RESOURCES FOR PRISONERS AND FAMILIES
Men, women and youth coming home from lock up are offered assistance with basic necessities such as food and clothing, housing and job referrals and a way to get the paperwork necessary to take next steps. They are brought into the larger Fair Chance Project family, where they meet others who share similar needs.
This section will take you to other sites related to criminal justice:
- to California Government links
- to studies, articles, books related to Three Strikes
- through the preparation of a Writ of Habeas
- to the site where you can get the latest Three Strikes statistics.
LEGISLATIVE TRACKER
2023/2024 Legislative Tracker A GoogleSheet workbook of legislative bills, factsheets, toolkits.
LEGAL RESOURCES
A Community-Based Analysis of California’s 2025-26 Proposed Budget [PDF]
Authorization for Release of Protected Health Information [PDF]
Back to Court- Resentencing Guide & New Enhancement Laws in California by Ella Baker Center [PDF]
Board of Parole Hearings: California Parole Hearing Process Handbook March 2024 [PDF]
CDCR-7385-Spanish Authorization for Release of Protected Health Information en Espanol [PDF]
Commutation Form in English [ PDF hosted at droplwop.org ]
Commutation Form in Espanol [ PDF hosted at droplwop.org ]
Criminal Justice Research Library at Prison Policy Initiative web site
Our mission is to empower activists, journalists, and policymakers to shape effective criminal justice policy, so we go beyond our original reports and analyses to curate a database of virtually all the empirical criminal justice research available online.
Guide to California Pardons [PDF by Asian Law Caucus ]
Index of Resources: Medical, Custody, Reentry, Templates, Contact Info, etc. [GoogleSheet]
Notice of Intent to Apply for Clemency, California [PDF]
PLO-Compassionate Release and Medical Parole for People in CDCR Prisons [PDF]
Resentencing Resources For LWOP [PDF]
Visit FUELWOP.ORG for these LEGAL RESOURCES:
- List of Public Defenders in all California Counties
- Jailhouse Lawyers Handbook
- California Legal Resource List compiled by Ella Baker Center (English/Espanol)
- Jailhouse Lawyers Manual – National Leal Support Directory 2021
- Innocence Project Application (English/Espanol)
Visit FUELWOP.ORG for laws and legal opinions related to LWOP SENTENCING
Visit FUELWOP.ORG for PAROLE RESOURCES, including Elderly and Youth Parole
ADVOCACY LINKS
California Legislative Information CA.gov site
Drop LWOP Coalition End Life Without Parole
Life Cycle of a Bill How a Bill becomes a Law from CA.gov ‘s Capitol Museum site
Find Your California Representatives Online Find Your Legislator search tool
California State Senate CA.gov site
California State Assembly CA.gov site
California Governor Gavin Newsom CA.gov site
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) CA.gov site
Contact CDCR CDCR Secretary page
GENERAL LINKS
A Matter of Life: The Scope and Impact of Life and Long Term Imprisonment in the United States
California Coalition of Women Prisoners Caring collectively for people in women’s prisons.
CURB (curbprisonspending.org)
Ear Hustle The daily realities of life inside prison shared by those living it, and stories from the outside, post-incarceration.
Ella Baker Center (ellabakercenter.org)
Felony Murder Elimination Project – California We are a group of citizens whose goal is to eliminate the Felony Murder Rule from California law. (endfmrnow.org)
Free Kevin Cooper (freekevincooper.org)
Human Rights Watch Report: The Reintegration of People Sentenced to Life Without Parole
Life Support Alliance A non-profit social advocacy organization, focused on life term inmates and their families.
Lifers With Optimistic Progress (LWOP) A group of men in CSP-Solano: “We are a multi-ethnic, multi-faith, multi-background group of men with one common thread and goal. The thread we share, is the fact that each of us are serving sentences of Life Without Parole for…”
Marshall Project The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system. We have an impact on the system through journalism, rendering it more fair, effective, transparent and humane.
Prison Policy Initiative: Mass Incarceration statistics and diagrams 2023 and Mass Incarceration statistics and diagrams 2024
Prop 47 “With the passage of Proposition 47, certain low-level, nonviolent felonies can now be changed to misdemeanors on old criminal records.”
Racial Justice Act: Info on the RJA provided by the Ella Baker Center (ABC)
Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) Working to end mass incarceration and promote racial justice through the release of aging people in prison and those serving long sentences.
Ten Toes In (tentoesin.org)
The Prism Way (theprismway.org)
Uncuffed on KALW KAWL’s award-winning radio training program and podcast in California prisons.
Words Uncaged (wordsuncaged.org, literary site)