Susannah Luthi writes for the Washington Free Beacon about the negative impacts of a misguided West Coast law.

In late 2022, a judge in California’s Bay Area overturned the convictions of two gang killers. Her reasoning? Their prosecutors deployed the “racially coded” term “pistol whip” during closing arguments and quoted rap lyrics, written by one of the killers, that included the “n-word.” The killers, once facing life sentences, could now be eligible for parole by 2030.

The appeal is one of a growing pile that has come courtesy of a 2020 California law, the Racial Justice Act, that demands judges reverse or toss sentences based on implicit or systemic racial bias. In other words, defendants can ask judges to throw out charges by arguing that “racism” was at play in bringing or proving those charges.

California’s district attorneys’ association opposed the bill before its passage, predicting that it would bog down courts and toss sentences of dangerous criminals. More than a dozen swing-district Democrats in the State Legislature opted not to vote for it. But Adam Gray, then representing Merced and Stanislaus Counties in the California Assembly, was not one of them. He voted for the Racial Justice Act, earning him plaudits from left-wing groups such as the California branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which backed the bill and praised Gray and other supporters for their “social justice priorities.”

Years later, Gray is painting his time in the State Legislature in a different light as he challenges Rep. John Duarte (R.) in a highly anticipated rematch for California’s 13th Congressional District. (Duarte beat Gray by less than 1 point in 2022.) Gray is positioning himself in the race as a “tough on crime” candidate, a characterization that activists and attorneys are questioning given the Democrat’s Racial Justice Act vote.