Section Criminal Law

The Criminal Law Section helps further the achievement of fair, speedy, and effective administration of criminal justice. Prosecutors, private defense counsel, judges, law professors, correctional and law enforcement personnel, law students, public defenders, and other criminal justice professionals are encouraged to join. The Criminal Law Section provides members with continuing legal education (CLE) programs and a network of support.

Section Chair

pending
415 499 1314
info@mainbar.org

Notices

Administrative Order 20-06

Updated April 1, 2020

Main County Superior Court Uniform Local Rules 2

Updated July 1, 2019

Update Emergency Orders to Administrative Orders 20-06

Updated April 6, 2020

There are no upcoming Criminal Law events

Demystifying Restorative Justice

Sep 01, 2020
By Lori Frugoli | Marin County District Attorney

Restorative justice is an often misunderstood term. Fundamentally, it is a philosophy and a movement based on a set of principles that aim to mend broken relationships. When applied to implementing justice, these principles call for bringing together all the parties impacted by harm, including the person who caused the harm. Restorative justice works to repair the harm, restore relationships and address the needs of the parties and their community, allowing the person who caused the harm to be reintegrated back into their community as a whole and healed individual.

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The Status of Bail Reform in California: Proposition 25 or the California Supreme Court

Sep 01, 2020
By Assemblymember Rob Bonta

An objective evaluation of our criminal legal system reveals fundamental injustices. One of them is money bail. Money bail inherently criminalizes poverty and is one of the many failed policies that need to be fixed. The jail door should not swing open and closed based on how much money you have. In California, I co-authored and helped pass the Money Bail Reform Act (SB 10), a landmark bill to end money bail in our state.

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Reforming Jury Selection: Don't Stop at the End

Sep 01, 2020
By Emily Charley

Race, as a matter of constitutional principle, cannot factor into the selection of jurors. But one must spend only the briefest amount of time observing jury trials to know that this colorblind ideal has not been realized yet in America. AB 3070 addresses the use of race in peremptory challenges of jurors, addressing the part of the problem at the end of the process. We need to address the composition of the jury pool as well, which another bill may be making a start on.

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Something Else Has to Give: Time to Restore the Speedy Trial Provisions of Penal Code Section 1382

Sep 01, 2020
By Morgan H. Daly

Until a long-awaited murder trial began last week, there had not been a jury trial in Marin County for six months. It is time to stop extending the statutory speedy trial deadlines. The threat of a trial or dismissal will bring both parties to the table to settle cases in a way that is not happening currently.

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The Trouble with Eyewitness Testimony: It’s Worse than You Think

Sep 01, 2020
By Karthik Raju

A growing body of research demonstrates the malleable nature of human memory and the limitations of (usually visual) perception in eyewitness testimony, meaning that it carries inherent risks of being inaccurate. The number of wrongful convictions attributable to misidentifications and the associated individual and societal costs demand widespread adoption of research-informed eyewitness identification procedures.

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BOOK REVIEW

Ending Mass Incarceration in the Face of COVID-19: Solutions Are Needed More Than Ever

Sep 01, 2020
By Charles Dresow

The COVID-19 pandemic is having many devastating effects. One of the starker ones is on our custodial institutions, highlighting their dreadful overcrowding. Mass incarceration is not feasible economically, societally, or morally. Our society has a moral obligation to create a system of criminal justice that both protects the community and avoids senseless sentencing policies that do nothing to reduce recidivism or rehabilitate citizens.

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