The Past, Present, and Future of the California Racial Justice Act

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Here’s the descrip­tion for today’s pod­cast: In the February 2025 episode of 12:01: The Death Penalty in Context, DPI Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with three experts on California’s Racial Justice Act (RJA). Natasha Minsker, an attor­ney and con­sul­tant, for­mer­ly of the ACLU, speaks on the his­to­ry of the RJA and the impe­tus for its pas­sage. Genevie Gold, research and writ­ing fel­low at the Office of the State Public Defender (OSPD), describes the process that an RJA claim fol­lows through the legal sys­tem, and how the RJA has affect­ed the work of OSPD. Avi Frey, a lawyer at the ACLU of Northern California, explains the poten­tial sys­temic effects of the RJA, which are just begin­ning to take shape as the leg­is­la­tion approach­es its fifth anniver­sary of passage.