The California Innocence Coalition – the Northern California Innocence Project, The Innocence Center, Loyola Project for the Innocent, and the Los Angeles Innocence Project – work on policy reform to help reduce the risks of a wrongful conviction, intervene when a wrongful conviction has occurred, and to assist our freed clients in transitioning home upon their release from prison.
AB 1595 strengthens California’s criminal legal system by ensuring courts can correct wrongful convictions while preserving appropriate judicial discretion. By reducing unnecessary litigation and conserving limited court resources, it allows courts to focus on the merits of credible claims rather than procedural technicalities. AB 1595 aligns post-conviction review with well established constitutional principles and clarifies the standard to be applied; allows courts to reach the merits of otherwise barred claims when new evidence undermines confidence in the outcome, preserving finality while preventing technical rules from blocking meritorious cases; requires courts to state reasons if a concession by the District Attorney or Attorney General on a factual or legal basis for relief is rejected; clarifies courts’ authority to order discovery for good cause after an order to show cause issues; and, simplifies access to identification, transitional services, health care, and housing support upon release of exonerated people.
