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

In 2018, California passed a lass that mandated police departments to release body camera footage within 45 days of any incident when an officer fires a gun, or uses force that leads to great bodily injury or death.

However, a CalMatters investigative report found that agencies rarely release the raw footage to the public.

Instead, CalMatters reported “the public and the media must rely on edited presentations that often include a highlighted or circled object in a person’s hand, slowed-down video to show the moments when the person may have pointed the object at police and transcriptions of the body camera’s audio.”

“To only release an edited version is not what we think is called for from the defendant’s point of view,” said Stephen Munkelt, executive director of California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, a Sacramento-based association of criminal defense attorneys. “If they’re editing things out, it’s probably the stuff that’s beneficial to the defendant.”

CalMatters reported, “He also worries about the impact of the release of the body camera footage on a potential jury pool. Still, Munkelt said, some video is better than none, if only because defense attorneys have more grounds to ask a judge for the full, unedited video.”

This week on Everyday Injustice, Stephen Munkelt joins us and discusses police body worn camera footage and the state of the law.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 197: Police Agencies Avoid Accountability with Shooting Footage

This week on Everyday Injustice, we spoke with Emma Williams, who recently wrote a piece with the Prison Policy Initiative on the little known and often misunderstood practice of civil commitment.

The 20 states include California and Illinois.

Shoe noted that 20 states and the federal Bureau of Prisons “detain over 6,000 people, mostly men, who have been convicted of sex offenses in prison-like “civil commitment” facilities beyond the terms of their criminal sentence.”

Some of these commitments are indefinite.

While there are questions about the constitutionality of the practice, in 2017, the US Supreme Court “declined to hear a case from Minnesota after a federal judge deemed the practice unconstitutional.”

Among the concerns raised in the segment – the lack of safeguards, the fact that these are “shadow prions” without full due process of law, questionable evidence-based practices, and the overall deplorable conditions of the facilities themselves.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 209: Is Civil Commitment Double Jeopardy?

This week on Everyday Injustice, we are joined by Kardell Sims, formerly incarcerated who has now become an expert on prisons and helps to coach incarcerated people in hopes of helping them avoid the recidivism trap.

Kardell Sims describes his journey through the criminal legal system, but also his way out and his program helping those attempting to exit prison avoid the barriers to reentry after incarceration.

The system so often sets formerly incarcerated people up for failure by restricting their job opportunities, education, and even housing.

Sims program helps to train people and put them onto a path for success.

Everyday Injustice Episode 211: Kardell Sims and the Re-Entry Journey

This week on Everyday Injustice we talk with Vincent Atchity.  He is the CEO of Mental Health Colorado and a member of Colorado Jail Standards Commission.

One of the biggest problems facing the criminal legal system is that in many locations, the largest mental health facility is the county jail which is ill-equipped to properly treat and handle people suffering from a variety of trauma and mental illness.

Listen as Vincent Atchity discusses his work with the Commission, the Care Not Cuffs Campaign, and the impact of solitary confinement on people suffering already from mental illness.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 212 - Vincent Atchity and Mental Health Incarceration

This week on Everyday Injustice, we are joined by former federal prosecutor Jared Fishman who is now the founder of Justice Innovation Lab.

He tells the remarkable story of Henry Glover’s murder in Hurricane Katrina–era New Orleans.  Glover was killed by police officers following the hurricane, and his killing was thoroughly covered up.

According to the book description, “In 2009, Jared Fishman was a young prosecutor working on low-level civil rights cases in the Justice Department when a file landed on his desk.

“That folder contained two items: a story from The Nation magazine examining a mysterious death in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, and an autopsy report for a man named Henry Glover, whose charred remains were found in a burned-out car two weeks after the storm. The autopsy report, bafflingly, listed no cause of death. But according to The Nation story, a gravely wounded Glover had last been seen in a car driven by a New Orleans police officer.”

Fishman eventually flies to New Orleans to learn about what happened, and teams up with a rookie FBI agent, and together they started to track down anyone with information about what had happened to Glover on that day.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 213 – Jared Fishman and Fire on the Levee

Raymond E. Strawn III is starting law school in San Francisco this fall.  It’s a far cry from where he was at the end of high school.

Just after 9/11 he had just moved to NY in high school – the only Asian student, and stood out, wearing all black with a shaved head.

One day, while talking to some girls, he showed them his notebook.  His messages of despair and criticism of the school were twisted into plots to attack the school.

This leads to his arrest, his interrogation, and his 48 day detention as a juvenile.  The judge does not set bail.  His public defender was a divorce attorney, defending his first case, and he was pushed to take a plea deal because of lack of confidence.

However, Strawn refuses a plea deal and the judge eventually finds him not guilty at a bench trial.

Internal Affairs investigation but the statute of limitations passed.  Strawn is continued to be harassed by law enforcement and suffers from PTSD.

Listen as he describes his ordeal and the steps to going to law school.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 214 – Raymond Strawn Wrongly Accused of Terror Threats

This week on Everyday Injustice is former public defender LaToya Bell who is now working at the Ohio Justice and Policy Center (OJPC).  

Bell discusses the need for second chance legislation and how this is critical for public safety.

OJPC has two big projects.

The Beyond guilt Project: “Beyond Guilt will see to do for over-punished prisoners who admit guilt what innocence projects have done for wrongfully convicted persons who claim actual innocence.”

The Second Chance: “OJPC runs free legal clinic focusing on criminal record sealing and expungement for people who qualify.”

We end up creating a system where 95 percent of all people incarcerated will one day be released, but once released we restrict their opportunities to jobs, education and housing leaving them vulnerable to recidivism and leaving public safety at risk.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 215 – LaToya Bell Discusses Second Chances

On October 19, the Vanguard will Honor Phil Melendez for his work as a formerly incarcerated person.  He is currently working with Smart Justice California to help reform the criminal legal system as well as help those who are system impacted.

He joined Everyday Injustice this week to discuss his remarkable story.  With a difficult life growing up, his father stabbed, and he ended up killing two innocent people who had nothing to do with the attack on his father.

He was arrested on Oct. 25, 1997, and faced the possibility of the death penalty.  He ultimately ended up at San Quentin and it was there through the rehabilitative culture that it helped to turn his life around.

He was finally granted parole due to changes in California State laws for youthful offenders and he is taking full opportunity of his second chance.

Listen as Phil Melendez tells his remarkable story of rehabilitation and redemption.

Join us as we honor Melendez and others for their work on behalf of justice and justice reform.

Tickets start at $100 per plate.  Sponsors at $250.  To sponsor this event and support this incredibly important cause - visit this website:  http://tinyurl.com/Vanguard2023.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 216: Phil Melendez and Second Chances

“In 2002, two men burglarized a house; the resident killed them both. I was neither the resident nor one of the burglars, but I was sent to prison for 18 years before the state finally unraveled it all and set me free,” Benjamin Frandsen explains.

Listen as Benjamin Frandsen tells his remarkable story first narrowly avoiding the death penalty, then his conviction overturned and finally success going to UCLA and his podcast, Ben Free Podcast, where he “leads listeners on weekly interviews through the emotions, thoughts and processes of those who have survived their heavy handed sentences.”

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 217: Benjamin Frandsen From Prison to UCLA

Note: This episode originally aired October 3, 2022

In 2022, the Vanguard honored Stephen Liebb with an award for his work as a formerly incarcerated individual at the Vanguard Justice Awards Gala.

Stephen Liebb spent 33 years behind bars for first degree murder.  19 of those years were spent at San Quentin.

He earned his release on parole in 2013.  Now he works as a legal assistant at the San Francisco Public Defender’s office on the Freedom Project, helping to free others from prison.

Listen to Steph’s remarkable story – hired by the legendary Jeff Adachi in 2018, but a lawyer at the time of his arrest in the 1980s, and his work behind bars to help his fellow incarcerated people file petitions and writs, giving them a chance to challenge their detention.

On October 19, the Vanguard in 2023 will present Danielle Harris and the Freedom Project a Vanguard Justice award.  They will be among ten individuals honored.

Tickets start at $100 per plate.  Sponsors at $250.  To sponsor this event and support this incredibly important cause - visit this website:  http://tinyurl.com/Vanguard2023.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 169: Stephen Liebb, Incarcerated 33 Years, Helps to Free Others

On October 19, the 2023 Vanguard Justice Awards Gala, the Vanguard will present Juliana Drous, with a Vanguard Justice Award for Distinguished Attorney.

From Juliana Drous:

“I have been practicing criminal defense since 1980.  I have had cases in all levels of the court: trials in state courts and federal courts, appeals in federal and state courts, two arguments in the US Supreme Court (lost both - also had a third I didn't argue, it won but it was a white collar case.)  I have been involved in many habeas cases, actual innocence cases.  Lost some, won a few.  Went on to file file clemency petitions.  Actually had one granted.  I couldn't have done this work without others who are committed to this work.  There are many who should be honored for the wonderful wok they have done to forward social justice.”

Join us in honoring Drous for her amazing work on behalf of the wrongly convicted and much more.  Among others, she helped to free former Black Panther, Geronimo Pratt.

Tickets start at $100 per plate.  Sponsors at $250.  To sponsor this event and support this incredibly important cause - please click here - http://tinyurl.com/Vanguard2023.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode Episode 218: Juliana Drous, Distinguished Attorney Award

On October 19, the 2023 Vanguard Justice Awards Gala, the Vanguard will present Danielle Harris, of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Officer and the Freedom Project with a Vanguard Justice Award.

The San Francisco Public Defender's resentencing unit, known as The Freedom Project, has assisted more than 100 people in their resentencing and parole hearings, and assisted in 77 family reunifications. 

These efforts have saved over 1,000 years of prison time.

“The Freedom Project team was my lifeline—they saved my life,” said Belinda Anderson, who was represented by Danielle Harris and Stephen Liebb (winner of a Vanguard Justice Award in 2022) at the The Freedom Project. Anderson served 31 years before earning parole and being resentenced. “My second chance means I get to spend time with my family—especially my daughter and grandson—to celebrate the holidays together, along with other occasions big and small. I am successfully employed and I love the work that I do.”

Listen as we talk to Harris about her work and the work that the Freedom Project does on resentencing and also representation on parole hearings.

Join us in honoring Danielle Harris and the Freedom Project on October 19.

Tickets start at $100 per plate.  Sponsors at $250.  To sponsor this event and support this incredibly important cause – please click here – http://tinyurl.com/Vanguard2023.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 219: Danielle Harris, Vanguard Justice Award Winner

Prison Education Programs are critical to incarcerated people being able to gain release and succeed once they have done so.  Research demonstrates that correctional education is very effective at reducing recidivism.

Sarah Allred, spoke with Everyday Injustice and discussed her research on prison education programs including the challenges with the ability to convene, group consequences for individual misconduct, limited resources and other factors.

The carceral setting is not generally conducive to a good learning environment, and negative staff attitudes towards incarcerated individuals contribute to the prison environment

Listen as Everyday Injustice speaks with Sarah Allred on benefits and challenges of prison education.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 220: Sarah Allred and Prison Education Programs

As more and more state have turned toward the legalization of cannabis, the federal government continues to lag.  This week on Everyday Injustice, we talk with Christi Smith, a senior fellow for the R Street Institute’s criminal justice and civil liberties team.

She is a former adult probation and parole officer and retired assistant professor of criminal justice.

The war on drugs and the continued prohibition of cannabis has profound implications for mass incarceration.

The puzzling questions is why does cannabis remain “illegal at the federal level, and its possession and use are subject to the most severe criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act.”

As Smith finds, “More than 90 percent of Americans—on both sides of the political aisle—support legal adult use of medical or recreational cannabis.”
In addition, “Legalization is also increasingly supported by law enforcement, with two-thirds of police supporting medical or recreational cannabis.”

Listen as Christi Smith discusses the implications of federal cannabis policy and how federal legalization can restore police legitimacy while enhancing public safety.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 221: Why Federal Cannabis Legalization is Lagging

Listen to Everyday Injustices exclusive interview with Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón after he announced his reelection in front of an audience of workers at SEIU Local 2015.

Gascón noted that crime was going down despite the news coverage that would lead the public to the contrary conclusion.

“I would say one of the biggest challenges that we have is how can we get factual information in a way that people understand it, in a way that people see it,” he explained.

He added, “There’s so much misinformation concerning crime, and as you indicated, we’re actually, crime nationally, but certainly LA County per capita is coming down faster than many other jurisdictions that continue to adhere to the old way of doing business.”

Listen as Gascón talks about criminal justice reform, policing, and much more.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 222: Los Angeles DA George Gascón

Freddie Gray was one of the seminal police killings when it occurred in Baltimore in 2016, leading to protests and riots and calls for reform.  The officers were charged with murder by SAO Marilyn Mosby, but not of them were convicted.

Justine Barron in her book “They Killed Freddie Gray” following the work of her podcast, after sifting through thousands of documents and interviewing witnesses, concludes that the State Attorney and Media got the narrative and the killing completely wrong.

The forward to her book notes, “The media just as uncritically turned an enarmored eye to State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who emerged as a hero on the national stage, having pressed charges against six officers in the death of Gray.”

It added, “What the media failed to take notice of was that these superficially valiant prosecutions were based on the same false narrative the Baltimore City Police Department itself was hoping everyone would buy into” – and they did – “hook, line, and sinker.” 

The rough ride narrative, Barron debunks and arguing instead that police likely killed Gray when they threw him head first into the van at Stop 2.
In her speech, Mosby issued a call for peace – and by announcing the prosecution, she stopped the protests and riots in their tracks – what Barrone argues was her actual goal.

She came to believe that the prosecution “was not so much accountability as the manufacturing of consent and silencing of dissent.”

Listen as Barron joins Everyday Injustice to discussion her book and its implications for police reform.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 223: They Killed Freddie Gray

This week on Everyday Injustice we have Caroline Isaacs, the Executive Director of Just Communities Arizona.

JCA is an abolitionist organization that seeks to end the current punishment system and its emphasis on criminalization, surveillance, and mass incarceration.

They envision a world in which prisons and jails are unnecessary.
“We believe those directly impacted by the current punishment system are central to this discussion and must be leaders in the movement to end mass incarceration,” they explain.

They add, “We believe local communities know best how to create safety and wellbeing for themselves; they should have agency in decisions that impact their lives, and these efforts should be fully supported and funded.”

Listen as Caroline Isaacs discusses what that means and that can be accomplished.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 224: Caroline Isaacs Discusses Prison Abolition

This week on Everyday Injustice, we are joined by Jason Smith, Executive Director of the Michigan Center for Youth Justice.

The Michigan Center for Youth Justice (MCYJ) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing policies and practices that reduce confinement and support trauma-informed, racially equitable, socio-economically and culturally responsive, community-based solutions for Michigan’s justice-involved children, youth and young adults.

Listen as Jason Smith discusses their current legislative advocacy and projects, and the progress that has been made on age appropriate services.

Jason Smith AudioEveryday Injustice Podcast Episode 225: Michigan Center for Youth Justice

Having survived multiple recall attempts in his first term, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón officially launched his reelection in October at the SEIU Local 2015 office in front of a room full of supporters – many of them health care workers.

The DA noted his mother, an immigrant from Cuba often had to toil, working for below minimum wages.

That has translated into a commitment to fight for working people.

“We don’t talk about one of the biggest crimes in our history,” he explained.  “It’s a theft of wages.  A theft of labor.  Billions of dollars each and every year – which impacts all of us by the way, because when you steal from workers, you’re stealing from the tax base of our community. You’re stealing from families. You are taking food away from babies. You are often precluding people from having a roof over their heads.”

Gascón also noted that despite the decline in crime, he is being attacked for being soft on crime.

He said, “I find it interesting when Republicans like Ron Desante and fellow presidential run also out on TV and says, while he’s in la, he talks about how crime is out proportion here and how burglars are now being prosecuted and organized retail theft because of George Gascón.”

He said one of his staffer Googled organized retail theft in Florida.

“The first thing that pops up is videos of people storming stores in Miami and other parts of Florida. And then we went to Houston and we looked at some other southern cities. And guess what? It’s a national problem,” he said.

He noted that they aren’t pointing this out because it doesn’t fit their narrative.

He said, “We need to make sure that we do not embrace the narrative that the Republicans have been using for the last 40 years. You can go back to Nixon when we were talking about the war on drugs and the war on crime. And it’s the same thing. And it cycles over and over and over again. Even though today as a nation, we have historically some of the lowest numbers of crime that we’ve ever had.”

He added, “Now we’re seeing crime going down at a very rapid rate and hopefully soon approaching pre pandemic times. And some people say, well, we don’t believe those numbers.”

Gascón pushed back noting that those are the numbers from LAPD and the Sheriff’s Department.

“You believe those numbers two years ago. Why don’t you believe it today? We don’t make the numbers,” he continued.  He added, “But you know what it really tells us is that we can have reform and safety.”

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 226: George Gascón Discusses Crime in LA

This week on Everyday Injustice, we talk with Dr. Paul Elam, chief strategy officer at the Michigan Public Health Institute & leads Advance Peace.

There is increasingly an understanding that issues such as gun violence cannot simply be addressed in the criminal legal system and that we cannot arrest our way out of the problem.

Elam discusses how gun violence is a public health issue and discusses the problem of cyclical gun violence and how other approaches can start to address this public health problem.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 227: Public Health and Gun Violence

This week on Everyday Injustice Jarrett Adams – himself exonerated of a wrongful conviction – is seeking to undo a massive injustice in Virginia.

Despite the fact that a jury found Terrence Richardson and Ferrone Claiborne not guilty of murder, a judge was able to sentence them to life in prison.  They have currently spent 22 years behind bars, but Jarrett Adams is trying to free them, having recently argued before the Virginia Supreme Court.

“The Court’s decision to sentence Terrence and Ferrone to life in prison despite being found not guilty robbed due process of its very meaning,” said Jarrett Adams.  “The U.S. Supreme Court must do away with its ruling in U.S. v Watts, which gives a judge the discretion to make a jury’s finding meaningless, and prevent further miscarriages of justice from occurring like the one we see in this case.”

Listen to Adams describing this remarkable and unthinkable injustice in the criminal legal system.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 228: Exonerated Attorney Seeks to Undo Massive Injustice

Stephanie Marudas and Emily Previti have joined forces to launch the podcast series, Obscured.

Marudas is the founder of Kouvenda Media and co-creator of Obscured. Prior to founding Kouvenda Media, she reported for WYPR in Baltimore and WHYY in Philadelphia.

Previti is executive editor and co-creator of Obscured. Before joining Kouvenda Media, she covered voting rights and election administration for NPR affiliate WITF and The GroundTruth Project during 2019-2021.

Listen as Marudas and Previti talk about the need for hard-hitting journalism projects focusing on under-reported topics and coverage gaps.

They also explained what the series looks like and why they chose law enforcement trauma survivors as the subject for the first series of Obscured.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 229: Obscured Survivors of Police Violence

It is described as: “A riveting and heart-wrenching story of violence, grief and the American justice system, exploring the systemic issues that perpetuate gang participation in one of the wealthiest cities in the country, through the story of one teenager.”

Professor Laurence Ralph, tells the story of Sito, a relative of his and the tragedy of his life - first wrongly accused of murder and then five years later, the brother of the slain teen exacts his revenge.

Listen as Professor Ralph describes this tragic account but also how he relates it to the overall tragedy and the need for transformational reform of the justice system.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode #230: Laurence Ralph and the Tragedy of Sito

This week on Everyday Injustice, we talk with Angie Gordon.  Angie is a 39-year-old trans woman serving a 48-years-to-life sentence in the state of California. 

Convicted of multiple violent felonies in 2009; so, in April of 2024 she will have served fifteen years of her sentence.

Before coming to prison, Angie was a high school dropout, but since her incarceration, she has devoted her time to furthering her education. She received her GED in 2013, completed multiple associate degrees in 2019, and in 2022 was part of the first graduating class in the Transforming Outcomes Project at Sacramento State, a bachelor's level program in communication studies offered to incarcerated students in California prisons. 

Despite the limited degree tracks available to incarcerated students, Angie also pursued an autodidactic trajectory in post-graduate level scholarship, focusing her attention on transgender studies, corrections, and queer criminology.

A Department of Justice study found that, nationally, trans individuals report having been the victims of sexual assault while incarcerated at a rate ten times higher than non-trans prisoners.

A study conducted in California prisons found that trans women housed in male-designated facilities report having been the victims of sexual assault while incarcerated at a rate thirteen times higher than male prisoners.

A congressional study found that prison rape often goes unreported, and that "most prison staff are not adequately trained or prepared to prevent, report or treat sexual assaults."

In 2013, Carman Guerrero, a trans woman incarcerated at Kern Valley State Prison, was murdered by her cellmate only nine hours after she was forced into the cell with her killer by prison staff against her will.

In 2017 at Valley State Prison, an incarcerated trans woman was found dead in her cell, a pencil lodged into her ear and neck; subsequently, the local district attorney's office declined to pursue the case as a murder, claiming a lack of sufficient evidence. 

Listen as Angie Gordon explains why she chose to transition and why she chose to remain at a male prison.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 131: The Life of an Incarcerated Transgender Woman

One of the problems with mass incarceration is that we end up incarcerating people who at one point committed violent and dangerous crimes long past the point at which they are no longer a danger to society.

The case of Arturo Luna is instructive, raised in a tough environment, he committed crimes at a young age.  But now has become a mentor, become educated is a completely different person from the one who entered prison.

Listen as he tells an amazing first hand account of transformation and redemption.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 232: The Story of Arturo Luna

When Michael Owens was an angry and traumatized young man, he committed a horrible crime and was sentenced to Life Without Parole (LWOP).  For a long time, while in prison, he continued to engage in self-destructive behavior.

But even while he has no guarantee he will ever see the outside of a prison again, Michael has been able to turn his life around.  He has gotten education while behind bars.  He has become a mentor to younger incarcerated people but also youths on the outside in danger of making the same mistakes he has.

Listen to a remarkable story about transformation and rehabilitation by a man condemned to die in prison.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 233: What Rehab Means For Someone Serving LWOP

Shannon Bohrer, served 27 years in the Marland State Police – but it was a case where he was an investigator that caused him to re-examine the criminal legal system.

He wrote the book Judicial Soup which “examines the need for criminal justice reforms through a case in which an innocent person was found guilty of a crime he did not commit.”

As his book explains, “The story is simple, yet the judicial process evolved into a complex event. It is a crime story that featured too many players, some with individual motives, shoddy police work, prosecutors who would say anything to win, and a judge who seemed to ignore evidence that did not fit his mental model of the case. If this were a novel, no one would believe it.”

The book addresses the larger need for criminal justice reform – listen as Shannon Bohrer describes his experience and what he learned through his involvement in this case.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 234:  One Man’s Witnessing of a Wrongful Conviction

Buta Biberai was elected last year as Commonwealth Attorney in Loudon County Virginia.  She ran as the progressive reformer and became the first new top prosecutor in 16 years. 

Criminal justice reform looks a bit different in suburban Virginia, what has traditionally been more red but has over time shifted.

We talk about the issues and challenges of reform in Virginia and it how it differs from other places that we have spoken about.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 52 - Virginia Prosecutor Buta Biberaj

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

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

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