Last year Assemblymember Ash Kalra authored a landmark bill that addresses racial discrimination in criminal sentencing and convictions. The California Racial Justice Act, which will prohibit racial discrimination in convictions and sentences.  The act will prohibit it in all convictions and sentences.  It also creates a process to challenge racial bias in trial or following conviction.

“California’s Civil Rights law clearly prohibits discrimination in housing, in employment, and public accommodation,” he explained last year.  “But nowhere in California law is there a clear statement that racial discrimination will not be tolerated in our criminal justice system.

One compromise he made to get the bill passed was there was no look back mechanism.  This year he introduced AB 2542 which allow for the act to apply retroactively.

He explained, “While passing last year’s bill was a major step towards addressing institutionalized and implicit racial bias in our courts, the work is not done. It is incumbent upon us to make sure that all Californians are afforded an opportunity to pursue justice by making the measure retroactive—ensuring that these new protections are rightfully extended to those who have already been harmed by unfair convictions and sentences.”

Listen as the Assemblymember explains the Racial Justice Act and why it’s needed.

Everyday Injustice Podcast  Episode 111: Ash Kalra Discusses California Racial Justice Act

Prosecutorial misconduct continues to be widespread in the courts across the country.  As a report from a decade ago discovered – with over 800 instances of documented prosecutorial misconduct, much of it serious with grave effects, courts, district attorneys, and bar associations “rarely hold prosecutors accountable for their misconduct. In fact, the whole system incentivizes misconduct by using “court wins” to measure prosecutorial success.”

Accountability NY is a non-profit coalition of law professors and public interest groups seeking consequences for prosecutorial misconduct.

Overview of the project:

•	The power prosecutors have in the criminal justice system and how their misconduct frequently goes unnoticed 
•	How harmful their misconduct is to individuals, families, communities, and to the legal system itself
•	Why grievances were the way Accountability NY approached this issue (Currently the only avenue for accountability in New York)
•	What this means nationally. This is a nationwide issue plus it is happening at a time when there is a national movement for police accountability -- police accountability and prosecutorial accountability go hand in hand.

Everyday injustice speaks with Steve Zeidman, Professor, Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic, has spent the last 25 years working in the area of criminal defense.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 112: Prosecutor Accountability in New York

Donald Watson was convicted of felony murder but thanks to SB 1437, the law by Nancy Skinner, that allows people convicted of murder who were not the actual killer or major participants to petition for resentencing, Watson was able to get released from prison.

During his time in prison, he had become a jailhouse lawyer and helped his fellow incarcerated individuals file motions and petitions.  He has parlayed that into a business where he acts as a paralegal, filing motions and helped incarcerated individuals and others file motions with the court for release or resentencing.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 115: Donald Watson's New Lease on Life Through SB 1437

Cesar McDowell chronicles his journey from San Quentin to becoming, while still incarcerated, the co-founder and CEO of Unite The People Inc., a non profit organization that promotes social justice and offers affordable legal services throughout the state of California.

After spending 20 years in prison and falling victim to the social inequality in our criminal justice system, McDowell founded his organization from his prison cell with the hope of saving all those who have been wrongly prosecuted and sentenced. 

It is an incredible story of perseverance and redemption and McDowell walks the audience through it.

McDowell on Everyday Injustice shares his story about how he spent 20 years incarcerated in one of the CDCR's toughest facilities, San Quentin State Prison; under an illegal sentence.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 120: Cesar McDowell Turns His Life Around at San Quentin

Family Outraged by Excited Delirium Diagnosis in Police Killing in Contra Costa County, California

It may have been a scene reminiscent of George Floyd, but unless the California AG or Contra Costa DA step into this, the police may well get away with it after the coroner ruled accidental death in the death of 30-year-old Angelo Quinto, a Filipino male with a recent history of mental impairment.

Quinto was grabbed from his mother’s arms and thrown to the floor in his home by Antioch police officers. After that, one officer handcuffed and placed his knee on the back of his neck, and at the same time another officer bent both of Angelo’s legs up and backward toward his back for an extended period of time, resulting in his death.  Or at least that’s what attorneys for his family believe.

Civil Rights Attorney John Burris said, “Angelo’s death could have been avoided if the officers took the time to talk with Angelo instead of using similar restraints that killed George Floyd and, like George Floyd, Angelo said to the officers ‘please don’t kill me’ but the officers did exactly that.”

Everyday Injustice this week caught up with the family of Angelo Quinto as well as Attorney Ben Nausimbaum to discuss the death of Quinto and the coroner’s diagnosis of excited delirium.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 122: The Death of Angelo Quinto - Excited Delirium or Murder?

On September 15, 2021, Nakia Porter at a press conference spoke out publicly about her ordeal with Solano County police.

Attorneys for Nakia Porter filed suit in Federal Court in Sacramento in August following an incident on August 6, 2020, where Porter and her father were driving from Oakland to their home in Sacramento.
The vehicle was already stopped and in park when approached by Sheriff’s Deputies.  She had stopped to take over driving for her father.

At the press conference in August, attorney Yasin Almadani explained that Porter, age 33 and weighing all of 125 pound “had done nothing wrong” when she was approached by the deputy and explained that they were simply switching seats.

In September, Nakia indicted the entire system.  Hear her full comments.

Nakia Porter Speaks Out About Her Ordeal with Solano County Sheriffs

Dr. Vilasni Ganesh in November will be heading off to prison for 63 months away from her husband and children.  Her husband, also a doctor is facing a one-year sentence himself.  In mixed verdict, she was convicted of fraudulent billing -as her attorney explains, without any evidence of wrongdoing or intent.

The story as she and her attorney tell has so many layers.  In her arguments to the Court of Appeals, she has claimed Insufficient Legal Representation.  She was appalled that her defense attorney failed to make an affirmative defense, attempted to fire them, and denied this by the trial judge.

Moreover, she claims prosecutorial misconduct in that the prosecutor in the case presented spreadsheets that did not evidence fraud, as evidence that she committed fraud.  The Government, her attorney now alleges, used irrelevant spreadsheets to obtain a conviction through the use of false evidence.

Listen to Dr. Ganesh and attorney Lisa Rasmussen discuss this massive injustice as the day tick away before Dr. Ganesh reports for her nearly five years of incarceration for a fraud that clearly was never committed.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 125: Doctor Facing Nearly Five Years After Fraudulent Prosecution

In 2020, San Joaquin District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar made headlines when she resigned from the California District Attorney Association (CDAA) after noting the organization has been opposing criminal justice reform for many years.

While that action was notable enough, it was even more so because Verber Salazar is not a progressive liberal like much of the reform movement instead she is a lifelong Republican in a relatively conservative county.

In a 2020 interview with the Vanguard, Salazar noted the CDAA’s opposition to Proposition 47, which cleaned up past criminal histories and felony convictions and changed the law where a person could steal up to $950 and get away with a misdemeanor (two separate parts of the same proposition), and Proposition 64, which legalized marijuana.

Her interview with Everyday Injustice she explained her support for reforms and the need to find a balance between protecting the public and opposing mass incarceration.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 126: San Joaquin DA Tori Verber Salazar – Conservative Reformer

While the public has become aware of how various aspects of the criminal legal system produce unjust results, one area that many are less aware of is that things seemingly as simple as fines and fees can devastate millions of Americans who are poor, end up in debt, lose their vehicles and other impacts.

The Fines and Fees Justice has been working to identify the problems associated with fines and fees, educate the community and change laws.

They note: “Those who cannot immediately pay these costs face additional fees, license suspensions, loss of voting rights, arrest and jail. Stuck in a cycle of punishment and poverty, people can lose their jobs, their homes, and even their children. We have created a two-tier system of justice where poor people – and particularly communities of color – are disproportionately punished.”

Everyday Injustice speaks with FFJC co-director Joanna Weiss about fines and fees and how they impact the lives of poor Americans.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 127: How Fines and Fees Devastate Lives of the Poor

This spring after a long and at times bitter process, activists following the killing of George Floyd pushed for and finally got the city of Placerville to remove a noose from the city’s seal but the council opted to keep the Gold Rush-era nickname, “Hangtown.”

The noose was probably not historical - and probably not incorporated into the city logos until the 1970s but is now widely considered a hate symbol.

Leading the way in the battle over the noose was the young activist Lizzie Dubose.  She is joined by Stuart Harmon, a documentary filmmaker who chronicled the fight.

Listen as Lizzie Dubose describes her motivation and the hardships of taking on what turned out to be a very disharmonious process - with anger and hate erupting along the way.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 130 - Removing the Noose From Placerville

On October 8, 2020, Shayne Sutherland, 29, died in a manner similar to George Floyd, with a police officer on his back, handcuffed, yelling, “I can’t breathe,” and calling out for his Momma.

He had called 911 the morning of October 8, 2020.  While being questioned in front of a store, Shayne jumped up after hearing a noise, only to be tackled by law enforcement. After close to three minutes of forceful pressure on Shayne’s back, while Shayne was lying face down on the concrete, unarmed, handcuffed, in the prone position, he was in distress and could no longer communicate.

The family is alleging that two Stockton Police officers “used excessive force on an unarmed and handcuffed man, applying full body weight pressure and a police baton to the prone victim’s neck, shoulders and back, resulting in restraint asphyxiation.” 

Civil Rights Attorney James DeSimone said “Shayne’s unnecessary death is another result of the SPD’s unconstitutional practice of using improper restraint and excessive force.”

He added, “At the time he was killed, Shayne was unarmed, handcuffed, in the prone position, not resisting, and posing no harm to anyone. Still, while he pleaded for his life, at least one police officer used his full body weight to literally crush the breath out of him. This violates well-established law enforcement standards and training, and the United States Constitution. This has to stop.”

Joining Everyday Injustice is Shayne’s mother, Karen Sutherland and the family’s attorney, Civil Rights Attorney James DeSimone.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 131: Shayne Sutherland Killed by Police - "I Can't Breathe"

UC Davis Law Professor Jack Chin does just about everything and this week’s episode, we discuss the then recent Rittenhouse trial and guns and self-defense, the death penalty and Julius Jones, and the Sentencing Clinic he founded at UC Davis Law School working with the Yolo County DA’s office to reduce the lengthy sentences of incarcerated people.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 134: Jack Chin On Rittenhouse, Self Defense and Death Penalty

Sacramento in 2022 figures to be a hotbed for political intrigue.  DA Anne Marie Schubert is running for AG leaving an open DA seat where a progressive – Alana Matthews will take on current Assistant Chief Deputy DA Thien Ho.  Sheriff Jones is retiring.  And there is a new police chief.

Everyday Injustice talked with longtime attorney Mark Reichel to get the lay of the Sacramento landscape – discussing topics like the DA, policing, and criminal justice reform.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 137: Attorney Mark Reichel Talks Sacramento DA and Policing

Duke Law Professor Brandon Garrett wrote one of the seminal books of the Innocence Movement, Convicting the Innocent – a must-read classic that highlights the problem of wrongful convictions and its causes.

We have been taught to believe that fingerprint analysis is an ironclad science.  But we learned in the case of Brandon Mayfield, who was wrongly identified as the Madrid Subway bomber, even though he had never left the states based on a partial match of fingerprint, that the science has more holes in it than we want to believe.

Autopsy of a Crime Lab is “the first book to catalog the sources of error and the faulty science behind a range of well-known forensic evidence, from fingerprints and firearms to forensic algorithms.”

In his book and in his interview with Everyday Injustice, Garrett asks the questions that should have been asked years ago: Where are the studies that validate the basic premises of widely accepted techniques such as fingerprinting? How can experts testify with 100-percent certainty about a fingerprint, when there is no such thing as a 100 percent match? Where is the quality control at the crime scenes and in the laboratories?

The answers to these questions have frightening consequences as they lead to wrongful arrests and even more alarmingly, wrongful convictions.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 141: Brandon Garrett Flaws of Fingerprint Analysis & Junk Science

Anne Irwin and Natasha Minsker of Smart Justice California join Everyday Injustice this week to talk about criminal justice reform efforts.

Smart Justice California works to educate and embolden policymakers who support meaningful criminal justice reforms that promote safety, fairness and healthy communities.

Among the legislation they are supporting this year includes, the follow up to the Racial Justice Act which would allow people with past criminal convictions to challenge racial discrimination in charging or sentencing.

They are also supporting, Kevin McCarty’s AB 759 which would shift DA and Sheriff elections to presidential election years.

They are supporting Senator Dave Cortese’s SB 300, which reforms felony murder special circumstances law to ensure that the death penalty and LWOP cannot be imposed on those who did not kill or intend that a person die.

And they are supporting SB 731, which sunsets criminal convictions and expands record sealing to all sentences following completion of terms of incarceration, post-release supervision, and an additional period of time.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 143: Smart Justice California Talks About Justice Reform Efforts

UC Davis Law Professor Irene Joe has had an interesting experience - born in Nigeria, grew up in Texas, and came to California for law school.  After law school she worked doing death penalty work with the Equal Justice Initiative and Bryan Stevenson.

From there, she ended up working as a public defender in New Orleans and experiencing the post-Katrina world there and then back to California to become a tenured professor at UC Davis.

Listen as she discusses the importance of President Biden’s Supreme Court nomination, the controversy of critical race theory, and public defender caseload and much more.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 145: UC Davis Law Professor Irene Joe

Everyday Injustice this week talks with the Los Angeles Stonewall Democratcs – Alex Mohajer the President and Jasmyne Cannick a Steering Member At-Large.  The Stonewall Democrats, named after the protests represent the LGBTQ community.

The discussion focused on two critical races in LA – the Sheriff’s race where they talked about the problematic administration of current sheriff Alex Villanueva and their group’s support for Eric Strong, one of the challengers. 

In addition, they gave their assessment of DA George Gascon and the current situation with his recall.

They also talked about uplifting the marginalized voices in the queer community and some of the key legislation their group is backing.

For more information see https://www.stonewalldems.org amd https://www.stonewalldems.org/legislation.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 146: Stonewall Democrats in LA Talk Local Politics

Jeffrey Baker grew up in the deep south and moved to teaching law school at Pepperdine’s Caruso School of law where he heads up the Community Justice Clinic.  Professor Baker discussed the differences but also the similarities between Alabama and Southern California.

Listen as Professor Bakers talks about his work on domestic violence, social justice as well as research on the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement on the southern board and the School to the prison pipeline.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 147: Jeffrey Baker Pepperdine Assistant Dean

A month ago, in an event sponsored by the California Donor Table, Justice Reform groups came together to discuss DA races across the state.

The webinar was hosted by the California Donor Table, which invests in communities of color to help elect people who represent their values and needs, and they have identified six district attorney races with the greatest potential to reduce mass incarceration and advance criminal justice reform policies.

Everyday Injustice this week talked with executive director Ludovic Blain discussing races including: Sacramento, Alameda, San Francisco (recall), Santa Clara, Riverside, Contra Costa, Orange County and more.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 150: Talking California DA Races From SF To Orange County

Dan Canon is a civil rights attorney and a Professor at the  Louis D. Brandeis School of Law.  He has already played a huge role in history as one of those arguing the Obergefell decision before the Supreme Court – a landmark decision that legalized same sex marriage.

Last October he warned in a Tweet, “I was one of the lawyers who won Obergefell at SCOTUS and litigated the Kim Davis case in Kentucky. Back when Trump was elected, I said same-sex couples didn't have to be worried about their marriages. I was wrong.”

In our interview, he explained that things have changed since the decision in the Kim Davis case, and said, “I grossly underestimated the effect of Trumpism on the lower courts and on red-state legislatures.”  He now believes those courts will act to undermine precedent and overturn progressive legislation.

In the meantime, Canon this year also published a book, “Pleading Out.”  Another book that critiques the criminal legal system’s now almost exclusive reliance on the plea bargain.  While other works have shown the negative impact of the trial penalty, he links pleas to mass incarceration, wrongful convictions, and far more – and he sees no easy solution.

Listen as Dan Canon discusses the future of the federal bench and the detrimental effects of plea bargains.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 151: Dan Canon on Obergefell and Plea Bargains

On June 7, San Francisco voters will decide whether to remove DA Chesa Boudin.  This week on Everyday Injustice we are joined by Tinisch Hollins, Executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice.  She’s been an opponent of the San Francisco recall.

Tinich Hollins said previously, “My position today against the recall is rooted in the belief that the failures of the criminal justice system, and even the failures of this current SFPD office do not begin or end with Chesa Boudin’s leadership.”

She said, “I support him because he has been responsive to the needs and the priorities that were set out by our community.  Overreliance on the criminal legal system has had a disastrous impact specifically on the black community, not just in San Francisco, but throughout this country.”
She said, “We need more than reliance on jail and policing to deal with the social issues that are underlying drivers of crime chase.”  She added, “I do not recall a time where any other DA’s offices were largely successful in any way, because we know the systems are broken and failing.”

Listen as we discuss the problems of San Francisco and why in her view, removing Chesa Boudin is not the answer.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 152: Tinisch Hollins on the Chesa Boudin and SF Recall

This week on Everyday Injustice we have Howard University Law Professor Olinda Moyd discussing an under-acknowledged problem of the criminal legal system – the problems of parole and the racial disparities that occur on the backend of incarceration.

Nonpartisan groups like the Council for Court Excellence and the Justice Policy Institute “have studied the Parole Commission, concluding that it doesn't grant parole to enough D.C. prisoners and that it's too quick to send others back to prison if they make mistakes.”

Moyd argues that,  “Parole boards are fragmented institutions that operate in fear of releasing “the wrong person,” so “they err to the other extreme and deny release to so many who deserve a second chance.”

Listen as we discuss why parole board are so willing to revoke parole for primarily technical reasons and the impact it has on the criminal legal system.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 153: Olinda Moyd and the Racial Disparity of Parole

With just four weeks to go until the election for District Attorney in many areas in California, Everyday Injustice checked in with Lara Gressley, who is running for a second time against Michael Hestrin for Riverside DA.  Hestrin, seeking his third term has held office since 2015.

Hestrin, the incumbent is a heavy favorite and has outraised his two challengers both by more than a three to one margin.

But the race has sparked debate over the role of law enforcement union money in DA’s races.  In the last cycle, he took more money from law enforcement than anyone in the country.

According to one report, about 15 percent of his contributions have come from law enforcement.  Neither of Hestrins opponents have accepted money from law enforcement.

"It has the appearance of a conflict of interest, regardless of whether it actually manifests into one — which I think it has in this instance — but even setting that aside for a moment, the goal is to earn back the public's trust," Gressley said. "How can you do that when you're not prosecuting law enforcement historically at all, and you have hundreds of thousands of dollars from these union PACs coming in?"

For her part, Gressley talked about her work as a habeas attorney and wrongful convictions as well as police accountability.

Listen as Lara Gressley talks about reforming the criminal legal system and her run for District Attorney.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 154: Lara Gressley Talks About Riverside District Attorney

This week on Everyday Injustice we talk with Emily Galvin Almanza – she’s a former public defender, clerked for Judge Thelton Henderson, worked for the Stanford Three Strikes Project, wrote for the Appeal and currently heads up Partners For Justice.

Among the topics covered were her past and current work, the state of criminal justice reform, alternatives to incarceration and how to reduce recidivism rates.

Everyday Injustice Episode 155: Emily Galvin-Almanza on Decarceration

This week on Everyday Injustice, we have Kristina Kersey who last year joined the Gault Center (formerly NJDC) as a Senior Youth Defense Counsel in 2021. Prior to joining TGC, she specialized in youth defense for over 18 years with the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender.

Kersey was the trial attorney in State in the Interest of N.H., in which the Supreme Court held that youth are entitled to full and complete discovery prior to a waiver/transfer hearing to adult court.

We discussed why the move away from using the term “juvenile,” the importance of not trying youths in adult court, and the need for mental health and rehabilitative services as well as her work on the case that would go to the NJ Supreme Court and the protection that the ruling provides youths accused of serious crimes.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 156: Kristina Kersey and Youth Justice

This week on Everyday Injustice we talk with Bree and Malissa Hurry about the case of Michael Gaines, who has been incarcerated since 2003 for a crime, they believe, he did not commit.

According to them, Gaines was 18 years old at the time he was sentenced and charged with murder during the commission of a robbery -- there was no DNA evidence or fingerprints on the murder weapon that links Michael to the crime. They did find the shooter with the murder weapon and his prints were on the gun.

He was also the victim of ineffective assistance of counsel, as Michael wanted to go to trial, but his lawyer said no.  The ringleaders of the crime were given a 20 year deal.  Gaines got LWOP.

They believe he was convicted by unreliable material witness statements, two of them was given by the actual perpetrators of the crime and was given a deal.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 157: Michael Gaines Gets Life For Crime He Didn’t Commit

Tamisha Walker is a founding member and Executive Director of Safe Return Project, a campaign to secure the freedom and liberation of formerly incarcerated individuals.

Walker discussed issues of mass incarceration and racial disparity in the criminal legal system, as well as her own situation where she was incarcerated and released in 2009.

As a formerly incarcerated woman, “she shares a powerful personal story about the journey to healing and successful reentry into society. Tamisha has years of community organizing experience in a city impacted by trauma and economic inequality, including her own personal experience with trauma and poverty growing up in Richmond, California.”

Listen as Tamisha talks about her life, her work, and the need to invest in better services for those released from prison.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 158: Tamisha Discusses Safe Return Project

One of the bigger issues these days is homelessness.  Ron Hochbaum joined McGeorge School of Law in 2021 and directs the Homeless Advocacy Clinic, teaching poverty law.  Prior to arriving at McGeorge, Hochbaum directed the UDC Housing and Consumer Law Clinic in which students represented housed and unhoused District residents in efforts to access and maintain healthy, safe, and affordable housing.

Hochbaum worked on AB 1883,  “It is a bill I am working on with Assemblywoman Quirk Silva and it was born out of an article I published called ‘Bathrooms as a Homeless Rights Issue’

He also discussed the issue of bail, its impact on homelessness as well as the root causes of homelessness, city sanctioned encampments, and anti-panhandling laws.

Listen as Ron Hochbaum joins Everyday Injustice to discuss issues of homelessness and how we can better serve the unhouse community.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 159: Ron Hochbaum and Homeless Advocacy Law

This week on Everyday Injustice we visit with Akhi Johnson, Director of the Vera Institute of Justice’s Reshaping Prosecution project.  Vera just issued a new RFP to elected prosecutors interested in making reforms.  

Johnson discussed the RFP and also the new policy direction of thinking about public safety as community health.  We discussed the future of reform-minded DA’s in wake of the Chesa Boudin recall, and the challenges faced by other prosecutors like Larry Krasner and George Gascon.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 160 – Akhi Johnson Discussing Reshaping Prosecution Initiative

California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (CACJ) is a statewide association of criminal defense attorneys, who help advocate for justice in the legislature, the courts and the media.

This week on Everyday Injustice, we talk with Stephen Munkelt, the current Executive Director of CACJ.   Munkelt discusses the critical work of CACJ, some of the critical issues faced right now, mass incarceration, the Racial Justice Act, jury selection and where things are headed in the criminal legal system.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 161: Stephen Munkelt from CACJ

In 1986, Dusty Turner was convicted of 1st degree murder and abduction and sentenced to 82 years in prison in Virginia - a state lagging behind in criminal justice reform and which has no parole.

A former Navy SEAL, Dusty had hooked with a woman one night.  He and his friend, Billy Joe Brown, drove to the Bayou, a nightclub in Virginia Beach, where Jennifer Evans, who was with two female friends, introduced herself to Dusty. At 1:15 am, Jennifer stayed at the bar with Dusty and Billy as her friends left.

Dusty and Jennifer went to Dusty’s car to talk and listen to music until her friends returned. Billy had become intoxicated and was angry he had to wait the ride that Dusty secured for him. A few minutes before 2 am, Billy came to Dusty’s car and went into the back seat behind Jennifer, still inebriated. Billy made a few crude comments and with his right hand touched her shoulder or hair which she smacked away. Billy lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her neck in a maneuver that killed her instantly.

A quirk in the VIrginia state law has left Dusty Turner with only avenue - his only chance left is clemency from the Governor of Virginia. Dusty currently has a petition of conditional pardon being considered by Governor Northam's administration.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 21 - Dusty Turner Wrongly Convicted in a Bad Virginia System

In 2017, Larry Krasner, a lifelong defense and civil rights attorney stunned the world by winning election to DA of Philadelphia and in so doing transformed the criminal justice system not only in his own city, but launched a movement across the country for progressive reform.

He has seen tremendous progress but also seen the system attempt to push back against these changes.

Listen as he talks about his two years in Philadelphia.  He told Everyday Injustice that one of the biggest problems in the criminal justice system is that it doesn't account for people changing.  As Bryan Stephenson has said, each of us is “more than the worst thing we’ve done” and we have a tremendous capacity for change - something that the current system doesn't take into account enough.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 39 - Larry Krasner and the Progressive Prosecution Movement

Anand Jon Alexander was a rising star in the fashion industry in 2007 when he was arrested and ultimately convicted of one count of rape and many counts of lesser sexual offenses. Although there were no injuries on anyone and he had no history of violence, he was sentenced to 59 years to life in prison.

He has spent over 13 years in prison and barely survived a racial hate crime stabbing in 2019. He is suing the State of California for an undisclosed amount.

Joining Everyday Injustice is attorney Tim Milner, who has been working on the Commutation case.

Attorney Tim Milner explained that he has been a lawyer for 40 years and usually tends to shy away from scandalous sex cases, but this was an exceptional case. “This man is innocent,” he said.  “He also had one of the worst trials that I’ve seen.”  He noted that he has done at least 80 trials and “this guy did not get a fair shake."

Also joining is Amy Povah, from the CAN-DO foundation.  

Amy Povah herself served nine years in prison before President Bill Clinton commuted her sentence—a 24-year sentence for conspiracy charges in a high profile MDMA (Ecstasy) case dating back to 1989.  She now serves as an advocate for mostly federal clemency cases.

She was involved in the three most recent commutations by President Trump.

“What concerns me about Anand,” she said, is that “clemency is about mercy.  So many people receive clemency who are not innocent… The sentence he received is so disproportionate to a normal case with the same allegations.  He was convicted on very thin evidence.”

One of the incarcerated people on Anand Jon's yard also joins the show to discuss conditions at Donavan under the specter of COVID-19.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 59 - the Wrongful Conviction of Anand Jon Alexander

USC Professor Jody Armour wrote the provocative book, "N*gga Theory" and on everyday injustice we talk about issues like racism, language, symbols such as the confederate flag as well as well mass incarceration and concentrated poverty.  Want to understand racism in America - listen to this podcast and read his book.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 73 - Professor Jody Armour Discusses Provocative Book

Elected in November 2019 in San Francisco as a reformer, Chesa Boudin has been on the job for nine months and already accomplished a lot.  We discuss some of the reforms - racial disparities, police accountability, the post conviction review, and much more.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 78: San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin

It started with the murder of Fred Hampton in 1969 but tracks the Chicago Police torture cases which started with Andrew Wilson, a death row prisoner who was tortured by officers including the infamous Area 2 Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge.

Attorney Flint Taylor who was in his early 20s in 1969 was there for it all and captures it beautifully in the book, "The Torture Machine," which he notes has a double-meaning, first the literal machine used by Burge and his men at Area 2 and second, as a metaphor for the notorious Chicago Political Machine headed by Daleys.

The account is extraordinary and the scope is mindboggling. The Wilson case occurred in 1982 after he was forced to confess to the 1982 murder of two Chicago police officers, and the account ends (but not court matters) in 2015.

In an age of phony conspiracies like QAnon, the notion that Fred Hampton was assassinated by the FBI and Chicago police is amply backed with documents, many of them uncovered during the 1971 burglary of the FBI Field Office in Media Pennsylvania and others turned over by the Church Committee's 1976 report on the illegal activities of the FBI.

Taylor remains an excellent chronicler of these unthinkable events that he personally helped to bring to the surface. The torture scenes are reminiscent of something out of Abu Ghraib. The uncovering of the torture and subsequent false confessions was a key reason that former Governor George Ryan put a moratorium and ultimately commutted all the Illinois death sentences, ending the death penalty.

Everyday Injustice Episode 91: Flint Taylor on the Murder of Fred Hampton and Chicago Torture Cases

Davis Vanguard Podcast will be covering criminal justice reform, mass incarceration, wrongful convictions, and more.

Davis Vanguard

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