Nearly one in two Black women in the US have a loved one who has been impacted by our carceral system. Many become de facto civilian experts as a result. Some rise to lead as outside catalysts for change. And now, scores of Black women are joining the ranks—as officers of the court, police, judges—to manage and advance a system that has had such an outsized impact on their lives. Reported by Pamela Kirkland. Find a resource guide and annotated transcript at our website here ....
Sep 27, 2021•30 min•Season 4Ep. 3
The saying goes that “justice delayed is justice denied.” One part of Illinois’ judicial system has had an outsized role in delaying justice for decades: the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court. Home to Chicago, Cook County’s court system is massive, with more than a dozen courthouses generating millions of records. And in the records disarray, residents were mired in years-long delays that cost them time and opportunities. Reported by Mark Betancourt. Find a resource guide and annotated tran...
Sep 20, 2021•36 min•Season 4Ep. 2
There’s a place in rural St. Johns, Arizona, where teens who have encounters with officers of the law can play pool, make music, and get mentored instead of going to jail. It’s called The Loft, and it’s the brainchild of a judge who wanted to save the county hundreds of millions of dollars and divert young people towards the support many were not getting at home. Reported by Ruxandra Guidi. Find a resource guide and annotated transcript at our website here ....
Sep 13, 2021•29 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Peabody Award-nominated podcast 70 Million is coming back for our fourth season! Join us for more in-depth reporting and rich narrative storytelling from communities impacted by the carceral complex. We'll bring you updates from previous seasons and new dispatches from the frontlines of criminal legal system reform. First episode launches September 13, 2021. Find more information—including transcripts and resource guides—and catch up on our past three seasons here ....
Aug 30, 2021•2 min
When jails across the country began releasing thousands of people amid the COVID-19 outbreak earlier this year, and mass demonstrations against police brutality brought millions out of their homes, criminal reform advocates wondered if they'd finally see significant and lasting reform. Journalist Renata Sago reports on two Florida jails that are having very different responses to the possibility of change. Sign up for our newsletter today.
Nov 16, 2020•36 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Our friends at Future Hindsight just launched Season 12! Future Hindsight is a weekly podcast that aims to spark civic engagement through in-depth conversations with citizen changemakers. Season 12 is full of thought-provoking, visionary and practical ideas that help us reimagine our future in a post pandemic and post Trump world. It covers everything from needing to be civically engaged all the time––which is to say in between elections––to education, policing our communities, and having the co...
Nov 13, 2020•3 min
In California, so-called quality of life laws criminalize panhandling, living in cars, and blocking sidewalks. Reporter Sarah McClure chronicles how arresting homeless individuals entangles them in a cycle of poverty and incarceration—and how three groups are breaking the cycle. This episode talks about some troubling details, which involve gun violence. Some listeners may find it disturbing. Sign up for our newsletter today.
Nov 09, 2020•41 min•Season 3Ep. 9
In Alaska, rising violent crime and substance abuse across the state have also increased incarceration rates among Native Americans. Making use of their legal sovereignty, some Alaska Native leaders issue “blue tickets,” documents that sentence offenders to legal expulsion. Journalist Emily Schwing reports on the consequences and cultural impact of banishment from Toksook Bay. Special thanks to Vanessa Lincoln for simultaneous interpretation and transcription for this episode. Sign up for our ne...
Nov 02, 2020•37 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Sean Wesley knew he had Hepatitis C when he started serving his prison sentence in Louisiana, and spent years trying to get treatment. Despite an innovative arrangement between a drug manufacturer and the state's Department of Corrections, he was transferred from facility to facility, and even finished his sentence, without ever receiving proper care. Reporter Xander Adams looks into why. Sign up for our newsletter today.
Oct 26, 2020•34 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Over the past few years, voters across the U.S.have elected prosecutors who promised to implement much-needed criminal justice reforms, from decriminalizing marijuana to ending cash bail. Journalist Ruxandra Guidi revisits her reporting on the election of a new prosecutor in Houston two years ago, and chronicles how activists, relatives of incarcerated people, and local residents are changing strategies and pushing for reform. Sign up for our newsletter today....
Oct 19, 2020•31 min•Season 3Ep. 6
From DCP Entertainment, "Say Their Name" is a documentary series that focuses on the assault and killing of unarmed Black people by police and in ‘Stand Your Ground’ states. It highlights incidents throughout the United States, memorializing these individuals through the words of the people that knew them best and helping us understand the aftermath for their families and communities, long after the headlines and hashtags have moved on. +Subscribe to Say Their Name on Apple Podcasts. +Visit the ...
Oct 15, 2020•3 min
Kirsten made her way out of jail and addiction with the help of a special court on the Penobscot Nation reservation in Maine. There, culture and justice work together to bypass traditional punitive measures for more restorative ones. Reporter Lisa Bartfai visits the Healing to Wellness Court to see how it all works. Sign up for our newsletter today.
Oct 12, 2020•35 min•Season 3Ep. 5
The Trump administration has issued numerous policies to systematically dismantle asylum as a legal right. They're also locking up asylum seekers for months or years, until they either win their case, are returned to their home countries, or self deport. Reporters Valeria Fernández and Jude Joffe-Block follow two asylum seekers as they endure detention, legal cases, and family separation in the US, where they sought refuge. Thank you to Maria and Ansly for sharing their stories with us. This epi...
Oct 05, 2020•46 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Reporter Sonia Paul takes us to Detroit, where 80% of residents are Black, and examines the tools, models and methods changing the nature of policing in the city — from the rise of live-streamed surveillance to facial recognition technology. She investigates their impact on residents, and implications for overpoliced communities of color across the country. Sign up for our newsletter today....
Sep 28, 2020•40 min•Season 3Ep. 3
A year ago, Illinois passed a law requiring all jails to ensure that pre-trial detainees have an opportunity to vote. Chicago’s Cook County Jail was turned into a polling place during the 2019 primaries. Sheriff Tom Dart is an enthusiastic supporter of the program. And advocates like Amani Sawari are working to ensure voters in custody are informed and prepared to vote in the upcoming election. Pamela Kirkland reports. Sign up for our newsletter today....
Sep 21, 2020•40 min•Season 3Ep. 2
James Howard III was arrested this spring and sent to Chicago’s Cook County Jail a few weeks into the state's coronavirus lockdown. Crowded, unsanitary, and with little means of social distancing, the single-site jail experienced a rapid outbreak of COVID-19. Mark Betancourt reports on the unprecedented steps officials took to control the outbreak, and the urgent attempts of families to keep their loved ones safe. Sign up for our newsletter today....
Sep 14, 2020•37 min•Season 3Ep. 1
We produced something beautiful for Macmillan Podcasts!! Introducing Driving the Green Book, a ten-part documentary series premiering September 15. Follow award-winning BBC broadcaster Alvin Hall as he retraces many of the locations featured in the historic travel guide. From Detroit to New Orleans, Hall takes us on an immersive audio journey, collecting powerful, personal testimony about how Black Americans used the Green Book to travel with dignity during the height of segregation. New episode...
Sep 03, 2020•5 min
We're back! Now as an award-winning and Peabody Award nominated podcast. Thank you for listening and sharing us. For two years we've documented criminal justice reform—one jail and one story at a time. In season 3, we travel the country exploring how our changing reality is impacting those in custody and the policies that keep them there. We're going to dig deeper, from the spread of COVID-19 in jails, to police depending on private companies that offer new surveillance and facial recognition te...
Aug 31, 2020•3 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Drug felony charges have more than doubled in Colorado as the state faces an opioid crisis. Jail admissions are on the rise in some counties. While diversion efforts are proving effective in others. But jails have also become “the dumping ground” for people with mental illness who are arrested. We visit one county that wants to use it’s jail less and one county that just built a state-of-the-art one to see how the two approaches are working out. Please take our Listener Survey to tell us what yo...
Sep 16, 2019•31 min•Season 2Ep. 10
After someone is arrested, there are multiple court-ordered actions after they make bail. Often, missing any of these--especially court appearances--complicates their situation and increases their punishment. Reporter Jenny Casas goes to Palm Beach, Florida, where something as simple as texting has made a significant difference in people’s lives.
Sep 09, 2019•27 min•Season 2Ep. 9
If you haven’t already listened to Part 1 of this story, we suggest you do that first. In 2013, the Texas Jail Project gets a call from Bonnie Wyndham -- a mother whose daughter, Cat, is pregnant behind bars and not getting the medical care TJP has been fighting to guarantee. In this episode, we hear Cat’s story. Plus, nearly 15 years after their chance meeting in the Victoria County Jail helped launch the TJP, our reporter Rowan Moore Gerety brings Shandra Williams and founder Diane Wilson toge...
Sep 02, 2019•33 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Shandra Williams had experienced five miscarriages by the time she and her husband Dawayne became pregnant with their son. Then she was arrested. Reporter Rowan Moore Gerety travels to Victoria, Texas, where Williams’ harrowing story of being pregnant behind bars unknowingly launched a reform movement.
Aug 26, 2019•38 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Comedian Felonious Munk was among the 13,000 formerly incarcerated people whose voting rights Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe restored in 2018. 70 Million creator Juleyka Lantigua-Williams talks with Munk about the years he spent in prison, the shock of losing his freedom, and his crusade for sensible justice reform.
Aug 19, 2019•27 min•Season 2Ep. 6
At 17, Mark Denny was wrongfully convicted of a rape and robbery in Brooklyn. It took nearly 30 years for that conviction to be overturned -- and it might never have happened without help from the same office that prosecuted him. Reporter Sabine Jansen tells the story of the Brooklyn Conviction Review Unit, the DAs who re-investigate their colleagues’ work, and the collaboration that finally set an innocent man free.
Aug 12, 2019•31 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Five years after Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a police officer galvanized criminal justice reform activists in St. Louis, they're gaining serious momentum to shut down the city's notorious Workhouse jail. Reporter Carolina Hidalgo spent time with the Close the Workhouse campaign and Arch City Defenders, their supporters, and detractors. UPDATE: July 2020: The St. Louis Board of Aldermen unanimously voted to pass a bill which provides for the closure of the Workhouse by the end of 2020. ...
Aug 05, 2019•38 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Tamiki Banks’ life was turned upside down when her husband was arrested, leaving her the sole breadwinner and caregiver to their twins. More than two years later, she’s still struggling, and he’s still in custody, even though he hasn’t been convicted of any crime. From Atlanta, Pamela Kirkland reports on the heavy burden women of color like Tamiki bear when a loved one is jailed.
Jul 29, 2019•30 min•Season 2Ep. 3
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities, known as I/DD, are overrepresented behind bars. One reason is that police officers, lawyers, and correctional staff don’t always know how to meet their needs. Reporter Cheryl Green brings us to Oregon, where case managers translate their needs for a system that’s not set up to accommodate them -- and where the proper diagnosis is the difference between incarceration and freedom.
Jul 22, 2019•26 min•Season 2Ep. 2
For years, to fund itself New Orleans’ criminal legal system has relied on bail, fines and fees levied on the city’s poorest. But there are signs of change in the horizon, with a groundswell of community action and two landmark federal rulings in the last year. Reporter Eve Abrams takes us inside some of the big shifts happening in the Big Easy.
Jul 15, 2019•33 min•Season 2Ep. 1
As of this week, our second season is a Peabody Awards nominee!! Reporters who take a closer look at communities and programs trying bold solutions to solve big problems in criminal justice. (70 Million is made possible by a grant from the Safety and Justice Challenge at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.) Reporters who take a closer look at communities and programs trying bold solutions to solve big problems in criminal justice. Hear stories about cash bail reform, overturning w...
Jul 08, 2019•2 min•Season 2Ep. 12
To close out season one, we invited two legal experts, Christina Swarns, President and Attorney-in-Charge of the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York and Scott Hechinger, Senior Staff Attorney & Dir. of Policy at the Brooklyn Defender Services, to look at what it would mean for the United States to provide financial reparations for individuals who have spent most of their lives behind bars. Moderated by 70 Million’s creator and executive producer, Juleyka Lantigua-Williams, the discu...
Oct 29, 2018•29 min•Season 1Ep. 10
