In 2023 I served as expert witness in a California Racial Justice Act case, People v. Finley. The court granted sentencing relief. The case set precedent on the consideration of racial bias in sentencing under California state law. Two years later, what does the precedent actually mean — for the legal field, for institutional equity work, and for the institutions that contract with us?
What the precedent did
The Racial Justice Act, AB 2542, allows defendants to challenge convictions and sentences where racial bias played a role. People v. Finley clarified what counts as evidence of that bias and how it can be established at the sentencing stage. The case is now cited in subsequent California RJA petitions.
For the legal field, this means the bar for documenting institutional bias in criminal proceedings is higher and clearer than it was. For expert witnesses, the case established a methodology — institutional history, statistical patterns, comparable case analysis — that is now part of standard practice in this category of work.
What the precedent did not do
It did not change the underlying rate of bias in California sentencing. RJA petitions are case-by-case. Each defendant has to assemble evidence individually. The structural question — whether sentencing systems will be reformed in response to documented bias — remains open.
What this means for institutions
For the public-sector and government clients we work with, the People v. Finley precedent matters because it shifts the legal exposure landscape. Institutions whose policies, hiring, or operational practices are vulnerable to documented bias claims now face a clearer evidentiary standard. The work of institutional anti-racism is no longer a values exercise. It is a documented liability-reduction exercise. That has always been our framing on this site. The precedent confirms it.
We continue to take on expert witness work in California RJA cases and in adjacent institutional bias contexts. The MCLE-credentialed continuing education we provide for legal professionals draws directly on this work.
