About Us |
About the Just Cause Law Collective
Services: We represent criminal defendants, as well as victims of police misconduct.In addition, we provide educational workshops and materials.Most of our work is in the San Francisco Bay Area, but we occasionally handle cases in other parts of California.Please give us a call at (510) 396-8427, if you’d like an appointment to discuss hiring us.All enquiries are strictly confidential.
Purpose: In the United States, far too many people are imprisoned, and far too many of the prisoners are low-income people of color.The purpose of this website is to even the playing field, by providing extra legal information to people who can’t afford private criminal defense lawyers. It’s particularly important to know your rights at this time, because the behavior of law enforcement toward the public has become increasingly militant and militarized.Law enforcement officers often rationalize their actions as necessary tactics in the wars on drugs or terrorism.Predictably, as these campaigns progress, the primary casualties are people of color, people who are poor, and people who are activists.To make matters worse, recent legislation has given law enforcement greater legal license to pry and intimidate.And these changes in the law signal that the political climate is more accepting of ugly police practices such as infiltration or manipulative interrogation techniques.That’s why it’s critical to learn how to use the law to protect yourself—before you or the people you care about end up in jail.
Perspective: Law enforcement professionals, like lawyers, vary quite a bit in terms of personal integrity.Unfortunately, it’s difficult to tell—while you’re being arrested—whether the officer you’re dealing with is someone you should trust.The officer may be telling you the truth or misleading you.The officer may write down what you say accurately or change it.Or the officer may be honest and careful and still conclude, after talking to you, that you’re guilty.You simply won’t know whether an officer is really on your side until you read the police report, and by then it’s too late.So, people should assume that the officer is not trustworthy, and take the most conservative approach: remaining silent and asking to see their lawyer.This is pretty hard on those cops who just want to sort things out, do their paperwork, and go home.But then, the rights to remain silent and to see a lawyer weren’t included in our Constitution to make the legal system more efficient, but rather to make it more fair.And one aspect of fairness is that if you’re under arrest and being questioned by a trained professional (a police officer), you’re entitled to have a trained professional on your side (a defense lawyer), to help you make informed decisions. Criminal defense lawyers don’t urge their clients to avoid taking responsibility for having done wrong.The vast majority of criminal defendants—on the advice of counsel—plead guilty in court.Most of them are guilty and sensibly accept a plea bargain instead of going to trial.Nonetheless, a defendant should plead guilty because he’s listening to his conscience or because he recognizes that he’s undeniably caught—not because he was manipulated into confessing.But law enforcement officers are trained to mislead suspects whom they’re questioning, and it’s perfectly legal for police to lie when they’re interrogating someone.In particular, officers try to convince people to give up their rights to legal advice before being questioned.Using dirty tricks to get confessions is not only inconsistent with the idea of a just legal system, but also makes it more likely that innocent people will be convicted as well as guilty ones. Criminal defense lawyers do urge their clients not to answer police questions before talking to a lawyer.But this advice is hard to follow, because it goes against strongly held beliefs.Most people trust the police and want to explain everything.And no one wants to irritate his arresting officer by asking for a lawyer.Even people who are very critical of the police still tend to trust the particular officers who arrest them, and end up submitting to questioning without waiting to see a lawyer.That’s why this website gives so many examples of police officers who manipulate suspects into answering questions.It’s necessary to focus on the unsavory things police do, in order to convince people they should invoke their rights.And this strategy—remaining silent and asking to see a lawyer—is the safest option even when the officers are honest and just doing their job as they’ve been trained.
Feedback: The author and illustrator have attempted to be respectful and inclusive of people of assorted gender, race, class, orientation, and physical ability. If you can suggest improvements along these lines, we would be happy to apply them to this website and to other projects on which we’re working.
For those readers who are concerned that this website will help bad people get away with their crimes, we sympathize. Consider, however, that bad things do happen to good people. So it could be handy to know what to say to the police in case they’re ever laboring under the misapprehension that you’re actually a bad person and therefore deserving of manipulation and mistreatment. On the other hand, you could simply rely on truth as your shield, because in a just legal system that should be perfectly adequate. Disclaimer: This is a website, not a personal consultation with an attorney. You can use this website to learn about the rights that protect you during encounters with law enforcement—but it cannot solve specific legal problems. If you do have a legal difficulty, talk to a lawyer practicing in your area, who can give you proper advice based on the facts of your particular situation and the laws of your particular jurisdiction. If it’s a criminal issue, and you can’t afford a private lawyer, go see the public defender. And generally speaking, when you’re in trouble, the sooner you talk to a lawyer, the better.
Acknowledgments Elektra A., Officer Friendly, Noël Hibberd, and Mike Ruppert reviewed police tactics. Richard Alejandro and Peter Livingston captured video. Dustin B., Shaka Cinqué (Albert Woodfox), Ndume Olatushani (Erskine Johnson), Keith Rucker, and Paul Wright discussed incarceration. Heather Bissel and Katya Komisaruk arranged and edited the content on the website. Bob Casteel, Leslie Kish, and Jake Scott clarified bail bonds. Cynthia Collett coached the writer and cleaned up the writing. Mike Esmailzadeh consulted on nonviolence. Jeff Foss created the website design. Prof.Chris Gray deconstructed. Justin Gross submitted to interrogation. Katya Komisaruk wrote all the text on the website, except where otherwise noted. Quiante H., Denisha Q., and Señor X enhanced cartoon dialogues. Rahula Janowski hooked it up. Eric Klein laid out the photo novella. Tim Maloney drew all the cartoons on the website. Saba Moeel designed the No Consent to Search notices. Cloud Morris researched law and finessed forms. Inno Nagara provided the cover and text design, assisted by Kym Thomas and Sabiha Basrai, as well as preparing images for use on the website. Rina Pal and Prof.Samuel Walker addressed systemic discrimination. Rachael Rakes waited patiently for the manuscript. Jeff Rector gallantly typeset the text. Alison Sexton and Jeff Foss took photographs, while Butch Bowen, Joe, Patrukio Mathis, and Ruby posed for them. David Solnit offered advice on process. David Taylor did tech support and created the content management system on which this website is based.
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