The Racial Justice for all Act: Rooting Out Racism in the Criminal Justice System
Speakers:
Terrance J. Evans, Partner, Duane Morris, and President, Charles Houston Bar Association
Melissa O’Connell, Staff Attorney and Policy Liaison, Northern California Innocence Project
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Prof. O’Connell received her J.D. with a concentration in Public Interest and Social Justice from Santa Clara University School of Law in 2003. Melissa was one of the early practitioners with Fresh Lifelines for Youth (F.L.Y.), a legal non-profit working with at-risk youth in Santa Clara County. She was a Public Defender in Solano County representing indigent clients charged with various misdemeanor and felony level offenses. With that trial experience, she went on to join a boutique criminal defense firm in Berkeley, CA and practiced in multiple jurisdictions throughout Northern California. In January 2010, Prof. O’Connell returned to Santa Clara School of Law where she currently serves as a Staff Attorney and Policy Liaison for the Northern California Innocence Project, where she litigates cases of wrongful conviction, supervises clinical law students, and lobbies and testifies in Sacramento for legislative reforms inspired by innocence work. As a Lecturer in Law, Prof. O’Connell has taught courses in Legal Analysis, Advanced Legal Writing, Interviewing & Counseling, and Introduction to U.S. Law and served as Coach for the Juvenile External Honors Moot Court Competition.
Mr. Evans is a Partner in the San Francisco and Los Angeles offices of Duane Morris LLP, where he serves as the Co-Leader of the firm’s Banking and Financial Services Practice and the Co-Chair of the firm’s San Francisco Diversity and Inclusion Committee. His practice is focused on representing clients in federal and state trial and appellate courts across the United States. Mr. Evans also regularly counsels clients regarding racial justice and diversity and inclusion issues. He has led dozens of diversity trainings for judges, lawyers, law students, and members of the community around the United States.
Mr. Evans is President of the Charles Houston Bar Association, the oldest Black Bar Association in California. In addition, among other positions, he is the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the CLA Racial Justice Committee; Immediate Past Chair of the Litigation Section of the California Lawyers Association; and Co-Chair of the American Bar Association ICLC Diversity & Inclusion Committee, and he is the first Black man elected to serve as a statewide representative on the Board of the California Lawyers Association. Mr. Evans has spoken at more than 150 diversity, equity, and inclusion and civil rights programs, and frequently appears on national and local television discussing issues ranging from the United States Supreme Court and California courts to important legislation and civil rights issues.
Mr. Evans has received numerous honors, including being named in 2016 as one of the top African American attorneys under 40 in the United States, by the National Bar Association,; by the Charles Houston Bar Association in 2017 for his work promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal profession; by the Minority Bar Coalition in 2018 for his contributions to promoting diversity and inclusion throughout California; by Chambers in 2020 for his efforts to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the United States; and in 2021 by the Bar Association of San Francisco for his diversity and inclusion work. He has also received special honors from the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus, the 100 Black Men of Los Angeles, the Young Black Scholars Program, the Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, the American Legion and many other organizations.