Unite the People is a California-based nonprofit organization formed in 2014 by a small group of concerned citizens, defense attorneys, and families and friends of incarcerated loved ones to fight for social justice and deal with our national problems of mass incarceration and the need for prison and sentencing reform.

Since then, we’ve supported dozens of criminal justice reform bills in California, including AB 32 which will end the use of private prisons in California, and AB 2138 which allows formerly incarcerated people to get business licenses so they can start their own companies and become entrepreneurs after they have been rehabilitated and released. We also authored the People’s Fair Sentencing and Public Safety Act which will free thousands of nonviolent offenders and save California millions annually. We hope to place our proposition on the 2020 ballot.

Since 2018, our staff of criminal defense and civil rights attorneys have also provided low cost legal services to the public, including post-conviction and immigration services. We are currently the only nonprofit firm in the state to offer sliding-scale pricing based on our client’s income, expanding access to professional legal services to the general public. Our attorneys include former ACLU and Innocence Project staff who are excited to make a difference for low and middle income Californians in need of top quality legal representation.

Unite the People is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Donations are tax deductible!

Our Mission

Unite the People educates the public on critical social justice issues with an emphasis on those involving the criminal justice system, advocates for reform, and provides affordable legal services to lower and middle income individuals who would otherwise be forced to rely on less effective strategies such as personal advocacy or the overloaded public defender's office.