Alameda CountyCandidate for District Attorney

Pamela Price was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio and survived years spent in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. She joined the civil rights movement in 1968 and was arrested for the first time in a civil rights demonstration at age 13. She was emancipated at age 16. In 1978, she graduated from Yale College with a B.A. in Political Science. In 1982, she graduated from U.C. Berkeley School of Law with a J.D. and an M.A. in Jurisprudence and Social Policy. She became a member of the California bar in 1983.

​Pamela has spent her entire career advocating for justice for women and people of color. She has successfully represented countless victims of sex and race-based discrimination. Her compassion for victims is deeply rooted in her own personal experiences with racism, sexual harassment, domestic violence and the criminal justice system.

In 1977, Pamela joined the landmark case of Alexander (Price) v. Yale, the first case to establish that sexual assault and sexual harassment in education are illegal. Pamela served as the lead plaintiff in Alexander for 3 years, and believes that her experience in standing up for gender justice and equality as a young woman has shaped her entire legal career.

​Pamela founded her own civil litigation firm in 1991. In the first 3 years, she successfully represented two young girls who were sexually assaulted by a popular teacher in a lawsuit against Berkeley Unified School District. The federal court established new law when it ruled that Title IX prohibits a sexually hostile educational environment in 1993. Pamela successfully negotiated a structured settlement for her clients valued at $1.8 million.

Pamela also has a record of successfully suing  the California Department of Corrections (CDC) on behalf of hundreds of victims of sexual harassment. From 1991-97, she represented a female correctional sergeant who worked at San Quentin State Prison for 16 years and had been repeatedly sexually harassed by two of her supervisors. After a six-week trial, a Marin County judge ruled in her client’s favor, awarding compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $1.3 million. This was the largest verdict ever against the CDC at the time.

In 2015, she successfully represented a female correctional officer who worked at Corcoran State Prison for almost 20 years. Her client was sexually harassed and stalked by a co-worker and her supervisors refused to protect her. After a 2-week trial, a federal jury in Fresno found in her client’s favor and awarded her compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $600,000. The subsequent settlement was the largest settlement for sexual harassment paid by CDCR in 2016.

As a result of Pamela’s relentless advocacy and effective litigation in another sexual harassment case against Pelican Bay State Prison, in 2004, CDC implemented new policies and regulations aimed at protecting female employees from sexual harassment and sexual assault. These new policies were adopted statewide and affected the working conditions of thousands of female employees.

Pamela has also won large settlements in sexual harassment cases against the City of Oakland. In two of her cases, young victims of sexual harassment received awards of $825,000 and $750,000 for what they suffered. While pursuing these cases, she actively and successfully challenged the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office to protect the rights of these young Black women.  

 In 2002, Pamela Price became one of only a handful of Black women to ever argue in front of the United States Supreme Court. In that case, she successfully advocated for her client, a Black man who had been subjected to constant racial harassment at his place of employment. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in her favor, and after a ten-year battle with his employer, Amtrak, her client finally won a verdict of $500,000.

Pamela Price has been honored as a Champion of Justice by the California Legislature, Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Congressman Mark DeSaulnier.

Pamela finds the poverty rate in California and the United States to be unacceptable. In the wealthiest nation in the world, there should not be any individual without adequate food, clothing, housing, healthcare, education, and other basic human necessities. Pamela believes that we should pass legislation to provide universal healthcare, free higher education, affordable housing, and sufficient safety net services to ensure no one remains without all basic human necessities.

As District Attorney, Pamela believes that criminal justice reform is urgently needed to stop the criminalization of poverty by punishing people when they cannot pay fines and fees imposed by the courts, and incarcerating them because they cannot post money bail.

Mass incarceration has also been a major factor in exacerbating poverty and homelessness, particularly impacting women and children. Pamela believes that we can fight poverty in California by eliminating money bail, promoting alternatives to incarceration, expanding pre and post-diversion opportunities and restorative justice programs for youth and adults, people with substance use disorders, and first time offenders, alternative dispositions for people with disabilities (mental or physical), and establishing veteran courts, drug courts, neighborhood courts, and homeless courts.

There are no circumstances under which Pamela believes a juvenile should be prosecuted as an adult. The development science is clear that young people don’t fully grow into their faculties until their mid twenties. Numerous studies have shown the devastating harms of prosecuting children as adults. Prosecuting youth as adults not only destroys their lives, it does nothing to make our communities safer. Pamela believes that the best way to deal with youth is through investments in education, after school programs, targeted employment, and age appropriate interventions when they do commit crimes. Her efforts will be dedicated to establishing neighborhood courts, community service alternatives, and restorative justice programs for youth. Pamela is also opposed to the death penalty and will not charge it under any circumstances.