening of Q Ball at Oakland’s Grand Lake Theater. Q Ball tells the story of the San Quentin Warriors, a group of incarcerated players in San Quentin State Prison. Q Ball delves into the lives of these men, and follows their struggles as they use basketball as a means of transcending prison and finding healing.

Following the film, viewers joined For The People's Hillary Blout, UnCommon Law's Keith Wattley, and "Q-Ball"'s Harry "ATL" Smith for a discussion on the film, long-term prison sentences, the nature of redemption, and the role of the parole process. See photos of the “Q Ball” panel here.

Predicting Justice: Optimizing Data in the Criminal Justice System - On October 14th, UnCommon Law’s Keith Wattley delivered the keynote address at Santa Clara School of Law’s free, all-day symposium hosting expert panelists to discuss the effects of risk assessment tools utilized across the criminal justice system. Panelists included experts in risk assessment, data analysis, law enforcement, sociology and criminology. Symposium participants interrogated the effects and implications of predictive policing and artificial intelligence bail-assessment or recidivism measurement tools on marginalized communities.

THE SENTENCE: Screening & Discussion

March 12 | New Parkway Theater

About the Screening: Join us for a screening and conversation with UnCommon Law’s Keith Wattley, Yoel Haile of the ACLU and Lara Bazelon - lawyer, activist and author of  "Rectify: The Power of Restorative Justice After Wrongful Conviction." This event is co-presented with The Justice Collaborative and the ACLU of Northern California.

About the Film: Cindy Shank, mother of three, served a 15-year sentence in federal prison for her tangential involvement with a Michigan drug ring years earlier. Filmed by her brother, this intimate portrait follows Cindy and her family over ten years. Winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, The Sentence puts a face on the human consequences of mandatory minimums and acts as a powerful call-to-action for reform. 

Emcee: Emile DeWeaver

Presenters: Emily Harris (Ella Baker Center for Human Rights) & Keith Wattley (UnCommon Law Executive Director)

Hero Honorees: Karen McDaniel, Executive Director and co-founder of The Place4Grace & Sam Lewis, Director of Inside Programs at the Anti-Recidivism Coalition

“It can be dangerous to be a feminist in prison.”

Richard Edmond Vargas, serving a sentence in Soledad prison since he was a teen, teaches his fellow prisoners about toxic masculinity, vulnerability, and feminism.

“We cannot challenge our harmful behavior without challenging patriarchy,” – Richie Edmond Vargas.

Richie is being released from prison in July, and will join us to discuss his experience and this film!

SPEAKERS: Richie and his wife Taina Vargas-Edmond, co-founders of Initiate Justice.

“I was in prison before I was even born.” So begins the story of Dr. Victor Rios who, by 15, was a high school dropout and gang member with multiple felony convictions and a death wish. But when a teacher’s quiet persistence, a mentor’s moral conviction and his best friend’s murder converge, Rios’s path takes an unexpected turn. Through Rios’ personal lens and its interplay with stories of the young people of Watts, the Pushouts interrogates crucial questions of race, class and power – and the promise and perils of education – at a particularly urgent time.

SPEAKERS:  The Pushouts star Victor Rios and National Center for Youth Law and UnCommon Law Board member Francis “Frankie” Guzman 2018 Winner of Juvenile Law Center Leadership Prize will be featured on the panel. Here’s a recent article on Frankie and Victor.

In the United States today, more than 2,500 individuals are serving life-without-parole sentences for crimes they committed when they were 17 years old or younger. Children as young as 13 are among the thousands serving these sentences. In partnership with The Bay Area Chapter of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, we bring you Lost for Life, which tells the stories of these individuals, of their families and of the families of victims of juvenile murder.

SPEAKERS: Our panel discussion will feature Tinisch Hollins and Garry Malachi Scott from The Bay Area Chapter of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice. Check out this recent article on Malachi.

You’re more likely to go to prison in the USA than any other country in the world, so if you’re in America you need a SURVIVORS GUIDE TO PRISON. The “Survivors” team is in the Bay Area for one night only, and they have invited UnCommon Law’s Keith Wattley to join the post-film discussion.

A chilling exposé of U.S. criminal justice, told through the eyes of 2 innocent men who spent decades facing unimaginable brutality, for murders they did not commit. Supported by gripping testimony from inmates, guards, staff, cops, analysts, lawyers and reformers, SURVIVORS GUIDE advocates evolving beyond the failed “prison punishment model” toward the dramatic moving programs proven to create public safety.

SPEAKERS: Jody Lewen from the Prison University Project, Northern California Innocence Project, Kenyatta Leal from The Last Mile, Dr. Kimberly Richman from Alliance for Change, Paul Rickett, and Obama Fellow and UnCommon Law Executive Director Keith Wattley   will be featured on the panel.

Does sentencing a teenager to life without parole serve our society well? The United States is the only country in the world that routinely condemns children to die in prison. This is the story of one of those children, now a young man, seeking a second chance in Florida. At age 15, Kenneth Young received four consecutive life sentences for a series of armed robberies. Imprisoned for more than a decade, he believed he would die behind bars. Now a U.S. Supreme Court decision could set him free.

UnCommon Law and National Center for Youth Law bring you 15 to Life: Kenneth’s Story, which follows Young’s struggle for redemption, revealing a justice system with thousands of young people serving sentences intended for society’s most dangerous criminals.

SPEAKERS: National Center for Youth Law and UnCommon Law Board member Francis “Frankie” Guzman 2018 Winner of Juvenile Law Center Leadership Prize will be featured on the panel. An article on Frankie.

Crime After Crime is the story of the battle to free Debbie Peagler, an incarcerated survivor of brutal domestic violence. Over 26 years in prison cannot crush the spirit of this determined woman, despite the injustices she has experienced, first at the hands of a boyfriend who beat her and forced her into prostitution, and later by prosecutors who cornered her into a life behind bars for her connection to the murder of her abuser. Her story takes an unexpected turn two decades later when a pair of volunteer attorneys take on her case, and attract global attention to the troubled intersection of domestic violence and criminal justice.

SPEAKERS: After the film, stay to hear from award winning filmmaker Yoav Potash, former UnCommon Law client Alicia Nolan and UnCommon Law attorney Lilli Paratore, whose Equal Justice Works Fellowship is focused on parole policy change that recognizes the experience of gendered trauma and abuse.

In 2012, California amended its “Three Strikes” law—one of the harshest criminal sentencing policies in the country. The passage of Prop. 36 marked the first time in U.S. history that citizens voted to shorten sentences of those currently incarcerated. Within days, the reintegration of thousands of “lifers” was underway. THE RETURN examines this unprecedented reform through the eyes of those on the front lines—prisoners suddenly freed, families turned upside down, reentry providers helping navigate complex transitions, and attorneys and judges wrestling with an untested law. At a moment of reckoning on mass incarceration, what can California’s experiment teach the nation?

After the film we met folks directly impacted by incarceration- including UnCommon Law Board member and former client Troy Williams, also a Root & Rebound client —  and found out what it’s like to return home.

We also heard about the Voting Restoration and Democracy Act, an important initiative to restore voting rights to incarcerated and paroled people in California. Initiate Justice was on hand to show us how we can help get this on the ballot.

An UnCommon Celebration Honoring

Elizabeth Calvin, Senior Advocate, Human Rights Watch
Nate Williams, President, Choices for Freedom
Daniel “Nane” Alejandrez, Executive Director, Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos
Presenters included:
Danny Glover, Actor and Activist
Scott Budnick, Film Producer/Activist, Founder of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition
James Cavitt, Master of Ceremonies

We honored Elizabeth Calvin, Nate Williams, and Daniel “Nane” Alejandrez – people who are working hard to bring both hope and healing to individuals and families devastated by harsh, misguided criminal justice policies. Elizabeth has authored and championed the most significant legislation in decades to guarantee that young people have a meaningful opportunity to come home from prison. Nate, a former UnCommon Law client, works as a mentor and regularly returns to prison to inspire others still locked inside. And Nane has been a champion in the fight for justice and humanity for young people since long before our laws recognized the differences between adults and children involved in serious crimes.

Life After Life sets itself apart from other prison films by providing extraordinary access to the incarcerated men, facilities, experts, and leaders in the correctional system. Drawing on her background in grief support, filmmaker Tamara Perkins creates a safe environment for each subject, bringing authenticity to interviews that reveal sensitive, personal stories.

SPEAKERS: Tamara Perkins, Keith Wattley and those who have been impacted by incarceration.

Film and discussion with filmmakers Mark and Gabriele Hayes, film stars Rafael Cabrera and Judge Craig Mitchell, and UnCommon Law’s Keith Wattley.

Rafael was convicted of the 1982 retaliation murder and attempted murder of two rival gang members. Locked up as a teenager and sentenced to life, he could have easily thrived in prison off of his reputation for violence, living in a haze of drugs and prison-made wine. Instead, Rafael became a model of change in some of California’s most violent prisons. His turnaround impressed prison staff, prosecutors, clergy, and others to the point where the prosecutor who showed up to oppose Rafael’s release was so blown away by his transformation that the prosecutor later wrote that he himself posed a greater risk to public safety than Rafael did.

That prosecutor-turned-judge, Craig Mitchell, was so fundamentally changed by the experience that he started the Skid Row Running club to support people in achieving positive life goals, and he continues to inspire and support people committed to turning their lives around.

UnCommon Law had the privilege of working with Rafael as he battled the parole board and the Governor to secure his release from prison after nearly three decades inside. He truly exemplifies what’s possible in the world.

About the Film

In California, violent juveniles between 14-17 years old can be tried as adults. Typically, they are accused of heinous crimes — murders and attempted murders — that leave their victims’ families shattered. And yet, they are still kids, with a greater capacity to change and one day return to society. What is our responsibility to these kids? And to their victims? Do they deserve a second chance? These are the questions legislators are grappling with across the country as they attempt to reform our juvenile justice system. Meanwhile, behind the walls of the Compound, three violent juvenile offenders are writing a movie as they await their trials. It’s the story of their childhoods with the ending rewritten. 

About the Subjects

JARAD: Arrested at 16 and facing 200 years-to-life for four attempted murders. 
JUAN: Arrested at 16 and facing 90-to-life for first-degree murder. 
ANTONIO: Arrested one month after his 14th birthday and facing 90-to-life for two attempted murders. 

These film events directly support the work of UnCommon Law, enabling us to reach more people in prison and help them safely rejoin their families and communities. Please join us and spread the word!