Lauren Carbajal

  • Hosted by Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
  • Sponsored by Equal Justice Works
  • Service location San Francisco, California
  • Law school University of California, Davis School of Law
  • Issue area Criminal Justice Reform, Racial Justice
  • Fellowship class year 2020
  • Program Design-Your-Own Fellowship

The Project

Lauren advocated for Northern Californians who were harmed by encounters with police and sheriff departments though direct services, community outreach, and impact litigation.

Black and Latino communities are subject to constant low-level policing. This results in frequent encounters with officers, who then leverage their power in traffic, infraction, and other enforcement of laws that criminalize ordinary human behavior. These police encounters can lead to lifelong health consequences such as PTSD and asthma, the exacerbation of existing mental illnesses, trauma in Black communities, criminal punishment of the polices victims, and interruption of employment and childcare. A gap in legal services exists when it comes to representing these kinds of injuries, leaving community members with the understanding that they must endure their injuries without redress.

Lauren’s Mexican-American upbringing and pre-law school work with incredible students of color in New York City motivate her commitment to racial justice.

Fellowship Highlights

During the two-year Fellowship, Lauren:
  • Founded and opened The People’s Clinic, which provides legal support to people who were harmed by encounters with the police and other law enforcement agencies
  • Filed 36 administrative claims on behalf of clients against law enforcement agencies in over 16 different cities and counties in Northern California
  • Filed small claims actions where clients won damages against police departments
  • Hosted a webinar for attorneys and activists about policing and surveillance in Northern California
  • Participated in NAACP of San Jose/Silicon Valley v. City of San Jose challenging the city’s response to protestors during the 2020 uprisings against police violence
  • Investigated the Sacramento Police Department’s response to racial justice protestors and contributed to filing and litigating White et al. v. City of Sacramento

Next Steps

Lauren will continue to hold law enforcement officers and agencies accountable for their violence as a Justice Fellow at Loevy & Loevy, a national civil rights firm in Chicago.

Media

Judge Allows Federal Lawsuit to Continue – Suit Charges ‘Violent’ Sacramento Police Violate Rights of Racial Justice Protestors, Protect ‘White Supremacists’

Judge rejects San Jose’s bid to throw out police brutality lawsuit

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