Everyday Injustice

The advent of DNA testing has transformed the criminal legal system since 1989. For the first time, DNA testing provided absolute proof that people were convicted of crimes that they did not commit. The National Registry of Exonerations has tracked over 3200 exonerations since 1989, by creating a dataset and narrative they have been able to study common factors, statistically analyze, and have all...

In the 2010 landmark decision Padilla v. Kentucky, the Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel demands that criminal defense attorneys inform their clients of adverse immigration consequences that may flow from a guilty plea. UCLA Law Professor Ingrid Eagly and her colleagues asked the critical question of whether public defenders are have adequately incorporated Padilla into...

On August 4, Andrew Warren, the twice-elected State Attorney for Florida’s Hillsborough County was about to announce a major breakthrough in a 39 year old cold rape and murder case when he was informed by armed deputies entering his office that Gov. Ron DeSantis had suspended him from office. Why? Warren believes that the move was politically motivated by stances he took on prosecuting abortion ca...

Governor Newsom and the state legislator recently enacted CARE Court to help address chronic homelessness and mental health problems. But reformers believe that the program, while well intentioned, will exacerbate rather than solve existing problems. Criticisms range from the compulsive nature of the treatment to the lack of new money put into mental health treatment – a system stretch way too thi...

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 Francisco Public Defender’s office on the Freedom Project, helping to free others from prison. Listen to Steph’s remarkable story – hired by the legendary Jeff Adachi in 2018, but a lawyer at the time of...

On October 13, James King will receive a Vanguard Justice Award as a formerly incarcerated individual. James King is the Campaign Manager for the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Prior to joining the organization, James worked to build recognition of the value of people who are being held in carceral spaces. In 2016, he organized a symposium at San Quentin, where he and other incarcerated stude...

Max Szabo has been on the forefront of the criminal justice reform movement for years – hired as the communications director for George Gascón in San Francisco, he then left to start his own firm. Max Szabo joins Everyday Injustice this week to discuss Gascón, the Boudin recall, the Pete Hardin race against Todd Spitzer in Orange County, his work at the Prosecutor’s Alliance and the future of crim...

Northeastern University Professor Daniel Medwed’s book “Barred” comes out on September 20. The book focuses on the wrongly convicted people who are unable to overcome the criminal legal system and prove their innocence in the eyes of the system. As others have noted – due to systemic problems, it is easy to wrongly convict and very difficult to correct on the back end. Medwed discusses both ways t...

A new report released in August by the nonpartisan California Policy Lab (CPL) found “that thousands of Californians saw their prisons sentences lengthened because of this law, and more than one-third (36%) of people currently incarcerated in California are serving a longer sentence because of Three Strikes.” The report provides an in-depth look at the impact of California’s Three-Strikes Law, whi...

Retired Judge LaDoris Cordell joins Everyday Injustice to discuss her experience as a woman of color, appointed to the bench in Santa Clara County at a time when there were not many women of color who even went to law school. Judge Cordell is releasing a book – Her Honor – which is in part a memoir, in part a critique of the criminal legal system. We also discuss her experience on the San Francisc...

Since 2019, Everyday Injustice has brought you interviews with the leaders of the criminal justice realm as well as the tragic stories of everyday injustice. In this brief compilation, among other things we talk about disturbing police incidents, the use of junk science to wrongly convict people, and police torture among other things. Listen to some of our most compelling interviews this week.

This week on Everyday Injustice we talk with Kanya Bennett of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. The Vision for Justice 2020 focused on core principles of decarceration, police reform and reinvesting in the communities. Kanya Bennett discussed among other things her work with the bail project, the current policing bill and the president’s executive order, as well as concerns for...

In 2019, George Gascón resigned from his position as San Francisco DA, moved to Los Angeles and ran against incumbent Jackie Lacey for DA as a reformer. Gascón had gone from a traditional “tough on crime” beat officer to Police Chief to reform DA. He had seen first hand how the traditional approach did not work. That mass incarceration was not only expensive, but it failed to protect the community...

California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (CACJ) is a statewide association of criminal defense attorneys, who help advocate for justice in the legislature, the courts and the media. This week on Everyday Injustice, we talk with Stephen Munkelt, the current Executive Director of CACJ. Munkelt discusses the critical work of CACJ, some of the critical issues faced right now, mass incarceration, the...

This week on Everyday Injustice we visit with Akhi Johnson, Director of the Vera Institute of Justice’s Reshaping Prosecution project. Vera just issued a new RFP to elected prosecutors interested in making reforms. Johnson discussed the RFP and also the new policy direction of thinking about public safety as community health. We discussed the future of reform-minded DA’s in wake of the Chesa Boudi...

One of the bigger issues these days is homelessness. Ron Hochbaum joined McGeorge School of Law in 2021 and directs the Homeless Advocacy Clinic, teaching poverty law. Prior to arriving at McGeorge, Hochbaum directed the UDC Housing and Consumer Law Clinic in which students represented housed and unhoused District residents in efforts to access and maintain healthy, safe, and affordable housing. H...

Tamisha Walker is a founding member and Executive Director of Safe Return Project, a campaign to secure the freedom and liberation of formerly incarcerated individuals. Walker discussed issues of mass incarceration and racial disparity in the criminal legal system, as well as her own situation where she was incarcerated and released in 2009. As a formerly incarcerated woman, “she shares a powerful...

This week on Everyday Injustice we talk with Bree and Malissa Hurry about the case of Michael Gaines, who has been incarcerated since 2003 for a crime, they believe, he did not commit. According to them, Gaines was 18 years old at the time he was sentenced and charged with murder during the commission of a robbery -- there was no DNA evidence or fingerprints on the murder weapon that links Michael...

This week on Everyday Injustice, we have Kristina Kersey who last year joined the Gault Center (formerly NJDC) as a Senior Youth Defense Counsel in 2021. Prior to joining TGC, she specialized in youth defense for over 18 years with the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender. Kersey was the trial attorney in State in the Interest of N.H., in which the Supreme Court held that youth are entitled to...

This week on Everyday Injustice we talk with Emily Galvin Almanza – she’s a former public defender, clerked for Judge Thelton Henderson, worked for the Stanford Three Strikes Project, wrote for the Appeal and currently heads up Partners For Justice. Among the topics covered were her past and current work, the state of criminal justice reform, alternatives to incarceration and how to reduce recidiv...

With just four weeks to go until the election for District Attorney in many areas in California, Everyday Injustice checked in with Lara Gressley, who is running for a second time against Michael Hestrin for Riverside DA. Hestrin, seeking his third term has held office since 2015. Hestrin, the incumbent is a heavy favorite and has outraised his two challengers both by more than a three to one marg...

This week on Everyday Injustice we have Howard University Law Professor Olinda Moyd discussing an under-acknowledged problem of the criminal legal system – the problems of parole and the racial disparities that occur on the backend of incarceration. Nonpartisan groups like the Council for Court Excellence and the Justice Policy Institute “have studied the Parole Commission, concluding that it does...

On June 7, San Francisco voters will decide whether to remove DA Chesa Boudin. This week on Everyday Injustice we are joined by Tinisch Hollins, Executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice. She’s been an opponent of the San Francisco recall. Tinich Hollins said previously, “My position today against the recall is rooted in the belief that the failures of the criminal justice system,...

Dan Canon is a civil rights attorney and a Professor at the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law. He has already played a huge role in history as one of those arguing the Obergefell decision before the Supreme Court – a landmark decision that legalized same sex marriage. Last October he warned in a Tweet, “I was one of the lawyers who won Obergefell at SCOTUS and litigated the Kim Davis case in Kentuck...

A month ago, in an event sponsored by the California Donor Table, Justice Reform groups came together to discuss DA races across the state. The webinar was hosted by the California Donor Table, which invests in communities of color to help elect people who represent their values and needs, and they have identified six district attorney races with the greatest potential to reduce mass incarceration...