California habeas project

The California Habeas Project, also known as The Habeas Project, is a collaboration that advocates for reducing the sentences of domestic violence survivors incarcerated for crimes related to their experiences of being abused. The constituent organizations in the collarborative include: Free Battered Women, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, California Women's Law Center, USC Post-Conviction Justice Project, and the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office. [ [http://www.habeasproject.org California Habeas Project ] ] The Habeas Project recruits volunteer legal teams from private law firms to represent incarcerated survivors of domestic violence. [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/10/BALERSQ8G.DTL "San Francisco Chronicle" (09/10/2007)] ] The Habeas Project began working with women in prison in 2002 after the California penal code was altered to give battered women in California prisons a chance for a new hearing. By 2007, the Habeas Project had facilitated the release of 19 survivors of domestic violence from prison. ["A Life Without Bars" by Elizabeth Fernandez, "San Francisco Chronicle" 07/15/2007]

According to "The Los Angeles Times", The California Habeas Project has also voiced strong criticism of Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley's handling of domestic violence cases. [ [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-battered7dec07,1,1058158.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california "The Los Angeles Times" (12/07/2007)] ]

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