UC IRVINE LAW — UCI Law Professor Katie Tinto and the Criminal Justice Clinic (CJC) at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, secured the release of one of its clients, Don Cunningham, who had been serving a sentence of 277 years to life, and was incarcerated in California state prison for 26 years. Last July, CJC filed a request for the San Diego District Attorney’s Office to consider resentencing Cunningham pursuant to Penal Code § 1172.1, a statute which authorizes prosecutors to resentence individuals who were punished under the extreme sentencing practices of the past. After a full review of CJC’s submission and Cunningham’s case, the District Attorney’s Office agreed and filed a request with the San Diego Superior Court that Cunningham be resentenced to 29 years and 4 months — a sentence which qualified him for immediate release. The court granted the order on March 22, 2023.