The Appeal

Episode 65: The Cruel Rise of 'Drug Induced Homicide' Prosecutions Feb 27, 2020

In 2014, then-23 year-old Morgan Godvin sold a small amount of heroin to her friend and fellow drug user Justin DeLong who subsequently overdosed and died. Morgan was charged by the federal government for “drug delivery resulting in death” and served five years in prison––despite Justin’s family pleading for leniency. Now out of prison and majoring in community health education at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, Godvin is on a mission to raise awareness of the hyper-punitive rise of “drug induced homicide” prosecutions. She joins us this week along with special guest host Leo Beletsky, a professor of Law and Health Sciences at Northeastern University, to discuss what activists are doing to push back against the latest trend in Tough on Drug Crime cruelty.

Episode 64: Documenting the Death Penalty Feb 13, 2020

Despite hundreds of people being put to death in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, surprisingly little data exists on who exactly is killed by the government. Two reporters at The Intercept, Jordan Smith and Liliana Segura, have spent the last three years working on filling the gap in knowledge––collecting and assembling data on how widespread, racially biased, and arbitrary the death penalty remains in 2020. This week, they join us to talk about their findings.

Episode 62: Police Abuse In American Schools Feb 06, 2020

In recent years, the number of police in American schools has skyrocketed as social services have been cut. As of 2016, 1.7 million students are in schools with police officers but no counselors, 3 million students are in schools with officers but no nurses, and 10 million students are in schools with police but no social workers. This invariably has led to abuse and undue arrests of children, some as young as 6 years old. Today we are joined by Appeal contributor Roxanna Asgarian to discuss one case in Pittsburgh that saw a 7-year-old with development issues detained, pinned down and left with PTSD.

Episode 62: Locking Up Women For Killing Their Rapists Jan 30, 2020

In 2018, Brittany Smith was assaulted and raped by a man in her Alabama home. Later that night, when the same man attacked both her and her brother, Smith shot and killed him in what she calls self-defense. Now she’s on trial for murder and her case tells us a lot about how our criminal legal system treats gendered violence. Today we are joined by Appeal writer Lauren Gill to talk about this case and the broader trend of throwing the book at women who defend themselves from abusive men.

Appeal Podcast: Reexamining the Science of Shaken Baby Syndrome Jan 23, 2020

Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) bas been the subject of countless news specials, TV drama plots, and shocking tabloid headlines––horrific tales of child abuse, quickly met with the firm justice of the state. But in recent years, medical and legal experts have begun pushing back against the conventional wisdom surrounding SBS, questioning its fundamental scientific basis. Today we are joined by Appeal staff writer Elizbabeth Weill-Greenberg to talk about efforts to reexamine many of the assumptions about how our legal system treats SBS cases.

Episode 60: Substandard Healthcare in American Prisons Jan 16, 2020

The only people in the United States the government is required by law to provide healthcare for are the incarcerated. But what constitutes a baseline standard of care is very much in doubt and many human rights activists and legal experts argue the healthcare, namely in states like Illinois and Louisiana, is far below any moral or constitutional standard. Today Type Investigation’s Ida B. Wells Fellow and Appeal contributor Taylor Elizabeth Eldridge joins us to discuss how we are long overdue for a national conversation on healthcare neglect in America’s sprawling prison complex.

Episode 59: The Regressive Pseudoscience of Our "War on Opioid Addiction" Dec 12, 2019

On our last episode of the year we're doing something a little different: Joining us to co-host this week is Appeal contributor Zach Siegel, who’s a journalism fellow at Northeastern University Law School’s Health in Justice Action Lab, to discuss false narratives around drug addiction and how prisons are increasingly employing puritanical pseudoscience in the so-called "War on Opioid Addiction". We will also be joined by our guest, Lev Facher of STAT News.

Episode 58: The Cruel Roadblocks to Getting Innocent People Out of Prison Dec 05, 2019

Last month, 106 legal scholars signed a brief supporting St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner's efforts to get a new trial for Lamar Johnson, a man convicted of murder in 1995 for a crime many––including the prosecutor's office that convicted him––say he couldn't have possibly committed. The initial trial, which involved paid witnesses who later recanted and jail house snitches, is now seen as a stain on the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office, but pro-carceral forces in Missouri and a system rigged in opposition to obtaining new trials are preventing this from happening. How could something so obviously wrong be permitted by our justice system? Today we are joined by Daniel Harawa, assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Law to explain how our system often makes achieving justice virtually impossible––even when DA's themselves support it.

Episode 57: Imagining a Post-Incarceration World Nov 21, 2019

To those tasked with radically reimagining the U.S. legal system and moving it away from the current carceral, hyper-punitive model, the logical question arises: What do you replace it with? It’s a fair question and one activists and thinkers have been struggling with for decades. One such person, our guest Danielle Sered of Common Justice, has been implementing alternative justice systems in New York City for years. Today she joins us to talk about what another world looks like––and how justice and safety are possible without throwing people in cages.

Episode 56: States Turn To Nitrogen Gas For Executions, Despite Doctors' Concerns Nov 14, 2019

Facing legal challenges and a shortage of drugs for lethal injections, Oklahoma was the first state to announce a plan to use nitrogen to execute prisoners on death row. Mississippi and Alabama soon followed, though none of the states has tried it yet. Critics say the science behind using nitrogen to kill people is spotty at best, and there's no way to know if it will be as "painless" as advocates presume. Today we are joined by Appeal staff reporter Lauren Gill to discuss the questions around nitrogen gas and the continuing search for ways to end human life behind bars.

Episode 55: When Criminal Justice Reform Preserves The Status Quo Nov 07, 2019

There’s a growing acceptance of the idea that we need to overhaul our system of mass incarceration. But methods for doing so vary enormously––and some are causing more harm than good. Today’s guest, Civil Rights Corps founder Alec Karakatsanis, has written a new book, “Usual Cruelty,” that explores how even self-proclaimed “reformers” can be part of the problem and prevent true reform from taking hold.

Episode 54: When Police Officers Double as Prosecutors Oct 31, 2019

In nine states, police officers are permitted to act as prosecutors and arraign people for misdemeanor charges. In Rhode Island, the practice is the norm, meaning that thousands of people face potentially life-altering criminal charges without a public defender at their side. Advocates say allowing police to act as prosecutors presents an inherent conflict of interest. Today, we are joined by Appeal contributors Julia Rock and Harry August to discuss the practice, and how reformers hope to change a system they view as unfair and undemocratic.

Episode 53: A Lack of Basic Rights for Incarcerated Workers Oct 24, 2019

Many states pay incarcerated workers just 20 or 30 cents per hour--and some don't pay them at all. But incarcerated workers also have virtually no labor rights or civil rights when it comes to battling discrimination based on race, religion, gender, and other protected classes. Today we are joined by journalist Sessi Kuwabara Blanchard who explains why this disparity exists and what's being done to fight it.

Episode 52: The Problem With Jailhouse Informants Oct 10, 2019

Jailhouse informants are a fixture of pop culture, helping TV prosecutors secure convictions in exchange for leniency or other favors. But the public—and by extension, juries—are largely ignorant of just how common, and how damaging, jailhouse informants are to the criminal legal system.This week, University of California, Irvine School of Law professor Alexandra Natapoff joins us to discuss how and why the reform movement is pushing back on the use of jailhouse informants in criminal cases.

Episode 51: U.S. Prisoners on Death Row Endure Permanent Solitary Before Execution Oct 03, 2019

In addition to being unique among Western nations in executing people, the U.S. keeps many of its death row prisoners in prolonged solitary confinement, which is known to inflict physical and psychological harm. Today’s guest, Appeal staff reporter Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, discusses advocates' push to change that practice in Oklahoma, a state whose notorious H Unit has taken death row conditions to new lows.

Episode 50: The War on Drugs Continues In Family Court Sep 26, 2019

As cannabis use is legalized in more and more jurisdictions across the country, child protective systems aren't always keeping pace. Allegations of drug use are still raised in family court, particularly against parents of color, and those who admit using cannabis are often subject to heightened surveillance. We are joined today by Miriam Mack and Elizabeth Tuttle Newman, staff attorneys from the Bronx Defenders, to discuss the lessons to be gleaned from states like New York and Colorado.

Episode 49: Chesa Boudin and the Meaning of 'Reform' Sep 19, 2019

Progressive prosecutors have swept into office across the country, winning district attorney seats in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, and beyond. But what does it mean to be a “reform prosecutor"? What is the ideology of the movement and those who lead it? To answer these questions and more, we are joined this week by Chesa Boudin, a public defender running for San Francisco district attorney. He’ll discuss his vision for the city and what being a reform DA means to him.

Episode 48: The Rise of Registries Sep 12, 2019

Earlier this year, lawmakers in New York proposed a bill that would bar people convicted of multiple sex offenses from ever using New York City’s subway system again. The plan, which would inflict a form of banishment in the name of public safety, has echoes elsewhere in the criminal legal system. Sex offender registries increasingly include children under the age of 18, and some states permit children as young as 7 to be registered. But a growing body of evidence suggests that our reliance on registries—not just for sex crimes but also for terrorism, gun, and drug offenses—may allow politicians to look like they’re taking action while actually doing little to curb abuse. To discuss the rise in registries, we are joined by Appeal contributor Guy Hamilton-Smith and Elizabeth Letourneau, professor and director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

End of Season Note to Listeners Jul 25, 2019

Thanks for all your support! We'll be back in September.

Episode 47: The Media's Misguided Fentanyl Hype Jul 18, 2019

In recent years, lawmakers and the media have dusted off the 1980’s War on Drugs script to respond to an uptick in overdoses caused by a new, potent, heroin-like substance called fentanyl. Military officials are considering classifying it as a “weapon of mass destruction,” and highly regarded media outlets like 60 Minutes have spread the fable that police can be badly harmed from merely touching the drug. This week’s guest, Appeal contributor Maia Szalavitz, explains how medical professionals and reformers are pushing back against this media-fed panic.

Episode 46: Pleading Guilty Just to Go Home Jul 11, 2019

Approximately half a million people are currently in jail awaiting trial across the United States, the vast majority because they are unable to pay bail. A 2018 study of Philadelphia and Miami-Dade found that people being held on bail earned roughly $4,500 per year on average. Many of them will plead guilty just to get out of jail. On this week’s episode, we are joined by Appeal reporter Joshua Vaughn to discuss how bail punishes people for the crime of being poor.

Episode 45: Qualified Immunity, A Roadblock to Reform Jun 20, 2019

Efforts to hold police accountable for violating civil rights frequently come up against a legal roadblock known as "qualified immunity." Invented by the Supreme Court in 1967 and widely expanded in 1982, qualified immunity helps public officials avoid liability for misconduct and even flagrant constitutional violations. In the Supreme Court’s own words, it protects “all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.” Joining us today to discuss this barrier to reform are Appeal contributors Amir H. Ali and Emily Clark from the MacArthur Justice Center.

Episode 44: What's Changed Since The 2018 Prison Strike? Jun 13, 2019

In August and September of last year, there were prison strikes in at least 17 states marked by work stoppages and hunger strikes. But what’s happened since? How have things improved or, in some cases, been made worse by the forces of reaction? As we come up on the one-year anniversary of the 2018 prison strike, our guest, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak spokesperson and Right 2 Vote national coordinator Amani Sawari joins us to discuss how the unrest of 2018 is being channeled into political reforms.

Episode 43: American Cities' Growing Reliance on Surveillance Jun 06, 2019

In an effort to meet public demand to reduce the size of the brick and mortar prison population, some jurisdictions are doing so but reinvesting manpower and money into what activists call “digital prisons.” In addition to electronic monitoring, this increasingly involves surveillance systems that can spy on citizens in real time. One such surveillance program in New Orleans––involving an elaborate network of cameras––has run afoul of privacy and criminal reform advocates. Our guest, Appeal contributor Mike Hayes, discusses the rise of surveillance systems in dozens of American cities.

Episode 42: Criminal Justice Reform Hits Roadblock in Arizona May 30, 2019

Dozens of states have reformed their drug laws in recent years, but Arizona remains a stubborn outlier. In Maricopa County, for example, a recent report found that drug cases represent the "overwhelming majority" of charges filed. Up against powerful County Attorney Bill Montgomery and a culture of tough-on-crime posturing, reformers have hit roadblocks as they push for change. Today we are joined by Arizona activist Caroline Isaacs of the American Friends Service Committee to discuss the fight to make these repressive drug laws a thing of the past.

Episode 41: Reframing The Bronx 120 Raid May 23, 2019

In April 2016, the NYPD, in concert with the FBI, ATF, DEA, and Homeland Security, descended onto the South Bronx, arresting scores of people in what was described as the largest "gang takedown" in city history. Preet Bharara, then U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, praised what became known as the Bronx 120 raid as a victory against dangerous criminals—and the media largely parroted that narrative. The problem: Fewer than half of those arrested were ultimately alleged to be members of the targeted gangs, and most of the 120 were not convicted of violent crimes. City University of New York criminal law professor Babe Howell has spent the past three years investigating the raid and the actual charges that resulted. Today she joins us to describe what she learned.

Episode 40: Generational Harm, A Hidden Cost of Mass Incarceration May 16, 2019

On this podcast––and in other coverage of the criminal legal system––we tend to focus, understandably, on the people behind bars and on parole. But in reality, this only shows part of the damage inflicted by mass incarceration. Generational harm refers to the second- and third-order negative effects of incarceration and the corresponding emotional and financial toll on prisoners' families, and disproportionately on women of color. This social trauma is just now being seriously studied and reckoned with. Today we are joined by Chicago activist Celia Colon to discuss the true human cost of a system that nearly always leaves a trail of destruction.

Episode 39: NYPD-SVU's Low Clearance Rate for Sexual Assault May 02, 2019

Despite having ‎more than 35,000 officers and a massive budget of over $5 billion a year, the NYPD––and its Special Victims Unit––have a high rate of prematurely closed rape cases compared to other police departments, leading critics to accuse the NYPD of not taking sexual assault complaints seriously. Appeal contributor Meg O’Connor dug into the data and interviewed victims to find out what's behind the trend.

Episode 38: Privacy and Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs Apr 25, 2019

Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) have exploded in popularity. In 2000, thirteen states used PDMPs; today, they exist in every state and Washington, D.C. These programs are ostensibly designed to respond to the opioid crisis by monitoring prescribed drugs and preventing abuse and doctor shopping. But increasingly, critics say, they are interfering with legitimate healthcare. Privacy advocates and some medical experts have demanded that states slow the rush to implement PDMPs and ask hard questions about law enforcement's involvement in personal healthcare. Today we are joined by Leo Beletsky, Appeal contributor and Associate Professor of Law and Health Sciences at Northeastern University.

Episode 37: The Baltimore Police Department's Troubled Homicide Unit Apr 18, 2019

A recent lawsuit accused the Baltimore Police Department's homicide unit of a long pattern of questionable police work. Our guest, Appeal contributor Amelia McDonell-Parry, joins us today to discuss the case of Jerome L. Johnson, a man just released from prison after serving 30 years for a 1988 murder he didn't commit. On this week's episode, we will discuss the allegations raised in the suit regarding the unit's discovery protocol, suppression of evidence, and lack of accountability.

Episode 36: The Long, Troubled History of Gravity Knife Prosecution Apr 11, 2019

For decades, the New York Police Department has arrested people, the vast majority people of color, for carrying so-called gravity knives, meant to open with a flick of the wrist. The problem is, it's not always clear what is and isn’t a gravity knife, and many workers use knives on the job. Our guest, Appeal contributor Jon Campbell, discusses the latest efforts in New York State to reform the laws, and prevent this questionable offense from sending people to prison.

Episode 35: The Risks of Risk Assessment Apr 04, 2019

As more and more states seek to abandon cash bail, a system widely seen as unjust and discriminatory, a question has emerged: What should replace it? Increasingly, the answer involves some sort of “risk assessment”––tools designed to predict an arrestee’s likelihood of fleeing prosecution or committing another crime. They're also being used in parole and sentencing decisions. Today we are joined by Hannah Sassaman, policy director of Media Mobilizing Project, and Matt Henry, chief technologist and legal counsel at The Justice Collaborative, to discuss this notoriously fraught topic and why relying on algorithms doesn’t ensure justice.

Episode 34: Pushing for Police Accountability in Sacramento Mar 14, 2019

In March 2018, police in Sacramento, California killed Stephon Clark, an unarmed 22-year-old, in his grandparents' backyard. A year later, District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert's announcement that charges would not be filed against the two officers responsible for his death became the latest flashpoint for the Black Lives Matter movement. This week, we are joined by Appeal staff reporter Aaron Morrison, who will provide the latest on the protests in Sacramento and how activists are working to hold police accountable and seek justice for Stephon Clark.

Episode 33: The Backlash Against Expanding Voting Rights Mar 07, 2019

States throughout the U.S. have recently expanded voting rights to millions of people with felony records previously barred from participating in elections. After a brief moment of celebration, two of them, Iowa and Florida, are now experiencing backlash from Republican lawmakers advocating for policies that would curtail those rights. This week, we are joined by The Appeal’s Kira Lerner to discuss the hurdles these movements still face and the forces pushing back against the wave of increased enfranchisement.

Episode 32: Mayor of Jackson Faces Uphill Battle for Police Accountability Feb 28, 2019

Elected in 2017 to much fanfare from progressives, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba promised to transform Jackson, Mississippi, into the “most radical city on the planet.” But almost immediately, one of Lumumba's signature reforms—an effort to hold police more accountable for on-the-job shootings—was met with tremendous opposition. This week, we are joined by Jackson reporter and Appeal contributor Ko Bragg to discuss this conflict, the promise and limits of reform, and what lessons can be learned from the ongoing political experiment in Jackson, Mississippi.

Episode 31: Prisoners With Disabilities Fight for Equal Rights Feb 21, 2019

In the public mind, incarcerated people are often better left in the dark––unseen and unconsidered. That's especially true when it comes to prisoners with disabilities, who suffer from both the routine cruel conditions of America’s prisons and a widespread non-compliance in those prisons with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Our guest this week, Appeal contributor Keri Blakinger, joins us to discuss an ongoing lawsuit in New York State and the broader movement across the country to give prisoners with disabilities access to the same facilities and opportunities as everyone else.

Episode 30: How Police Unions Are Fighting California's New Transparency Law Feb 14, 2019

A primary demand of the Black Lives Matter movement is more transparency into police misconduct. When an officer improperly arrests, unduly harms, sexually assaults, or kills someone, any previous record of misconduct ought to be a matter of public record. To that end, the state of California recently passed Senate Bill 1421, legislation designed to make police records more readily available to media, civil rights groups, defense attorneys, and the public. But as our guest, Appeal contributor Darwin BondGraham explains, police unions and local governments aren’t enacting the law without a fight.

Episode 29: A Pattern of Jail Deaths in Upstate New York—and Across the Country Feb 07, 2019

About 1,000 people die in U.S. jails every year. But Erie County, New York, is an outlier, with 24 such deaths since Timothy Howard took over as sheriff in 2005. This week, we’re going to talk with Appeal contributor Raina Lipsitz about what's happening in Erie County and what it tells us about the broader problem of people dying in jail.

Episode 28: Debunking the ‘Fake News’ About Federal Prisoners’ Steak Dinners Jan 24, 2019

As the government shutdown drags on, a number of media outlets––from NBC News to USA Today to the Washington Post––have run stories claiming that federal prisoners are eating elaborate steak dinners while prison guards go unpaid. This narrative, while obviously bogus, initially went unchallenged. This week, we are joined by two people who will help debunk it: Amy Ralston Povah, a prison reform advocate and formerly incarcerated person, and Craig Cesal, a federal prisoner in Terre Haute, Indiana, currently serving life.

Episode 27: Promise and Letdown in Post-Alton Sterling Baton Rouge Jan 17, 2019

Following the Alton Sterling shooting in the summer of 2016, the national media briefly turned its attention to Baton Rouge—a city marked by a long history of segregation and racist policing. After the killing, local politicians promised reform but two-and-a-half years on there’s been little to no progress—some say the situation has only gotten worse. This week's guests, Appeal contributors Clarissa Sosin and Daryl Khan, join us from Baton Rouge to discuss recent cases of police brutality and how reformers are working to push back, long after the national spotlight has faded.

Episode 26: The Power of Sheriffs Jan 10, 2019

In the past few years, criminal justice reformers have focused on city police departments and prosecutors. What might be gained from focusing on sheriffs' departments? Sheriffs wield a tremendous amount of power in our criminal justice system but largely fly under the radar. Often running on tough on crime platforms, once elected, they are largely unaccountable to city councils and other elected officials. Appeal writer Jessica Pishko has recently written an explainer on the subject, and joins to talk about county sheriffs.

Episode 25: How Some Cities Are Fighting Back Against ICE Dec 13, 2018

With the swearing in of President Trump in January 2017 came an aggressive rightward shift in America’s immigration policy, specifically with regard to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Our guest, Appeal senior reporter Debbie Nathan, has been documenting how municipalities throughout the United States, especially those in deep red Texas, are pushing back using everything from mass protests to direct action to lawsuits.

Episode 24: BLM Four Years On - Racism in the Criminal Justice System Dec 06, 2018

It's been over four years since the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO and the issue of racism in the criminal legal system remains as stark and urgent as ever. Our guest, professor at American University College of Law, Appeal contributor and author, Angela J. Davis, recently edited an anthology on race and the US criminal system called 'Policing the Black Man' that lays out, in no uncertain terms, just how wide the gap is between the experiences of white and black Americans in everything from policing to bail to conviction rates. She joins us to discuss what the data says––and what's being done to correct it.

Episode 23: The Pseudoscience behind Forensic Science Nov 29, 2018

We’ve watched the scene play out in countless police dramas: slick scientific experts with the latest gadgets and technology finding the Bad Guys with forensic pattern matching: Bite marks, fingerprints, a marking on a fired bullet or handwriting on a note. But how scientific are these methods? And how much do prosecutors and judges wildly oversell their reliability? This week, we are joined by Jessica Brand, Legal Director at The Justice Collaborative and Appeal contributor to discuss some of the pseudo-science behind forensic science.

Episode 22: The Dangers of Faux-Reform Nov 15, 2018

“Criminal justice reform” as a general label has become trendy in recent years and, for many prospective Presidential candidates it will be a major 2020 litmus test. But what do people mean when they use the term? What are the policies being advanced and what are some of the dangers of surface-level reformist language unattached to specific, activist-led initiatives? This week, we are joined by The Appeal’s Josie Duffy Rice to discuss how one can separate real reform from the dangers or faux-reform.

Episode 20: Neglect and Abuse in Our Prison Healthcare System Nov 01, 2018

Most people know that the healthcare situation in the United States is one of most precarious in the world, but what’s never talked about is the status of healthcare for America’s 2.2 million incarcerated persons––which is lightyears worse. One prison in particular, Angola in Louisiana, rates at the very bottom of even this group, with mortality rates almost double the national average for prisons. Our guest, Mercedes Montagnes of the Promise of Justice Initiative, is a lawyer helping people incarcerated at Angola sue the state for alleged abuse, neglect and injury.

Episode 19: Prison Strikes and the Frontlines of Resistance Against Mass Incarceration Oct 25, 2018

This fall, thousands of incarcerated people in dozens of states went on strike to protest harsh and exploitative conditions in America's prisons. Prisons, and the cruel conditions they foster, are often the last thing with which the public wants to be confronted about. But incarcerated people throughout the country are using the only leverage they have—their personal labor—to force the issue. Our guest, Appeal staff reporter Raven Rakia, joins us to talk about these efforts and what the future holds for the prisoners' rights movement

Episode 18: How Activists Brought Down the Most Powerful Man in Chicago Oct 11, 2018

Two pieces of news have rocked Chicago: the announcement by Mayor Rahm Emanuel that he will not seek a third term and the conviction of a white police officer, Jason Van Dyke, of the killing of a black teenager, Laquan McDonald. Both events were the result of years of activism, work that often goes unseen and unsung. This week's guest, writer Kelly Hayes, talks about the lessons Chicago holds for activists throughout the country.

Episode 17: The Cruelty of Life Sentences For Proxy Crime Oct 04, 2018

The United States is alone in the world in pursuing two modes of prosecution: giving life sentences to children under 18, and giving life sentences for murder to people who never murdered anyone. Even if one doesn’t pull any trigger, or even have prior knowledge of a crime, they can be treated as if they are a murderer--if a killing occurs pursuant an underlying felony like robbery or carjacking. Appeal contributor Katie Rose Quandt joins us to discusses why felony murder laws are unjust and how activists are pushing back against this uniquely American brand of cruel and unusual punishment.

Episode 16 - Police Accountability: As Elusive as Ever Sep 27, 2018

“Police accountability” is a term that gets thrown around a lot in conversations about criminal justice reform. But how do we make sure police officers who break laws or department rules are held to account? The reality––even four years after Ferguson––is that little progress has been made in creating structures that discipline police officers for bad behavior. Our guest, Appeal reporter George Joseph, has been doing deep dives into police discipline in cities across America. The findings? A system that still routinely protects its worst offenders.

Episode 15: On the Ground in Dallas' High Stakes DA Race Sep 20, 2018

This week we're doing the first of a recurring series on how activists and organizers on the ground are trying to move the needle with regard to District Attorney races. Our first installment: Dallas County. An appointed conservative DA, Faith Johnson, has flown mostly under the radar in the notoriously red state as activists there, including our three guests–Dominique Walker of ACLU Texas, Reverend Edwin Robinson of Faith in Texas, and Joe Estelle of The Texas Organizing Project––have been working to raise awareness and educate voters on just how powerful District Attorneys are.

Episode 14: The Prison-to-School Pipeline Sep 13, 2018

You’ve likely heard of the school-to-prison pipeline, but what you likely haven’t heard is the prison-to-school pipeline––efforts in recent years to help the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated receive a quality education. Our guest, activist and educator Danny Murillo, has been spearheading such initiatives for over five years. After spending 14 years in Pelican Bay supermax prison he co-founded the Underground Scholars Initiative at University California Berkeley which is dedicated to making education accessible to everyone regardless of their carceral status.

Episode 13: The Problem of 'Innocence' Sep 06, 2018

'He was a straight-A student', 'a loving husband', 'she worked 60 hours a week'––we often hear how victims of police and white supremacist violence didn't deserve to be killed due to their shiny records. But what if this is the totally wrong approach to discussing violence visited upon oppressed communities? Our guest, Appeal contributor Zoé Samudzi, argues that the notion of “innocence” as a condition for empathy is an outdated, puritan mode of thinking that implies those with messy, so-called "criminal pasts" are somehow not deserving of our compassion.

Episode 12: Why Electronic Monitoring Is Not Prison Reform Aug 16, 2018

As prison reform efforts begin to have an effect on how many people end up behind bars, a reliance on electronic monitoring increasingly serves as a pseudo-solution to keep people out of cement and steel cages––by putting them into electronic ones. Our guest, Appeal contributor Kira Lerner, talks about the moral hazards presented by this approach and why it’s important prison reform efforts expand beyond cement walls to include those composed of house arrest and monitoring technologies.

Episode 11: Big Box Retailers and Prosecutors Team Up to Crackdown on Petty Crime Aug 09, 2018

Shoplifting is traditionally seen as a petty crime unworthy of serious punishment, much less prison time. But under an increasingly popular theory of crime, DA's––with the help of retail lobbyists––are throwing the book at people for stealing as little as $39 worth of goods, claiming they burgled a public store. Our guest, Appeal contributor Jessica Pishko, discusses this punitive trend and what public defenders are doing to push back.

Episode 10: Race and Corruption in Child Protection Courts Aug 02, 2018

State child protective courts are an under-reported element of our criminal legal system, but their impact on communities of color and the poor is felt as much, if not more, than other aspects of it. One case, that of the Hart family, caught national attention after a seemingly "normal" white couple adopted African-American children taken from the mother by a corrupt and likely racist judge in Texas––only to end in a grisly murder-suicide. Our guest, Appeal contributor Roxanna Asgarian, joins us to talk about this case and the broader social and racial aspects of the state taking children away from their parents.

Episode 9: The History––and Promise––of the Bail Abolition Movement Jul 26, 2018

1 in 5 people incarcerated in this country have not been convicted of any wrongdoing. Their crime? Being poor in a country that tethers pre-trial freedom to one's wealth. In this episode we discuss with journalist Bryce Covert emerging efforts––from New York to New Orleans to Chicago––to bond people out of jail as both a temporary form of relief, and a long term strategy of undoing the cash bail system entirely.

Episode 8: The Racist Zeal of 'Zero Tolerance' and Trump's Anti-Immigrant Escalation Jul 19, 2018

By now you've probably heard of the family separation crisis at the US-Mexico border. What you may not know is how exactly we got to this tipping point. On today's show we talk with Appeal writer Max Rivlin-Nadler, who's been following President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions's ramped up "zero tolerance" approach to immigration. While President Obama had harsh immigration policies as well, Trump's approach goes much further––animated by a toxic mixture of racism, for-profit incarceration, and summary punishment.

Episode 7: What Abolitionists Mean When They Talk About Abolition Jul 12, 2018

We didn't always have police and prisons as we know them today—in fact, they're fairly recent inventions. Abolitionists like William C. Anderson ask us to radically rethink the necessity of police, and our practice of throwing people in cages. Anderson traces the origins of modern punishment from slavery to debt peonage to Jim Crow to the co-called War on Drugs.

Episode 6: The Unique Cruelty of Sentencing Children to Life Without Parole Jun 28, 2018

Despite recent Supreme Court rulings curtailing the practice, the United States remains the only country on earth that enforces life without parole sentences for crimes committed when they were minors. Our guest, Victoria Law, explains efforts by prosecutors in Louisiana to continue keeping dozens of men, most of them Black, in state prison for crimes committed when they were 16, 17 years old in the 1960s and 1970s––typifying a prosecutorial ethos of punishment for punishment's sake.

Episode 5: Rise of Silicon Valley-Assisted Pre-Crime Jun 20, 2018

Data corporations like Palantir are teaming up with police departments to create real time “probable offender” lists of thousands of mostly African American and Latino people. These lists, and other “predictive policing” tools, create a feedback loop, trapping people of color and the poor in a cycle of monitoring, arrests, and further monitoring. The result is a dystopian system of surveillance and pre-crime. Our guest, Appeal journalist George Joseph, got his hands on confidential LAPD documents detailing these efforts.

Episode 4: Rikers and the Co-opting of Prison Reform to Sell More Prisons Jun 14, 2018

It’s a tension that has existed in activists and political circles since there’s been activism and politics: how to know the difference between healthy reform and cynical, watered-down reform. Or worse: so-called “reform” that is actually a step backwards. Our guests today, journalists Raven Rakia and Ashoka Jegroo, examine this debate among those working to close Rikers prison in New York and discuss the broader trend of establishment centers of power co-opting grassroots reform efforts.

Episode 3: Turning Users Into Dealers and Accidental Overdoses into Murder Jun 06, 2018

Prosectors and law enforcement agencies have been bringing murder charges against people who supply friends and family with drugs. As the opioid epidemic marches on, efforts to curb heroin and prescription drug abuse through increased arrests and harsh sentencing look just as misguided as earlier phases of the so-called "war on drugs" that began in the 1970s. Journalist Zachary A. Siegel joins us to explain the disturbing evolution of the drug war in the era of opioid abuse.

Episode 2: The Misplaced Sanctimony of Criminalizing Sex Work May 30, 2018

Stopping the trafficking of exploited persons is something everyone agrees is important. But recent efforts by the federal government to exploit this good faith desire to protect the vulnerable by criminalizing consensual sex work––namely by passing of Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA)––has driven the business further underground, all while chilling speech and exposing sex workers to even greater harm. Our guest, senior reporter for The Appeal, Melissa Gira Grant.

Episode 1: District Attorneys: The Most Powerful People You’ve Never Heard Of May 29, 2018

District Attorneys wield the power of entire police departments but have been historically overlooked in efforts to reform the legal system. Recently that’s changed, with bond reform and primary challenges upending the “tough on crime” status quo taking off in the past few years. Our guest Josie Duffy Rice, the host of our sister podcast Justice in America, will be joining us to explain why DA's are such an important––and often unseen––fulcrum of power.

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