UnCommon Law supports people navigating California's discretionary parole process through trauma-informed legal representation, mental health counseling, legislative and policy advocacy, and in-prison programming led by those who have been through the process themselves.
Over 200,000 people are serving life sentences in the United States of America today. More than two thirds of them are Black or Brown.
For 15 years, UnCommon Law has championed the radical notion that people serving life sentences in prison for serious or violent crimes have the capacity for transformation and deserve viable pathways home from prison. With leadership from those most impacted by the criminal legal system, we are reimagining responses to violence and harm, and fighting to dismantle life sentencing and discretionary parole. Our groundbreaking approach is changing policy and parole outcomes, driven by the voices and experiences of system-impacted communities.
UnCommon Law supports people navigating California's discretionary parole process through trauma-informed legal representation, mental health counseling, legislative and policy advocacy, and in-prison programming led by those who have been through the process themselves.
The James Irvine Foundation
UnCommon Law Founder and Executive Director Keith Wattley is a recipient of The James Irvine Foundation’s 2020 Leadership Award, recognizing his groundbreaking work employing trauma-informed advocacy to change the California parole process.
Obama Foundation
UnCommon Law Founder and Executive Director, Keith Wattley is an inaugural Obama Foundation Fellow, recognized for his unique approach to addressing violent crime.
“People who commit violent crimes aren’t evil. They’re usually just scared.” Learn more about UnCommon Law’s “Spectacular” take on changing the narrative about people convicted of violent crimes.
UnCommon Law is bringing folks home from life sentences. Learn more about our work in this recent feature from NowThis News.
A new report by the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) suggests the state’s parole process could lead to bias in how parole is granted.
The parole board’s refusal to free Janet Carter, 69, is part of what advocates warn is a growing humanitarian crisis across the US.
“This process depends on the subjective opinions of people who, for the most part, have spent their careers locking up people that we, as a society, have been taught to fear. As a result, we see that people who are Black, brown, gender-nonconforming, differently able, are most likely to be denied parole.”
“As a lawyer, I have the ability to try and bring a little bit of humanity into a system that is so inhumane.”
"Under the worst circumstances, just about anyone is capable of killing another person. Shows that capitalize on those worst moments do so at the peril of healing and repair for victims and survivors and for those who caused the harm."
