Sean Garcia-Leys
The Peace and Justice Law Center sgarcialeys@pjlawcenter.org
Sean Garcia-Leys is a civil rights attorney and public safety advocate who works to end racial disparities and counterproductive gang suppression strategies in the criminal legal system.
He has successfully fought gang injunctions in LA, Orange, and Ventura counties; was instrumental in reducing the number of people in the CalGang database from 200,000 to 20,000; successfully advocated for the closure of Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles, and has testified as a gang expert in immigration court where he has successfully helped stop deportations.
His research has been published by Oxford University Press, in white papers by the UC Irvine Law School and the Urban Peace Institute, and he is a frequent source for the news media regarding gang policing and juvenile justice.
He is the recipient of the 2017 Chicano Hero award from Chicanxs Unidxs, the 2018 Equal Justice award from the ACLU of Southern California, and the 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award from the UC Irvine Law School.
Before becoming an attorney, Sean worked as a high school teacher in Watts and East LA, and as a labor organizer. He is also a former commissioner of the Los Angeles County Probation Oversight Commission.
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