Just Justice

S4E4: Criminalized Survival: Justine van der Leun on Abuse, Imprisonment, and Unreasonable Women

What happens when a woman’s survival is treated as a crime?
In this episode of Just Justice, Jessica Henry speaks with award-winning journalist Justine van der Leun about her new book, Unreasonable Women: Three Stories of Violence, Imprisonment, and Extraordinary Survival. Drawing on seven years of reporting and more than 1,000 accounts from incarcerated women, van der Leun examines how the criminal legal system responds when women commit acts of violence against those who harmed them in order to survive.
Together, they discuss criminalized survival, the limits of self-defense law, trauma, punishment, and the stories that are too often missing from public conversations about women convicted of homicide. This episode includes discussion of physical and sexual violence.
For more about Justine van der Leun and to purchase her new book, Unreasonable Women, go to https://www.justinevdl.com/.
For more about Jessica Henry, go to https://jessicahenryjustice.com/ or join her on Substack at https://jessicahenryjustice.substack.com/. 
Production Editor: Kaz Araki

S4E3: From Sing Sing to Columbia University: Prison Education, the Second Look Act, and Prison Conditions

After nearly 25 years in New York prisons, Mujahideen Muhammad, MPS came home in 2024 and went straight to work on criminal justice reform. In this episode of Just Justice, he talks with host Jessica Henry about the New York Second Look Act, how prison education transformed his life at Sing Sing, the book club he built around James Garbarino's Miller's Children, and the humanitarian crisis in New York's prisons — including the death of Robert Brooks and the correctional officers' strike.Now a research assistant at the Columbia University Center for Justice and co-founder of the nonprofit Pillars of Promise, Mujahideen makes the case for re-sentencing reform, second chances, and elevating the voices of incarcerated people.
For more about Mujahadeen and his work at Columbia: https://centerforjustice.columbia.edu/people/mujahideen-muhammad
For more about Pillars of Promise: https://www.thepillarsofpromise.com/
For more about Jessica Henry, go to https://jessicahenryjustice.com/ or join her on Substack at https://jessicahenryjustice.substack.com/. 
Production Editor: Kaz Araki
 

S4E2: Iris Eytan on Prosecutorial Misconduct, Wrongful Convictions, and Immunity

In this episode of Just Justice, Jessica Henry sits down with Iris Eytan, founder of Protect Ethical Prosecutors (PEP), to examine prosecutorial misconduct and why it so rarely leads to consequences. Prosecutors hold more power than almost anyone in the American criminal legal system, yet broad legal immunity often shields them even after serious misconduct and ethical violations. Drawing on years of criminal defense experience, Eytan explains how that unchecked authority contributes to wrongful convictions, why prosecutors' offices resist transparency, and what prosecutorial accountability could realistically look like. Along the way, they dig into what prosecutorial misconduct looks like in practice, how absolute and qualified immunity protect prosecutors from civil liability, the institutional barriers that keep this misconduct hidden from public view -- and what can be done about it.
Learn more about Iris Eytan and PEP at https://protectethicalprosecutors.org/.
Connect with Jessica Henry at jessicahenryjustice.com.
If you enjoy this show, please consider leaving a rating and a review on Apple podcasts. It helps other people find the show! Thanks for all you do. 

S4E1: A Beautiful Pain: Accountability and Transformation with Damon "Sharuka" Venable

On this episode of Just Justice, Damon "Sharuka" Venable, Community Affairs and Policy Specialist with the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender, shares his journey from a Newark childhood marked by poverty and street violence to spending 35 years in prison before being granted parole on his first attempt. Drawing from his memoir, A Beautiful Pain, Sharuka reflects on accountability, survival, education, and the long process of personal transformation behind prison walls. He also explains why he believes that people must be seen as more than the worst thing they have ever done.
 
Links: 
You can order Sharuka's memoir, A Beautiful Pain, here: https://transformativereentry.com/
 
For more about Jessica Henry, go to jessicahenryjustice@gmail.com. Or sign up for her newsletter at https://jessicahenryjustice.substack.com/subscribe.
 
Production Editor: Kaz Araki

Second Chance Month: A Time to Look Back

S3E13: Farming for Justice, with Charles Rosen

In this episode of Just Justice, Jessica Henry speaks with Charles Rosen, founder of Ironbound Farm, about an unusual approach to justice: combining regenerative farming with second-chance employment. Charles shares what he’s learned from hiring people returning from prison, why jobs alone often aren’t enough, and how systems like parole can still derail successful reentry. Drawing on lessons from agriculture, he explores "regenerative justice," based on the belief that repairing people, communities, and even the land requires time, dignity, and connection.Join us for a conversation that highlights both the promise and the challenges of farming for justice. 
To learn more about Ironbound Farm and Ciderhouse (including how to visit the farm), go to https://www.ironboundhardcider.com/.
To watch Charles' TedTalk where he explains the connection between regenerative farming and regenerative justice, go to: https://www.ted.com/talks/charles_rosen_regenerative_agriculture_as_a_model_for_urban_renewal.
To learn more about Jessica Henry, subscribe to her free substack "All Things Justice" or visit her website at jessicahenryjustice.com.
Production Editor: Kaz Araki

S3E12: Breaking Good, with author Nikki Mammano

Nikki Mammano is the author of Breaking Good, a fast-paced memoir that traces her journey from suburban New Jersey to the drug underworld of Waikiki and back again, through addiction, arrest, prison, and ultimately recovery. Our conversation is both poignant and unexpectedly funny as we explore trauma and second chances in our criminal justice system. Who gets imprisoned and who receives grace? What is prison really like? What does it take to rebuild a life after you’ve been labeled by the system? This is an episode you won't want to miss! 
To learn more about Nikki Mammano (and for links to her fabulous book) go to: https://www.nikkimammano.com/.
To learn more about RYSE Hawaii, go to Rysehawaii.org.
For more about Jessica Henry, go to jessicahenryjustice.com. 
Production Editor: Kaz Araki
 

S3E11: Death by Incarceration: Felix Rosado on Life Sentences and Restorative Justice

S3E11: Death by Incarceration: Felix Rosado on Life Sentences and Restorative Justice
Sentenced to life without parole at 18, Felix Rosado spent nearly 27 years in prison before his sentence was commuted. In this episode of Just Justice, Felix reflects on the moment he realized what a life sentence truly meant, what's wrong with "death by incarceration,"  and how restorative justice transformed his understanding of accountability and change. Now a restorative justice practitioner and educator, Felix discusses healing, responsibility, and why true justice must go beyond punishment to repair harm and rebuild relationships.
For more information about Let's Circle Up, go to: https://www.letscircleup.org/our-history
To get your copy of Justice From the Inside Up: A Restorative Justice Education Facilitator's Manual, by Felix Rosdao, go to https://livingjusticepress.org/product/justice-from-the-inside-up/.
For more about Jessica Henry, go to her website at jessicahenryjustce.com.
Production Editor: Kaz Araki

S3E10: Sentenced to Life Without Parole as a Child, with April Barber-Scales

In this episode of Just Justice, host Jessica Henry speaks with April Barber-Scales, who was sentenced to life without parole in 1991 as a frightened, pregnant teenager.  After more than thirty years in prison, April received a rare commutation in 2022 from North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. Since her release, April has devoted herself to advocating for people in prison and challenging extreme sentencing practices. She is the founder of the nonprofit Fenced In: Fighting For Freedom Advocacy and author of multiple books, including her memoir of the same name. In this moving episode, April shares her personal experiences if incarceration, reflects on the lasting impact of extreme sentences on children, and makes a powerful case for a justice system that leaves room for dignity, accountability and second chances.
To learn more about April Barber-Scales, her writing, and Fenced In: Fighting For Freedom Advocacy, visit to https://aprilbarberscales.com
To learn more Jessica Henry, visit https://jessicahenryjustice.com
Audio mixing by Kaz Araki.
 

S3E9: Writing His Way Out: Emile Suotonye DeWeaver on Abolition and Imagination

In this powerful episode of Just Justice, writer, organizer, and abolitionist Emile Suotonye DeWeaver, author of Ghosts in the Criminal Justice Machine: Reform, White Supremacy, and an Abolitionist Future, draws on more than two decades of incarceration to offer a deeply personal and sharply analytical critique of the U.S. criminal legal system, along with a bold vision for what justice could look like beyond prisons. Emile reflects on how writing quite literally helped secure his release, why his story is inseparable from the collective wisdom of people still inside the walls, and what an abolitionist future demands of our imagination.
To learn more about Emilie's work, go to Re:Frame at https://www.reframeconsults.com/about-emile
Pick up your copy of Ghosts in the Criminal Justice Machine here.
To learn more about Jessica Henry, go to www.jessicahenryjustice.com.
Audio mixing by Kaz Araki