Decarceration Nation (with Josh And Joel)

The problem with plea bargains. My book Writing Your Own Best Story: Addiction + Living Hope, is available on Amazon. My friend Aaron's organization is called "A Brighter Way" and we are also both involved with Michigan's Nation Outside. The Judge Rakoff quote was found in this New York Review of Books article. A Few Good Men was an American drama about a lawyer fighting the court-martial of two Guantanamo Bay Marines starring Tom Cruise and Demi Moore. The Judge John Kane quote was from this Marshall Project article about Plea Bargaining and innocence. Michelle Alexander is the author of the very influential and popular book, "The New Jim Crow." There is a lot of evidence about why Innocent People Accept Plea Bargains. The Marshall Project piece above is a good summary. We also mention this article from the Atlantic Monthly several times during the podcast. Professor Jenia Turner's quote comes from her extensive article on plea bargaining. Most of the alternatives that we discuss come fr

Josh discusses Private Prisons with Lauren-Brooke Eisen of the Brennan Center, the author of "Inside Private Prisons" The Trump Administration's is investing in the privatization of the Bureau of Prisons (and the Private Prison Industry invested in his campaign). You can find Lauren-Brook Eisen's book "INside Private Prisons" here.

Explaining the problems with cash bail. Midnight Run was a movie about a bail bondsman (Robert DiNero) hunting down a bail jumper (Charles Grodin) who was on the run from the mob. Here is the full report from the Criminal Justice Policy Program at Harvard that we refer to throughout Episode 4. Just Leadership USA is a New York-based Criminal Justice Reform organization. One of their major campaigns is the Close Rikers campaign. They are also now pushing bail reform (synchronicity). Here is a good synopsis of the Kalief Browder story. I mistakenly said in the podcast that Mr. Browder committed suicide in jail. He actually committed suicide after release (RIP Kalief Browder). I made mention of Kalief Browder and plea bargaining. Here is some more context on his brave stand. Here is a good synopsis of the tragic story of Sandra Bland's trip to jail in Texas. There are a LOT of things I could post about the Macomb County Jail. Here is the link to the Independent Report that was done on Macomb. In addition, there

Josh and Joel discuss the power of prosecutors and how prosecutors often complicate criminal justice reform.

Josh and Joel discuss the many reasons why over-criminalizing violence does not enhance societal safety.

A criminal justice reform podcast that argues for a radical reimagining of criminal justice, prison, and reentry systems hosted by Josh and Joel.