Criminal (In)justice - podcast cover

Criminal (In)justice

David Harrisredcircle.com

Sometimes challenging, often disturbing, occasionally absurd, always timely: Criminal Injustice explores the most complex and urgent issues facing the U.S. criminal justice system in conversation with the field's most knowledgeable experts. Professor David Harris and guests take on everything from racial bias to use of force... from surveillance technology to mass incarceration... and from police abuse and misconduct to the astonishing, frequently hilarious misdeeds of "Lawyers Behaving Badly." It's not a lecture hall, and you don't need a law degree to keep up. But you'll walk away from each episode with a deeper, richer understanding of what's wrong with the criminal justice system – and how to fix it.

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Episodes

Bonus: Dog Leash Lady Tries to Unleash Racist Violence

Viral video of an encounter in NYC's Central Park shows a white woman calling 911 to report another park user is threatening her life, apparently trying to provoke a violent police response against the "African American man" who had simply asked her to leash her dog. Reflexively fearing people of another race is racist -- but it's mostly a function of the garden-variety implicit bias that most of us harbor on some level, whether we're aware of it or not. Actively weaponizing that fear in others ...

May 31, 20209 min

Bonus: The Death of George Floyd

Another horrific episode of police violence, captured on video in Minneapolis, graphically recalls the 2014 killing of Eric Garner by NYPD officers who were never criminally charged in his death. This time the officers may face charges, but prosecuting police is still notoriously difficult. Is there hope for justice? Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

May 29, 202030 min

Bonus: The Murder of Ahmaud Arbery

The killing of an unarmed black man, Ahmaud Arbery, by two white men in Georgia went largely unnoticed until video of the February shooting went viral earlier this month. Now the father and son face murder charges -- but will Georgia's "Stand Your Ground" law block their conviction? Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...

May 18, 202011 min

Read This: Let the People Go

Recommended reading on how COVID-19 is impacting incarcerated populations and what must be done to avoid catastrophe: "Let the People Go" by Joseph Margulies in the Boston Review. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...

May 14, 20206 min

Bonus: Bad to Worse

COVID-19 has exposed systemic injustice and institutional failures at every level of society, and nowhere more than in the criminal justice system. Incarcerated people are already being hit hard by the pandemic, but the situation is rapidly deteriorating -- and the effects will be felt beyond the walls of prisons and jails. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com...

May 10, 202028 min

Bonus: COVID-19 and Funding Public Defense

Louisiana's public defender system is funded by fines from traffic violations. But with far fewer cars on the road due to COVID-19, an already badly underfunded system is at the breaking point. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...

May 05, 20206 min

Bonus: No More Non-Unanimous Verdicts

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that jury decisions in state criminal cases must be unanimous, overturning a precedent that goes back to Jim Crow. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Apr 28, 202010 min

SCOTUS v COVID-19

Workplaces are adjusting to life under lockdown by holding meetings via videoconference — and the U.S. Supreme Court is no exception. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Apr 23, 20207 min

Bonus: The Confluence, April 16

President Trump claims “total authority” to override governors and end their stay-at-home orders, yet again raising the question: can he do that? No, as Dave explains on 90.5 WESA’s The Confluence, he cannot. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...

Apr 19, 20208 min

Bonus: Unicorn Emergency

A trademark lawsuit out of Chicago raises the question: in the midst of a global pandemic, what counts as a legal “emergency”? Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Apr 14, 20208 min

Bonus: The Insanity Defense on Trial

The Supreme Court upholds Kansas's law barring the insanity defense in criminal proceedings. Dave breaks down the decision in Kahler v Kansas. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Apr 06, 20207 min

#118 Happy Birthday to Us

Can you believe it? Our first episode was published on this date in 2016! 117 interviews and countless bonus episodes later, producer Josh Raulerson joins Dave to mark the occasion with a look back at four years of Criminal Injustice. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...

Mar 31, 202040 min

Bonus: Progressive Prosecutors Face Primaries

Chicago's progressive chief prosecutor, Kim Foxx, has survived her first reelection challenge in the Democratic primary. Meanwhile, reformer and Criminal Injustice alumnus George Gascon may be poised to knock off the tough-on-crime incumbent DA in Los Angeles. We review the latest on progressive prosecutors in politics. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/bra...

Mar 28, 20209 min

Bonus: Courts in the Time of Coronavirus

The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing our institutions to confront a host of thorny problems. Among the thorniest for the criminal justice system: how to uphold the constitutional right to a speedy trial when courts are effectively shut down. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...

Mar 25, 20209 min

Bonus: What Happens When COVID-19 Hits Prisons and Jails?

Squalid and unhealthy even in the best of times, prisons and especially jails are especially vulnerable during a pandemic. That's not just a danger to incarcerated people -- it's a disaster for public health. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...

Mar 21, 202013 min

#117 The Second Chance Club: Life in Parole World

Every year, more than 600,000 Americans leave our jails and prisons. Many are on parole. Others people are put on probation instead of going to prison. The job of supervising all of them falls to parole and probation officers. Our guest, Jason Hardy, served as a probation and parole officer for four years in New Orleans, and he gives us a look into a world that is invisible to the rest of us. Jason Hardy The Second Chance Club: Hardship and Hope After Prison Support Criminal Injustice at $5/mont...

Mar 17, 202053 min

Bonus: Muzzling a Racist Judge

Dave appears on WESA's The Confluence to discuss the case of a Pennsylvania judge disciplined for racist comments. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Mar 10, 202012 min

Bonus: Breaking Down the Weinstein Verdict

Entertainment tycoon Harvey Weinstein was convicted last month on a range of sexual assault charges. Dave analyzes the decision and what it means for the #MeToo movement. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Mar 06, 202015 min

#116 Prison Truth: The San Quentin News

San Quentin Prison in California has always had a reputation as one of the toughest, most violent prisons anywhere. But twelve years ago, the prison’s in-house newspaper, produced by inmates, began to change things. What can journalism do for incarcerated people, and for the prisons in which they serve their sentences? And what about the impact on people outside of prison? Our guest is William Drummond , an award winning journalist, professor of journalism, and the author of “Prison Truth: The S...

Mar 03, 202057 min

Read This: What Was the Jussie Smollett Case Really About?

A post by Paul Butler at Crime Story Daily proposes a new theory about the uproar over actor Jussie Smollett's disputed claim of being the victim of a hate crime: the real target is a progressive prosecutor. Crime Story: The Real Target of the Jussie Smollett Charges Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...

Feb 26, 20208 min

Bonus: DOJ Goes After Sanctuary Cities

The Trump administration's immigration lawsuits against so-called "sanctuary" jurisdictions pits the Justice Department against the doctrine of federalism, formerly a bedrock principle of conservative ideology. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...

Feb 23, 202010 min

Bonus: Keeping Up with Bill Barr

The thwarted sentencing of Roger Stone kicks off the latest in a series of cascading crises for the integrity of the Justice Department, and it's all we can do to keep up. Dave recaps a week of dramatic and fast-moving events. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...

Feb 19, 202020 min

#115 A Life Sentence – and Now Out

Every year, courts hand out sentences of life without the possibility of parole to people convicted of serious crimes. Our guest today was one of those people, and he’ll tell us what that was like – and, with his sentence commuted, what his life is like on the outside, after 43 years. Our guest is Robert Wideman, given a life sentence without parole at 25, and now free after Pennsylvania’s governor commuted his sentence in 2019. Robert Wideman’s commutation story in the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette ...

Feb 18, 202053 min

Unlocked: Mike Bloomberg's Appalling Record

This episode originally appeared on the Criminal Injustice members feed on November 17, 2019. To hear all of our premium episodes as soon as they're released, become a $5 member at patreon.com/criminalinjustice Michael Bloomberg makes a late entry to the Democratic presidential primary field. The billionaire media baron hasn't released a policy agenda for criminal justice, but he has a voluminous record from his time as New York City mayor -- and it's not good. Advertising Inquiries: https://red...

Feb 16, 202020 min

Bonus: Progressive Prosecutors Fight Back

The chief prosecutor of St. Louis, a woman of color elected in 2016 on a reform platform, has faced intense pushback from the day she took office. Now Kim Gardner, the first African American to serve in the post, is suing the city and its police union under a federal law passed during Reconstruction to combat white supremacist vigilantism. Progressive prosecutors elected in other cities are rallying around Gardner, but can the suit succeed? Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra ...

Feb 14, 20206 min

Bonus: What's Behind Mississippi's Staggering Prison Death Rate?

Why are so many people dying in Mississippi state prisons? As with most systemic problems, the causes are many and complex. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Feb 11, 20206 min

Bonus: Dershowitz Said What??

Donald Trump's impeachment lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, makes a remarkable assertion: if the president believes his own reelection is in the national interest, then nothing he does in pursuit of that goal can be impeachable. Support Criminal Injustice at $5/month to unlock extra bonus episodes and more on the Members feed: patreon.com/criminalinjustice Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...

Feb 06, 20207 min

#114 Criminalizing HIV

When HIV appeared in the U.S., it was a death sentence and a source of real fear. Now, with treatment, people living with the virus can live long and full lives. So why do laws still criminalize some actions of people living with HIV? Our guests are Jada Hicks, Staff Attorney for the Center for HIV Law and Policy, and Amir Sadeghi, the Center’s National Community Outreach Coordinator. They’ll discuss how the law still criminalize actions by people living with HIV which would cause no consequence...

Feb 04, 202050 min

Teaser: Live in Pittsburgh

Are you a Criminal Injustice patron? If not, here's a taste of what you're missing on the members feed! Unlock this episode and more exclusive content at patreon.com/criminalinjustice . Kicking off the promotional tour for his new book, A City Divided , Dave spoke to a packed house at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library Lecture Hall on January 14. Criminal Injustice members can hear the full program, courtesy of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...

Feb 01, 20208 min

Bonus: Bill Barr's War on Criminal Justice Reform

At the direction of Donald Trump, U.S. Attorney General William Barr is launching a national commission on crime and law enforcement. It's not the first time a president has formed such a panel, but indications are that this one will take a very different approach than its predecessors. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Jan 28, 20207 min
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