Life of the Law

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Latest Episodes:

89: Live Law Philadelphia - Prison Positive Aug 09, 2016

Show notes

If you’ve had unprotected sex the only way to know if you’ve been infected with the HIV is to take a quick saliva or blood test. It’s free and it's easy. And then whether you’re negative or positive you can get on with life and, if you test positive, start the really important early treatment.

Today people with HIV who get treatment can live a normal life. But if they don’t -- if they avoid the test and treatment -- in around 10 to 15 years HIV so severely damages their immune system that AIDS develops.

It hasn’t always been so easy to get tested and treated for HIV.

For 22 years, Philadelphia FIGHT, a comprehensive health services organization providing primary care, consumer education, research, and advocacy for people living with HIV/AIDS has hosted an entire month of free workshops, trainings, and outreach about HIV and AIDS. This year, Life of the Law traveled to Philly to take part in Philadelphia Fight’s inspiring work. On June 15th we presented LIVE LAW - Beyond the Walls: Prison Positive...stories told by people who have done the testing and been tested in the city’s jails and prison.

Jessica Falcon produced and hosted Beyond the Walls: Prison Positive and has our first story. Jessica’s pursuing a PhD in biomedical engineering, but uses her spare time to advocate for the HIV positive population in Philadelphia. She is deeply motivated by the cause and says she has chosen activism as her passion. Waheedah Shabazz-El describes herself as a 50-plus African-American Muslim woman and retired U.S. postal worker who was diagnosed with AIDS in 2003.Sonia Williams is the program officer at First Hospital Foundation, a local health foundation that supports programs that serve the most vulnerable populations in Philadelphia County. While completing her Masters in Public Health, she conducted her internship at the Philadelphia Prison System.Odessa Summers has been the Prison Medical Case Manager at ActionAIDS for 8 years. She’s been doing HIV work for 15 years.Dr. Debra D'Aquilante is a board-certified Infectious Disease specialist for Corizon Health who has been seeing patients in the Philadelphia Prison System for 22 years. She conducts the Infectious Disease Clinic and sees all the incarcerated HIV+ patients, as well as other Infectious Disease consults.

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88: Clemency Jul 26, 2016

Show notes

Last December 95 prisoners had their sentences shortened by President Obama. This was part of an ongoing effort to use clemency to free non-violent drug offenders who were given harsh sentences for their crimes. For 53 year old Ramona Brant this meant she would not spend the rest of her life in prison. Brant was a first time offender convicted in 1995 on charges of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine.

This summer Life of the Law is presenting some of the best and the brightest new voices in investigative reporting and audio production. This week's episode is from Shandukani Mulaudzi of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Reporter Shandukani Mulaudzi met Brant on February 2, as she was released from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Mulaudzi later traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Brant -- as part of the clemency agreement -- is living in a halfway house until mid-April.

PRODUCTION NOTES

Clemency was reported by Shandukani Mulaudzi and edited by Ann Cooper with production support from Jonathan Hirsch, Nancy Mullane, and Kirsten Jusewicz-Haidle.

Special thanks to Kerry Donahue, coordinator of the audio program at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Amy Povah of Can-Do Clemency for her support, and Romana Brant for sharing her story.

Music in this episode is from Ketsa.

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87: Bail or Bust Jul 12, 2016

Show notes

Hundreds of people in cities throughout the US have been arrested for participating in Black Lives Matter protests. In Chicago, a judge set one protestor's bail at $350,000. To "make bail" he will have to present the court with the money or property as s promise, a sort of collateral, that he will return for his hearing in exchange for his freedom while he awaits trial. When he appears for his trial, he will get his money back."There really are two systems of justice. There’s one for people who can make bail, and one for people who can’t."

- Josh Saunders, Public Defender

Possibly this protestor and others like him will have help raising the funds to post his bail. But what if a person who has been accused of a crime has been arrested and doesn't have enough money, or access to property, to make bail? Each year some 45,000 people in New York City alone are arrested and sent to jail who can't make bail. That means they either stay in jail until their trial takes place, which can be months down the road, or they plead guilty without a trial.

This summer Life of the Law presents the best and the brightest new voices in investigative reporting and audio production. This story is from Ariel Ritchin of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Ariel has taken a hard look at what it takes to make bail.

PRODUCTION NOTES

Bail or Bust was reported by Ariel Ritchin and edited by Kerry Donahue and Nancy Mullane, with production support from Jonathan Hirsch and Kirsten Jusewicz-Haidle. Ceil Muller of KQED Radio in San Francisco was our engineer. Special thanks to WNYC and New York 1. Music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions and K2.

Bail or Bust was sponsored by The Great Courses Plus.com/law.

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86: Winter of Love Jun 28, 2016

Show notes

This summer, we’re changing things up a bit at Life of the Law. We’re presenting some amazing audio documentaries produced by at universities and colleges around the country. Our first story is from Aviva DeKornfeld of Pitzer College in Southern California. Aviva was curious about marriage. Marrying the person you love is the ideal, right? But what happens when you find your mate, your dream, your love...and you get married but then a few months later, the government tells never mind, your marriage doesn’t count. Aviva has the story…

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BONUS: Life as Lady J Jun 21, 2016

Show notes

While North Carolina sorts out whether children who identify as transgendered should be able to use the bathroom of their choice, shots were fired inside a gay dance club in Orlando, Florida. Fifty innocent people were killed and dozens of others were seriously injured.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals are more likely to be targeted for hate crimes than people who are part of any other minority group.

The Human Rights Campaign reports more transgender people were killed in 2015 than during any other year on record.

And the National Coalition of Anti-Violence programs reports that black transgender women are the most at risk for attacks of extreme violence and murder.

At Life of the Law, we want to acknowledge the formidable challenges faced by LGBTQA individuals with this bonus episode, the Life as Lady J.

PRODUCTION NOTES

This Bonus Episode of Life of the Law was produced by Nancy Mullane and Jonathan Hirsch with production assistance from Kirsten Jusewicz-Haidle. Music by David Jassy. This production was funded by grants from the Open Society Foundation, the Law and Society Association, the Proteus Fund, the Ford Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.

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85: Live Law New Orleans - A Scholar's Life Jun 14, 2016

Show notes

What’s it like to be a scholar? You go to college, get graduate degree maybe a phd to study something about the law in our lives. Years pass. You live in the hallowed halls of academia. Who are you now? Life of the Law traveled to New Orleans for the Law and Society Association’s annual meeting where more than 2000 law and social science scholars from around the world got together to share their work and personal stories about their lives. Host Osagie Obsaogie, a Law Professor at UC Hastings in San Francisco, and a member of Life of the Law’s Advisory Board takes us to center stage…

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84: Liberte & Securite May 31, 2016

Show notes

There’ve been a series of terrorist attacks in Europe, and now France, one of the countries hardest hit, is adjusting to the elevated threat.

Since the shootings at the offices of Charlie Hebdo last year and the attacks that killed 130 people this year, French people have been trying to cope with the fact that not only is their country a target for terrorism, but a few of the terrorists who engineered and even participated in the attacks were born and raised in neighboring Belgium and France.

And now the French are asking a question Americans have been struggling with:How does a country balance civil-liberties with safety and security?

Producer Emma Jacobs reports from Paris on how the French are answering the question...and the answer lies at the intersection of French values, French fears and French laws.

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83: Recuse Yourself - Pt 3: A Fair Fight for a Fair Court May 17, 2016

Show notes

When should a judge step aside? Most people can agree that when a judge’s family member appears in court, it’s the judge’s responsibility to bow out. Or, if a judge stands to profit directly from the outcome of the ruling — that’s pretty cut and dry, too. But what about this: can a judge remain impartial when a case concerns a person or group that contributed money, sometimes millions of dollars, to help that judge get elected? What then? As more and more money floods into judicial elections across the nation, states are grappling with this question. Perhaps none more than Wisconsin, where, like many states, the final decision whether or not to step aside is left for the judge to determine. Reporter Chloe Prasinos has our story.

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82: The Holdup May 03, 2016

Show notes

“I feel like I need to do those things cause the court has to appear normal to the outside world, even though things are really abnormal inside, it's my job to keep a sense of normalcy and not to draw attention to the court.”

--Chief Judge Keith Watkins, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama

This year is an election year, which is already pretty rough going. Then in February, Justice Antonin Scalia died, leaving an open seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. More like a black hole. Senate Republicans immediately declared that they would not hold hearings or vote on anyone President Obama nominated to fill the vacancy. That it’s up to whoever is elected President in November to fill the seat on the highest court.

And it’s not just the Supreme Court that has an empty seat. There are dozens of unfilled judicial seats in federal courts across the country. Some seats have been empty for months, others for a years, and one for a decade. And while politicians argue about who should fill the seat, the judges on the bench continue to work day and night against an ever-growing backlog of cases.

PRODUCTION NOTES

The Hold Up was reported by Ashley Cleek, edited by Annie Aviles, with sound design and production by Jonathan Hirsch. Alyssa Bernstein, Kirsten Jusewicz-Haidle, Shani Aviram, and Nancy Mullane provided production support.

Special thanks to the many federal judges who took time out of their very busy schedules to talk to us.

The music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions.

Full Transcript of The Hold Up

This episode of Life of the Law was funded in part by grants from the Open Society Foundations, the Law and Society Association, the Proteus Fund, the Ford Foundation, and the National Science Foundation, and was sponsored by Squarespace and The Great Courses Plus. Be sure to use the promo code LAW at check out to receive special benefits as a Life of the Law listener.

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81: Rig the System - Pt 2: Fair Fight for a Fair Court Apr 19, 2016

Show notes

The law isn’t always black and white. Let’s say your neighbor wants to drill for oil in their backyard. It could be loud and it might even pollute the groundwater. You’re worried. Who has the authority under the law to determine whether your neighbor can drill for oil or not?

People living in states like Ohio, want their local governments to decide… and have gone as far as to change the state constitution to grant local governments something called “home rule”, which gives locals the power to govern themselves, as long as local law don’t conflict with state and federal law.

Seems clear enough. Or so it seemed for people living in Ohio, until the oil boom came to town pitting neighbors who wanted a piece of the oil action against neighbors who didn’t want to live next to an oil well. Question is, when it comes to oil and gas, who has the power to decide who can drill, and where?

In part 2 of our series on a Fair Fight for a Fair Court, Life of the Law’s Jonathan Hirsch, has this story.

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