Trail Blazing Justice

Bobbin, Zach, Justin, Julia, and Kyle discuss what dying with a terminal illness looks like in Oregon’s prison system, Oregon’s Compassionate Release process as it stands now, and  how it badly needs to be refmed Link: “ Relieving the Crisis of Dying in Prison ,” a report by OJRC, March 2023 The Trail Blazing Justice podcast is a production of the Oregon Justice Resource Center.

This week, Bobbin and Justin are joined by Julia Yoshimoto, director of OJRC’s Women’s Justice Project, as they dive into the recently published Gender Informed Practices Assessment (GIPA) of Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. Links: Gender-Informed Practices Assessment (GIPA) report about Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, by the Women's Justice Initiative A Serious Response to a Sobering...

Bobbin, Zach, and Justin discuss the history and mythology of sheriffs in America, and take a deep dive into the growing Constitutional Sheriffs movement in Oregon and across the country. They also give their take on the past week’s Legislative Days hearings at the Oregon capitol. Links: Video of Legislative Days hearing by Oregon Senate Judiciary committee (Sept 27, 2023) Video of Legislative Day...

Bobbin, Zach, and Justin react to this week’s announcement that Ellen Rosenblum will not be seeking re-election as Oregon’s Attorney General. They share their experiences dealing with the Department of Justice under Rosenblum’s tenure, and the civil rights that her agency has—and has not—stood up for. They also discuss a news story about a sheriff in Pacific County, Washington, who lacked certific...

Bobbin and Zach react to the latest news about U.S. Bureau of Prisons director Colette Peters’, testimony before the US Senate Judiciary committee, and a “trophy photo” taken by police officers with a caught escapee. Links mentioned during the podcast: OJRC’s Op-Ed about Colette Peters’ Tenure with the Oregon Department of Corrections OJRC report: "ODOC: Agency in Crisis" The Trail Blazi...

In this episode, OJRC re-launches its weekly Trail Blazing Justice podcast with an introduction to two of its new contributors, Zach Winston and Justin Low. Zach, Justin, and Bobbin Singh, OJRC's Executive Director, discuss their background in criminal justice issues and goals for upcoming episodes of the podcast. The Trail Blazing Justice podcast is a production of the Oregon Justice Resourc...

Listen in to an interview from one of the community members that was on the frontlines during the 2020 George Floyd protests in our special Stop Tear-Gaslighting Us series. We are sitting down with community members who hit the streets in 2020 in Portland to look back and look at where we are now.  This week, Beatrix Li, our Communications & Policy Associate, takes a break from interviews to s...

Listen in to an interview from one of the community members that was on the frontlines during the 2020 George Floyd protests in our special Stop Tear-Gaslighting Us series. We are sitting down with community members who hit the streets in 2020 in Portland to look back and look at where we are now. We are joined this week by Jahdi, an artist, youth mentor, and community activist who was present at...

Alice Lundell, our Communications Director talks with two civil rights attorneys to ask them about their perspective on the recent Supreme Court decisions and its' implications on Oregonians. Juan Chavez, our Civil Rights Project Director & Attorney, and Athul Acharya, Public Accountability Executive Director & attorney share their thoughts on the overturning of Roe, Miranda rights, a...

Bobbin is joined by our Investigative Research Associate, Justin Low, who was behind our recently published reports on  Crime and Safety in Oregon in 2022: Myths, Facts, and Solutions and  ODOC: Agency in Crisis. Bobbin and Justin unpack why it's important for elected officials and media outlets to be driven by data, not fear-mongering tough-on-crime rhetoric that is not based in research. Th...

Join us for our fifth interview in our special Stop Tear-Gaslighting Us series. We are sitting down with community members who hit the streets in the 2020 George Floyd protests in Portland to look back and look at where we are now. We are joined this week by Eliza Y., community member who was present at the demonstrations. Eliza recalls their experience, the violence they endured, and the trauma t...

Bobbin is joined by our Prison Outreach Coordinator and Policy Associate, Trevor Walraven and formerly incarcerated advocates Dr. Scott Spencer-Wolff and Kyle Hedquist. Reflecting on our recent report, ODOC: Agency in Crisis, Bobbin leads the conversation on their pipe dream of the “Norway model,” which is an attempt to humanize prisons, which poses the question of that’d even possible? They talk...

Join us for our forth interview in our special Stop Tear-Gaslighting Us series. We are sitting down with community members who hit the streets in the 2020 George Floyd protests in Portland to look back and look at where we are now. We are joined this week by Simona, community member who was present at the demonstrations. Simona recalls her experience, the violence she endured, and the trauma the c...

Join us for our third interview in our special Stop Tear-Gaslighting Us series. We are sitting down with community members who hit the streets in the 2020 George Floyd protests in Portland to look back and look at where we are now. We are joined this week by Seemab Hussaini, a local Muslim community organizer.  Seemab shares about a vivid, unforgettable memory of teargas Tuesday and recounts the a...

Bobbin is joined by Zach Winston, Policy Director at OJRC to open Oregon's junk drawer only to find the Oregon Department of Corrections recent presentation at the legislature. In an assortment of bad practices, your hosts talk about the now well-understood Trumpian tactic of misdirection and sanitization that agencies like ODOC too frequently employ. They talk about much harm was done to 12,...

Join us for our second interview in our special Stop Tear-Gaslighting Us series. We will be sitting down with community members who hit the streets in the 2020 George Floyd protests in Portland to look back and look at where we are now. We are joined this week by Rabbi Ariel Stone, of Interfaith Clergy Resistance. Rabbi Stone shares her experience on the ground as a clergy witness, the flood of me...

Introducing a new podcast series... Stop Tear-Gaslighting Us. We will be sitting down with community members who hit the streets in the 2020 George Floyd protests in Portland to look back and look at where we are now. We are joined by Editor-in-Chief of We Out Here Magazine and activist Mac Smiff this week. We talk about what it was like on the ground, bad memories of teargas and police violence,...

Bobbin and Eric host… two guests today! We are joined by OJRC Policy Director Zach Winston and Carl MacPherson, Executive Director of Metropolitan Public Defender. Your hosts unpack the week in news on the Supreme Court decision on ineffective counsel in Shinn. V Ramirez and Jones, reflect on the 2nd year of George Floyd’s death anniversary, and process the devastating mass shooting in Uvalde, Tex...

Bobbin and Eric host Lakayana, Executive Director of Word is Bond, who works with young Black men and boys on leadership development, and more notably, spearheaded walking tours around Portland called “In My Shoes,” where their ambassadors led community members, including elected officials through Portland neighborhoods through their experiences as a Black man. Bobbin, Eric, and Lakayana process t...

Listen in as Bobbin and Eric reflect back on the week in news. Bobbin responds to DA Paige Clarkson’s campaign mailer where she attacks with tough-on-crime rhetoric, where she vilifies and demonizes public defenders and those with criminal records. Bobbin talks about his resignation from the Chief Justice’s Criminal Justice Advisory Committee in response to DA Clarkson’s actions. The hosts talk ab...

We’re happy to announce Eric is back! (For now! Public defense crisis willing.) Bobbin & Eric take a long sigh at the past week in news and talk about the overturning of Roe. v. Wade draft leak and why it is an attack on civil rights. We take a look back on history and where we see ourselves headed; and Bobbin reminds us why it’s important to commit ourselves in the long haul to civil libertie...

Bobbin and Juan chop it up as Juan has been appointed our sub co-host, as Eric is slammed in the public defense crisis. Looking at local news articles that seem a little more like Fox News headlines, your hosts talk about Senator Wyden’s fear-and-anger politics in his comments on Governor Brown’s clemency decision.  As Juan is our Civil Rights Project Director and Attorney and involved in multiple...

Eric will be back next week, but until then, Bobbin and Beatrix discuss OPB’s recent article on perceptions of crime and the Oregon midterm election, and how perceptions from candidates and Portlanders and data on crime rates do not necessarily match. Beatrix sighs at the over-bloated police budget that Mayor Wheeler and President Biden (who made an appearance in Portland) are signing off on; whic...

As Eric misses today’s podcast as the public defense crisis wages on, Bobbin kicks back with Juan to talk about the week in news. Juan and Bobbin unpack the tough-on-crime push for increased police budget and for more officers from the Brooklyn Subway shooting, and how an already bloated budget has failed to prevent gun violence and will continue to fail to meet objectives to keep people safe. The...

Bobbin is joined by Anthony Pickens (Paralegal/Legal Assistant, OJRC) and Ben Haile (Senior Counsel, Civil Rights Project, OJRC) to discuss solitary confinement in Oregon. Ben unpacks for us solitary confinement as a concept - what it is - and the many names solitary goes by (hint: ODOC’s tactics to hide their egregious practices). Ben reminds us that Oregon is violating international standards by...