Just Justice

S1E20: Meet Ruth Greenberg, the Massachusetts Mama of Medical Parole

Ruth Greenberg has been called the Massachusetts mama of medical parole. As a trail blazer and a defense lawyer, Ruth has devoted her extensive career to fighting on behalf of the poor and the incarcerated. On this episode of Just Justice, Ruth tells us about her leading role in the push for compassionate release in Massachusetts, and shares stories about the successful fight against life without parole for people under the age of 21 in her state.
To learn more about Ruth and her work:
POV: Governor Baker Should Not Be Afraid to Set Dying Prisoners Free, https://www.bu.edu/articles/2019/pov-governor-baker-should-not-be-afraid-to-set-dying-prisoners-free-2/
Cement Head’s last fight: He was denied parole six times — until he was about to become a Covid-19 statistic, https://www.statnews.com/2021/04/14/deathbed-double-standard-its-hard-to-get-released-on-medical-parole-unless-you-have-covid19/
Massachusetts high court rules younger adults cannot be sentenced to life without parole, https://whdh.com/news/massachusetts-high-court-rules-younger-adults-cannot-be-sentenced-to-life-without-parole/Learn more about Jessica Henry at www.jessicahenryjustice.com

S1E19: A Matter of Life, with Dr. Ashley Nellis, Sentencing Scholar

This week on Just Justice, we’re taking a hard look at life sentences in America—a country where one in six incarcerated people is serving life behind bars. That’s nearly 200,000 individuals, making the U.S. one of the most punitive nations in the world. Host Jessica Henry sits down with Dr. Ashley Nellis, a leading sentencing expert and soon-to-be Assistant Professor at American University’s School of Public Affairs. Together, we unpack the findings of Ashley's latest "lifer census"—who’s serving life, for what crimes, and why it matters. Plus, Ashley makes a bold call: end life sentences altogether. Tune in for a powerful conversation about justice, reform, and the future of sentencing in America.
 
Learn More: 
Learn more about Dr. Ashley Nellis at her website, www.ashleynellis.com
Read the report:  A Matter of Life: the Scope and Impact of Life and Long Term Imprisonment in the United States
 
Learn more about Jessica Henry at www.jessicahenryjustice.com

S1E18: Restorative Justice: A Smart Alternative to Prison, with Danielle Sered, founder and director of Common Justice

Danielle Sered is the founder and director of Common Justice, the first alternatives-to-incarceration and victim-service program in the United States.  Danielle is also a violent crime survivor and author of the award-winning book, Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair. In this episode of Just Justice, Danielle talks about the power of restorative justice to help survivors heal from violent crime, what crime survivors say they want and need, and her view that prison is not the best way to bring accountability and to prevent future crimes.
 
Learn More: 
About Danielle Sered's impactful work: 
About Common Justice: https://commonjustice.org/
To find Danielle's excellent book, Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair
 
About your host, Jessica Henry: 
Website: http://jessicahenryjustice.com/ 
Subscribe to monthly newsletter
Watch my TEDx talk No-Crime Wrongful Convictions here.

S1EP17: The Cruel World of Compassionate Release, with Mary Price, General Counsel of FAMM

What happens to people in prison who face terminal illnesses? Or develop dementia? Or who are just very old? Must they die alone in prison? Or should they be released to spend their final days at home? How do we make that happen? In this episode of Just Justice, Mary Price, General Counsel of FAMM, walks us through the complex and often cruel world of compassionate release. FAMM has led the fight for better and more effective compassionate release policies for the elderly and infirm, and Mary has been at the forefront of that movement. Mary has testified before the U.S. Sentencing Commission, appeared on PBS NewsHour, NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and the New York Times, among other major national news outlets. She is the author of Everywhere and Nowhere : Compassionate Release in the States (2018). Join us on this informative and sometimes heartbreaking episode of Just Justice. 
 
For more information about Mary Price, FAMM, and her work on compassionate release:
You can learn more about Mary Price: https://famm.org/team/mary-price/
You can read her excellent report Everywhere and Nowhere: Compassionate Release in the States
To see how your state ranks in compassionate release practices, go to: FAMM's Compassionate Release Report Cards: Grading the States
 
For more information about Jessica Henry, go to her website at: http://jessicahenryjustice.com/ 

S1EP16: The False Promise of Criminal Legal Reform, with Eve Hanan, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research at UNLV School of Law

Eve Hanan wrote a law review article called Terror and Tenderness in Criminal Law that blew my mind. She makes the argument that opportunities for leniency in the criminal legal system -- parole, clemency, compassionate release -- seduce us into believing the system is just and merciful, when in reality, the system is far too harsh for far too many. She even takes on the idea of hope and suggests that hope is a distraction from the challenges of our system and the path toward real and meaningful reform. I hope you'll enjoy listening to this conversation as much as I enjoyed having it. 
Episode Links:To learn more about Eve Hanan: https://law.unlv.edu/faculty/eve-hananTo read her excellent law review article Terror and Tenderness in Criminal Law: https://cardozolawreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/HANAN.45.2.4_WEB-1.pdf
To learn more about Jessica Henry go to www.jessicahenryjustice.com

S1EP15: Prosecution Conviction Integrity Units (CIUs) and Wrongful Convictions, with Marissa Bluestine, former innocence lawyer and Assistant Director of the Quattrone Center

This week on Just Justice we talk with Marissa Bluestine, Assistant Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Marissa is a former innocence lawyer and one of the nation's leading experts on Conviction Integrity Units (CIUs). CIUs are specialized units within prosecutor offices that review convictions with strong claims of actual innocence. Marissa guides us through the work of CIUs to identify wrongful convictions and exonerate the innocent, and gives us an insider perspective on what works and what doesn't. Join us for this fascinating episode.
To learn more about Marissa Bluestine and the work of the Quattrone Center:Marissa Bluestine: https://www.law.upenn.edu/faculty/mbluQuattrone Center: https://www.law.upenn.edu/institutes/quattronecenter/
To learn more about CIUs:Conviction Review Unit: a National Perspective (2016) https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/5522-cru-final (report by the Quattrone Center)
To learn more about Jessica Henry:Website: http://jessicahenryjustice.com/ Watch her TEDx talk No-Crime Wrongful Convictions here.Subscribe to her newsletterLearn more about her award-winning book Smoke but No Fire

S1EP14: Unpacking the Pardon Process with Law Professor and National Clemency Expert Rachel Barkow

This week on Just Justice we peel back the curtain on the inner workings of the federal clemency process with law professor Rachel Barkow, a nationally-recognized expert in the field. Professor Barkow walks us through the stunningly complex and inefficient pardon application process, rates  Presidents Obama, Biden and first-term Trump in their pardon efforts, and speculates about what we might expect from a second-term Trump administration.  
 
To learn more about Professor Rachel Barkow: 
Go to her faculty profile at https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.biography&personid=20660
 
Link to Prisoners of Politics: Breaking the Cycle of Mass Incarceration: https://www.amazon.com/Prisoners-Politics-Breaking-Cycle-Incarceration/dp/0674919238
 
Link to her forthcoming book (out in March) Justice Abandoned: How the Supreme Court Ignored the Constitution and Enabled Mass Incarceration:  https://www.amazon.com/Justice-Abandoned-Supreme-Constitution-Incarceration/dp/067429422X/ref=sr_1_2?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kUKG1SWXX95ejgcdbzYq1Ntmoyu8zP4D8T7GzRBBbIc.LJ3jH0pxb-v-3pyTU5ekGkDNxWd45WOomscPcb6OdfM&dib_tag=se&qid=1739897708&refinements=p_27%3ARachel+Elise+Barkow&s=books&sr=1-2
 
To learn more about Jessica Henry:
Website: http://jessicahenryjustice.com/ 
Subscribe to newsletter
Watch my TEDx talk No-Crime Wrongful Convictions here.
Learn more about my award-winning book Smoke but No Fire

S1EP13: Kelly Savage-Rodriguez, A Survivor

Kelly Savage-Rodriguez defines survivor. She survived years of abuse as a child and later extreme domestic violence in her marriage. She survived being criminally prosecuted and convicted in 1998, along with her abusive husband, for the murder of her son -- a crime she did not commit or intend. She survived years in a California prison under a life without parole sentence, transforming her pain into powerful choices. And she survived -- and is thriving -- after her sentence was commuted by California Governor Brown in December 2017. Join us for this powerful episode of Just Justice, as we walk with Kelly through her story. Warning: This episode contains reference to violence, child loss and trauma.  
 
To Learn More About Kelly Savage-Rodiguez:
About her work at DropLWOP:  https://droplwop.com/kelly-savage-rodriguez/
About her work at the Human Rights Watch, National LWOP Leadership Council: https://www.beyondlwop.org/national-lwop-leadership-council/kelly-savage-rodriguez/
About the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, https://womenprisoners.org/contact/
 
To Learn More About Jessica Henry
Website: http://jessicahenryjustice.com/ 
Subscribe to newsletter
Watch her TEDx talk No-Crime Wrongful Convictions here.
Learn more about her award-winning book Smoke but No Fire: Convicting the Innocent of Crimes that Never Happened

S1EP12: Beyond Guilt, with Steve Zeidman, Co-Director of the Second Look Project

Steve Zeidman is a criminal defense hero who has spent his entire career fighting for people with nowhere else to turn. In this episode, Steve walks us through some of his most compelling efforts to gain freedom for people who would otherwise spend their lives in prison. Steve's zealous advocacy for second chances will leave you inspired by his work and horrified by a criminal legal system that seems to prioritize finality over humanity and justice.
 
For more about Steve Zeidman:
To learn more about the Second Look Project: Beyond Guilt: https://www.law.cuny.edu/secondlookproject/about-us/
To read Professor Zeidman's most recent op-ed in the New Yotk Times: Giving Prisoners A Second Chance, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/opinion/prisoners-second-chance.html
To find out more about his work at the Prisoner's Legal Services: https://plsny.org/team/prof-steven-zeidman/
 
For more about Jessica Henry:
Website: http://jessicahenryjustice.com/ 
TEDx talk No-Crime Wrongful Convictions here.
Subscribe to newsletter
Learn more about her award-winning book Smoke but No Fire

S1EP11: After a Brutal Assault, Dina Windle Fights for Grace and Mercy

One night, in November 1994, Dina Windle was coming from law school in Little Rock, Arkansas when she was abducted and raped. The man who assaulted her was sentenced to die for a different rape and murder. In this episode of Just Justice, Dina shares the story of her assault, the trial and its aftermath, and how she came to be an advocate for the man who caused her such harm. Small in stature, huge in heart and compassion, Dina Windle is Chief Investigator at the NJ Office of the Public Defender. Dina also serves on the Board of Journey of Hope... From Violence to Healing, a nonprofit organization led by family members of murder victims that works to end the death penalty and calls for more constructive responses to violent crimes. Warning: this episode includes discussion of sexual assault and violence, and may not be appropriate for all listeners.