Over the last couple of years, Bay Area Legal Aid advocates have collaborated with the Financial Justice Project in SF, advocating with SFMTA to resolve transportation access issues and fare evasion citations our unhoused clients were receiving because they could not afford MUNI, and the process for a discounted/disabled pass imposed multiple barriers. This month …

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On Friday, October 16, Bay Area Legal Aid attorneys submitted public comment strongly opposing the City of Oakland’s proposed “Homeless Encampment Management Policy.” Implementation of the policy as written would result in unconstitutional seizures of property and denial of due process rights to those living unsheltered in Oakland. It would needlessly increase policing, accelerate the …

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BayLegal has submitted a letter urging that the Alameda County Superior Court reconsider its plan to eliminate local jury panels and to institute county-wide jury pools for misdemeanor trials. Traveling across-county to serve on a jury would be a tremendous hardship for low-income people, particularly those with disabilities and during the pandemic. Our clients’ decreased …

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The BayLegal Regional Immigration team has submitted comments opposing proposed Executive Office of Immigration Review rules that would strip important due process rights from noncitizens before the immigration court and Board of Immigration Appeals. The proposed regulations would dramatically alter the BIA appellate process, prevent many noncitizens with immediate relatives or asylum eligibility from reopening …

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Yesterday Bay Area Legal Aid joined nine other legal services, prisoner support, and social justice organizations in urging the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to eliminate the inflated cost of phone and video communications between people incarcerated at Santa Rita Jail (SRJ) and their families. Families and communities most affected by incarceration are already among …

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