One-of-a-Kind Advocacy
One-of-a-kind Advocacy
The La Defensa Justice PAC is the first of its kind, and the only PAC dedicated to supporting truly progressive candidates for judges of the Los Angeles Superior Court. The PAC will focus on culturally-informed political education for varying demographics, especially first time voters, under-funded communities, and the LGBTGI+ community.
Our team, from left to right: (top) Gabi Vázquez, Leah Perez, Titilayọ Rasaki, Bryanna Siguenza, Kaitlin Ruiz; (bottom) Ivette Alé-Ferlito, Megan Castillo, Laura Coholan, Lauren De la Paz Bollinger, Mya Hendrix, Jess Estes.
OUR
WORK
OUR
WORK
Our work focuses on reducing the scope and power of the judiciary, law enforcement and the legal injustice system. We do this by fighting for a fair and transparent pretrial process, state and local budgets that reflect our values, life-affirming alternatives to incarceration, and judicial accountability.
Our Co-Founders, Eunisses Hernandez and Ivette Alé-Ferlito, have moved state-level ballot initiatives such as Propositions 64, an initiative to legalize cannabis, and Proposition 47, a successful criminal sentencing reform act.
At the County-level, La Defensa (our 501 C(4)) led the historic ballot measure, Measure J, now known as the Care First Community Investment, which reallocates 10% of the County’s unrestricted funds toward direct community investment and alternatives to incarceration. The County approved $187.7 in the first year’s spending package. La Defensa has been the lead organization ensuring that the implementation process is equity driven.
WINNING STRATEGY
& TEAM
WINNING
STRATEGY
& TEAM
OUR
PROJECTS
OUR PROJECTS
In 2021, we launched a website to rate and review active judges in the LA Superior Court System: RateMyJudge.LA. This revolutionary tool has been used by public defenders, community members separated from their loved ones, court staff, and community advocates.