Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Jan 2015.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
90 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
13 people listed on the 990; $821K paid to officers and key staff.
Keith Wattley’s $201K as Executive Dir. is at the 87th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1147 $1–10M crime & legal nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Wattley | $201,221 | $193,814 | $161,592 | $162,038 | $155,666 |
| Lilliana Paratore | $144,078 | — | — | — | — |
| Katy Dybwad | $136,078 | $123,471 | — | — | — |
| Lilliana B Paratore | — | $127,391 | — | — | — |
| Rebecca Berry | $121,102 | — | — | — | — |
| Katherine Dybwad | — | — | — | $112,250 | — |
| Susan M Kim | $110,124 | — | — | — | — |
| Natasha Baker | $108,797 | — | — | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
- Loans to or from officersSch L · Pt II1 listed
Programs and updates
Provides healing, justice, and legal help for people imprisoned for violent crimes.
Questions for Uncommon Law
Your first name shows with your question. Uncommon Law answers here, for everyone.
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Legal
- Saw 12 of our clients come home to their communities - Filed 10 habeas corpus petitions (6 Superior, 3 Court of Appeal, 1 CA Supreme Court) - Delivered 23 consultations - Supported 61 parole hearings - Achieved a 59% grant rate in parole hearings completed
In-Prison Programming
- Graduated 42 participants from our 10-month Home After Harm, Pathways for Parole Success, along with three Peer Mentor graduates, and enrolled 80 new participants total at California State Prison, Los Angeles County (LAC) and Salinas Valley State Prison for graduations in 2025.
Policy
- Sponsored AB2310, the Parole Hearing Language Accessibility Act, requiring the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) to: translate essential documents into the give most commonly spoken languages among incarcerated individuals eligible for parole hearings; develop and publish bilingual glossaries of parole hearing terminology; and promulgate…
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2024 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY24 | End FY24 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $2.5M | $295K |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $2.9M | |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $4K | $344 |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $4.2M | $7.2M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $711K | $412K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $3.5M | $6.8M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $0 | |||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $0 | |||
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $0 | |||
| Benefits paid to or for membersLn 4 | $0 | |||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $201K | $190K | $5K | $5K |
| Pay of disqualified personsLn 6 | $0 | |||
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $2.6M | $2.5M | $70K | $72K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $0 | |||
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $311K | $294K | $9K | $8K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $225K | $212K | $7K | $6K |
| Management feesLn 11a | $0 | |||
| Legal feesLn 11b | $33K | $33K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $29K | $29K | ||
| Lobbying feesLn 11d | $0 | |||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $0 | |||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $0 | |||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $287K | $99K | $188K | |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $0 | |||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $15K | $15K | $424 | $368 |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $34K | $30K | $796 | $3K |
| RoyaltiesLn 15 | $0 | |||
| OccupancyLn 16 | $140K | $133K | $4K | $4K |
| TravelLn 17 | $218K | $217K | $2K | |
| Travel and entertainment for public officialsLn 18 | $0 | |||
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $0 | |||
| InterestLn 20 | $4K | $38 | $740 | $3K |
| Payments to affiliatesLn 21 | $0 | |||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $4K | $4K | $112 | $108 |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $23K | $18K | $4K | $516 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $144K | $121K | $14K | $8K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $51K | $48K | $2K | $644 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $4.4M | $3.9M | $334K | $113K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 Latest Viewing | $7.6M | $4.4M | $3.3M | $6.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $3.0M | $3.4M | −$407K | $3.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $4.1M | $3.0M | $1.1M | $3.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $2.1M | $2.6M | −$413K | $2.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $3.7M | $1.2M | $2.4M | $3.2M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $7,647,918 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 7 of 8 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $7,647,918 across 10 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $4,369,311 across 31 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $7,201,943 assets, 20 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $6,789,732 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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