The headlines rarely tell the full story of America’s criminal legal system. Most people know it through high-profile moments—a sensational murder trial, a death penalty verdict, an exoneration. These stories matter, but are only a fraction of what happens in our courts every day.
The real story is quieter, hidden in county courthouses across the country. Every day, in courtrooms where no reporters sit, injustice unfolds. Unless someone is watching, it almost always is silent.
For more than a decade, the Vanguard has filled this void, documenting what we call “everyday injustice”—the routine tragic inequities that define the system for thousands of people each day. These are not the headline cases that attract national media. They are the daily practices—overcharging, excessive bail, racial disparities, prosecutorial misconduct—that perpetuate systemic harm.
This summer, in partnership with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Young Defender’s Program, the Vanguard deployed 30 to 35 interns to monitor and report on proceedings in San Francisco courts. The results were striking. Interns uncovered examples of bail set far beyond a person’s means, forcing unnecessary pretrial incarceration, job loss, desperate untrue guilty pleas. They documented prosecutors adding gang enhancements without credible evidence, disproportionately affecting Black and Brown defendants. They reported on cases where individuals languished in custody for years before trial, pressured into pleas just to go home.
These stories were published as part of the Vanguard’s San Francisco Court Watch series, establishing a public record that would not otherwise exist. The program proved what we have long argued: consistent observation and reporting not only shines a light on abuse, but also creates a foundation for reform.
Yet San Francisco is only one county in one state. Courts are the least transparent branch of government, and the absence of oversight is not unique to one jurisdiction. What we see in San Francisco—overcharging, racial disparities, excessive bail, under-resourced defense counsel—is happening every day across the nation. The difference is whether someone is there to document it.
The Vanguard’s vision is to scale this model statewide and nationally. We believe every major courthouse in California should have a court watch program, and ultimately, every major courthouse in the United States. With sufficient resources, we can train and deploy a network of interns, fellows, and reporters to sit in courtrooms, document proceedings, and publish findings.
The potential impact is transformative. Court watch creates:
- Transparency: Proceedings once hidden from public view are documented and reported.
- Accountability: Patterns of abuse are exposed, building pressure for reform.
- Equity: The public gains insight into systemic disparities, particularly racial inequities in charging, bail, and sentencing.
- Data for change: Consistent coverage generates a body of evidence that can inform advocacy, litigation, and policy reform.
This is a high-leverage investment. For a relatively modest cost compared to the scale of the criminal legal system, funders can help establish a sustainable, replicable model of accountability. The San Francisco pilot demonstrated the model’s feasibility. The next step is to build infrastructure for expansion—first across California, then nationwide.
The Vanguard is seeking partners who share our belief that justice requires transparency. With your support, we can transform court watch from a single-city initiative into a statewide and national movement of interns and volunteers. Together, we can ensure that everyday injustice is no longer hidden in plain sight, but instead documented, exposed, and challenged.
We invite you to join us in this effort. Institutional partners and individual supporters alike can play a catalytic role in expanding court watch. To learn more or make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will help ensure that the daily workings of our courts—where freedom, fairness, and justice hang in the balance—are no longer hidden from view.
