Everyday Injustice

In her introduction to Dorsey Nunn’s book, Michelle Alexander quoted Toni Morrison: “Just remember that your real job is that if your free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.” Alexander notes, “I’ve known Dorsey for two decades. I’ve watched him grow and evolve into an extraordinary thinker and leader, someone who has helped to birth...

Shannon Bohrer, served 27 years in the Marland State Police – but it was a case where he was an investigator that caused him to re-examine the criminal legal system. He wrote the book Judicial Soup which “examines the need for criminal justice reforms through a case in which an innocent person was found guilty of a crime he did not commit.” As his book explains, “The story is simple, yet the judic...

When Michael Owens was an angry and traumatized young man, he committed a horrible crime and was sentenced to Life Without Parole (LWOP). For a long time, while in prison, he continued to engage in self-destructive behavior. But even while he has no guarantee he will ever see the outside of a prison again, Michael has been able to turn his life around. He has gotten education while behind bars. He...

One of the problems with mass incarceration is that we end up incarcerating people who at one point committed violent and dangerous crimes long past the point at which they are no longer a danger to society. The case of Arturo Luna is instructive, raised in a tough environment, he committed crimes at a young age. But now has become a mentor, become educated is a completely different person from th...

This week on Everyday Injustice, we talk with Angie Gordon. Angie is a 39-year-old trans woman serving a 48-years-to-life sentence in the state of California. Convicted of multiple violent felonies in 2009; so, in April of 2024 she will have served fifteen years of her sentence. Before coming to prison, Angie was a high school dropout, but since her incarceration, she has devoted her time to furth...

It is described as: “A riveting and heart-wrenching story of violence, grief and the American justice system, exploring the systemic issues that perpetuate gang participation in one of the wealthiest cities in the country, through the story of one teenager.” Professor Laurence Ralph, tells the story of Sito, a relative of his and the tragedy of his life - first wrongly accused of murder and then f...

Stephanie Marudas and Emily Previti have joined forces to launch the podcast series, Obscured. Marudas is the founder of Kouvenda Media and co-creator of Obscured. Prior to founding Kouvenda Media, she reported for WYPR in Baltimore and WHYY in Philadelphia. Previti is executive editor and co-creator of Obscured. Before joining Kouvenda Media, she covered voting rights and election administration...

This week on Everyday Injustice Jarrett Adams – himself exonerated of a wrongful conviction – is seeking to undo a massive injustice in Virginia. Despite the fact that a jury found Terrence Richardson and Ferrone Claiborne not guilty of murder, a judge was able to sentence them to life in prison. They have currently spent 22 years behind bars, but Jarrett Adams is trying to free them, having recen...

This week on Everyday Injustice, we talk with Dr. Paul Elam, chief strategy officer at the Michigan Public Health Institute & leads Advance Peace. There is increasingly an understanding that issues such as gun violence cannot simply be addressed in the criminal legal system and that we cannot arrest our way out of the problem. Elam discusses how gun violence is a public health issue and discusses...

Having survived multiple recall attempts in his first term, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón officially launched his reelection in October at the SEIU Local 2015 office in front of a room full of supporters – many of them health care workers. The DA noted his mother, an immigrant from Cuba often had to toil, working for below minimum wages. That has translated into a commitment to fight...

This week on Everyday Injustice, we are joined by Jason Smith, Executive Director of the Michigan Center for Youth Justice. The Michigan Center for Youth Justice (MCYJ) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing policies and practices that reduce confinement and support trauma-informed, racially equitable, socio-economically and culturally responsive, community-based solutions for Michiga...

This week on Everyday Injustice we have Caroline Isaacs, the Executive Director of Just Communities Arizona. JCA is an abolitionist organization that seeks to end the current punishment system and its emphasis on criminalization, surveillance, and mass incarceration. They envision a world in which prisons and jails are unnecessary. “We believe those directly impacted by the current punishment syst...

Freddie Gray was one of the seminal police killings when it occurred in Baltimore in 2016, leading to protests and riots and calls for reform. The officers were charged with murder by SAO Marilyn Mosby, but not of them were convicted. Justine Barron in her book “They Killed Freddie Gray” following the work of her podcast, after sifting through thousands of documents and interviewing witnesses, con...

Listen to Everyday Injustices exclusive interview with Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón after he announced his reelection in front of an audience of workers at SEIU Local 2015. Gascón noted that crime was going down despite the news coverage that would lead the public to the contrary conclusion. “I would say one of the biggest challenges that we have is how can we get factual informatio...

As more and more state have turned toward the legalization of cannabis, the federal government continues to lag. This week on Everyday Injustice, we talk with Christi Smith, a senior fellow for the R Street Institute’s criminal justice and civil liberties team. She is a former adult probation and parole officer and retired assistant professor of criminal justice. The war on drugs and the continued...

Prison Education Programs are critical to incarcerated people being able to gain release and succeed once they have done so. Research demonstrates that correctional education is very effective at reducing recidivism. Sarah Allred, spoke with Everyday Injustice and discussed her research on prison education programs including the challenges with the ability to convene, group consequences for indivi...

On October 19, the 2023 Vanguard Justice Awards Gala, the Vanguard will present Danielle Harris, of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Officer and the Freedom Project with a Vanguard Justice Award. The San Francisco Public Defender's resentencing unit, known as The Freedom Project, has assisted more than 100 people in their resentencing and parole hearings, and assisted in 77 family reunification...

On October 19, the 2023 Vanguard Justice Awards Gala, the Vanguard will present Juliana Drous, with a Vanguard Justice Award for Distinguished Attorney. From Juliana Drous: “I have been practicing criminal defense since 1980. I have had cases in all levels of the court: trials in state courts and federal courts, appeals in federal and state courts, two arguments in the US Supreme Court (lost both...

Note: This episode originally aired October 3, 2022 In 2022, the Vanguard honored Stephen Liebb with an award for his work as a formerly incarcerated individual at the Vanguard Justice Awards Gala. Stephen Liebb spent 33 years behind bars for first degree murder. 19 of those years were spent at San Quentin. He earned his release on parole in 2013. Now he works as a legal assistant at the San Franc...

“In 2002, two men burglarized a house; the resident killed them both. I was neither the resident nor one of the burglars, but I was sent to prison for 18 years before the state finally unraveled it all and set me free,” Benjamin Frandsen explains. Listen as Benjamin Frandsen tells his remarkable story first narrowly avoiding the death penalty, then his conviction overturned and finally success goi...

On October 19, the Vanguard will Honor Phil Melendez for his work as a formerly incarcerated person. He is currently working with Smart Justice California to help reform the criminal legal system as well as help those who are system impacted. He joined Everyday Injustice this week to discuss his remarkable story. With a difficult life growing up, his father stabbed, and he ended up killing two inn...

This week on Everyday Injustice is former public defender LaToya Bell who is now working at the Ohio Justice and Policy Center (OJPC). Bell discusses the need for second chance legislation and how this is critical for public safety. OJPC has two big projects. The Beyond guilt Project: “Beyond Guilt will see to do for over-punished prisoners who admit guilt what innocence projects have done for wro...

Raymond E. Strawn III is starting law school in San Francisco this fall. It’s a far cry from where he was at the end of high school. Just after 9/11 he had just moved to NY in high school – the only Asian student, and stood out, wearing all black with a shaved head. One day, while talking to some girls, he showed them his notebook. His messages of despair and criticism of the school were twisted i...

This week on Everyday Injustice, we are joined by former federal prosecutor Jared Fishman who is now the founder of Justice Innovation Lab. He tells the remarkable story of Henry Glover’s murder in Hurricane Katrina–era New Orleans. Glover was killed by police officers following the hurricane, and his killing was thoroughly covered up. According to the book description, “In 2009, Jared Fishman was...

This week on Everyday Injustice we talk with Vincent Atchity. He is the CEO of Mental Health Colorado and a member of Colorado Jail Standards Commission. One of the biggest problems facing the criminal legal system is that in many locations, the largest mental health facility is the county jail which is ill-equipped to properly treat and handle people suffering from a variety of trauma and mental...