Jan. 11—San Joaquin County made history last month when it became only the second jurisdiction in the nation to implement a new policy that mandates those charged with a crime be prosecuted based solely on evidence in a case.
While that policy may seem like it would already be in place among law enforcement agencies, a California State Assembly bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020 requires prosecutors to make charging decisions against those accused without knowing an individual’s race.
The bill, which took effect Jan. 1, requires the Department of Justice to develop and publish “Race-Blind Charging” guidelines where all 58 counties in California implement a process that reviews cases in which all means of identifying the race of the suspect, victim, or witness have been removed or redacted.
San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas said Yolo County was the first to implement such a process, as the agency had been practicing “Race-Blind Charging” months before Newsom signed AB 2778 four years ago.
“For the other 57 counties, it was a pretty big ask,” Freitas said. “This wasn’t a one-size fits all solution, as the technology needed to pull this off hadn’t been invented, and most of the systems used by the counties were different.”
Freitas said San Joaquin County began researching ways to implement the new policy almost immediately after its approval by the governor, and ultimately found a company to develop software that would remove any identifying information from a police report.
A prosecuting attorney would then review the redacted document to decide whether or not to press charges against an individual. Once a decision was made, that identifying information was then added back to the report for a second review.
“What we’ve seen is what we’ve always believed,” Freitas said. “And that is race did not play a factor in charging, and that cases were based on evidence, not anything else.”
Without the software, Freitas said it would have been impossible for any member of his staff to physically redact identifying information from the 14,000 cases being considered by his office.
“This is very important for our county,” he said. “With Stockton being one of the most diverse cities in the country, the people need to have faith in their elected officials to make sure we’re doing the right thing.”
Freitas several other counties in California are now contacting his office to inquire how the policy was implemented in such a timely matter.
He said the key was to not wait until the last minute to comply with state law.
“In San Joaquin County, we’re not just implementing race-blind charging; we’re revitalizing the very essence of justice,” District Attorney spokeswoman Erin Haight said. “By focusing on evidence over ethnicity, we’re ensuring that every individual’s case is judged by the merit of law, not the color of skin. This isn’t just policy change. It’s a moral imperative for a fair society.”