ACLU accuses Solano DA of obstructing public records on racial bias in prosecutions

FAIRFIELD – The Northern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday accused the Solano County District Attorney’s Office of illegally withholding records containing racial and ethnic data on the agency’s prosecutions.

In a complaint filed in Solano County on Tuesday, attorneys with the ACLU and the San Francisco law firm Morgan, Lewis and Bockius LLP said that for years, District Attorney Krishna Abrams refused to comply with requests for data about prosecutions, in violation of the California Public Records Act.

“For years, [the DA’s office] has ignored multiple requests for basic prosecutorial records,” the ACLU’s attorneys said in the complaint. “It also prevents meaningful implementation of the Racial Justice Act, California’s landmark legislation intended to eliminate racial discrimination in the criminal legal system.”

ACLU attorneys accused the DA of “flagrant stonewalling and utter disregard for the PRA.” 

The ACLU submitted similar requests to every district attorney in the state as part of an effort to build a public database of prosecutorial records to study implementation of the Racial Justice Act – a 2022 law which prohibits the state from seeking or obtaining a criminal conviction or from imposing a sentence based upon race, ethnicity or national origin. It made it possible for a person charged with or convicted of a crime to challenge the government for racial bias. 

According to the ACLU, Solano County was the first county in California to face appellate litigation related to the Racial Justice Act, when a criminal defendant also sought data regarding race and prosecutions, which the district attorney’s office opposed. The appeals court ordered a Solano judge to reevaluate the request, which in part led the Solano County Superior Court to establish an Elimination of Bias Committee.

“It would be incredible that the [DA’s office] – as Solano County’s public prosecutor – would not be an active participant in the Committee’s ‘education and activities,’ and thus have responsive records,” the ACLU’s attorneys said in their complaint. “Solano County’s recalcitrance to provide public information is also demonstrated in its refusal to respond to a California Department of Justice survey seeking information for the Reparations Task Force, apparently becoming the only county in the state to refuse to respond.”

Abrams’ office did not respond to requests for comment.

According to the petition, between 2021 and 2023 the ACLU submitted three requests for various data, including on decisions to prosecute, plea offers and defendants’ racial and ethnic data. Abrams’ office acknowledged receiving the requests – dated July 23, 2021, Sept. 7, 2021, and Dec. 11, 2023 – but refused to produce any records, the ACLU said.

“Instead, the [DA’s office] asserted overbroad and unsupported exemptions, withheld key policy documents, and rebuffed efforts to provide statutorily required information,” the attorneys said in the petition. 

Abrams’ office claimed the data requested wasn’t readily available, would be too difficult to produce or was categorically exempt from being disclosed to the public under the public records law. 

In response, ACLU senior staff attorney Emi MacLean wrote in a Feb. 20 letter filed with Tuesday’s complaint that she disagreed with the DA’s reasons for declining requests for records: “You have provided no explanation as to whether Solano indeed has responsive records, why these exemptions would apply, and which records they would apply to,” she wrote. 

MacLean asked to meet with the DA to discuss the requests, saying government agencies must help identify records or refine requests to better find the requested data. It is unclear if the DA responded to this request.

Maclean said in an interview Wednesday that implementing the Act requires gathering data from prosecutors, and Solano's DA cannot be exempt under the public records law from providing this specific data, especially when many others have complied.

“Many DAs across the state have readily produced them as the law requires," MacLean said. "In Solano, they’re acting like they’re above the law.”

For the DA to refuse to provide the data has several impacts, MacLean added, including that people may be left in jail who could challenge their charges or convictions under the act. 

"If the law is nothing but mere words, because people cannot access the information they need to bring claims under the racial justice act, then the law is effectively meaningless," MacLean said. 

The ACLU’s complaint asks that a Solano County judge issue a writ of mandate and order relief, which would compel the DA to provide the requested data. MacLean told Vallejo Sun that the ACLU expects to next file a motion identifying its claims on how the county has violated the law, which will likely lead to a hearing in order for a judge to make a ruling in court.

The legal action follows the ACLU’s other law enforcement accountability efforts within Solano County, such as recently urging the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to investigate and decertify nine current and former Vallejo Police officers who were involved in at least one fatal on-duty shooting and filing a lawsuit to compel the release of an investigative report regarding the city of Vallejo’s badge bending scandal.