HABITUAL

Now a free man, Herbert returns to the scene of his crime, reflecting on accountability and his unresolved desire to apologize. The episode confronts the uncertain possible futures of those impacted by the habitual offender statute. Finally, Herbert invites a special guest into the radio studio, highlighting the intergenerational impacts of the criminal-legal system right alongside a hope for the...

A chronicle of Herbert Alexander’s transformation while he’s incarcerated - including his dogged work as a self-taught "jailhouse lawyer" and his role in launching a groundbreaking prison radio station. Against all odds, Herbert successfully files a 35(c) motion and secures an evidentiary hearing, where a judge considers overturning his 64-year sentence. This episode features Kristen Nelson, Spero...

This episode uncovers the chilling, hidden history of habitual offender statutes in the United States. Attorney and legal historian Daniel Loehr reveals how these laws were originally championed by the 1920s eugenics movement in a racist effort to prevent reproduction by people deemed “habitual criminals." This episode features Cleveland Vance, incarcerated in the Colorado Department of Correction...

Herbert Alexander, until recently incarcerated as a “habitual offender,” invites Colorado legislators and legal experts to catalogue numerous systemic problems with three-strikes laws, including disproportionate impacts on minority communities, inequitable use by prosecutors, and exponential expenses to state government. He and co-hosts Seth Ready and Ryan Conarro interview Adriana Vance, who foun...

In the United States, habitual offender laws have contributed to decades-long sentences for thousands - many of whom committed nonviolent crimes. The law is often referred to in prison simply as “the bitch.” In this episode, the Colorado Radio for Justice team breaks down Colorado’s version of this statute - Seth Ready, Ryan Conarro, and Herbert Alexander, whose bank robbery resulted in his own st...

HABITUAL is a podcast from Colorado Radio for Justice. Herbert Alexander was labeled by the state as a "habitual criminal." Now, he pulls back the curtain on three-strikes laws in Colorado and across the U.S. With co-hosts Seth Ready and Ryan Conarro, Herbert shares his story, and he unfolds a chilling investigation of the statute’s roots, consequences, and costs - from exponential sentences, to p...