70 Million: An Effort to Hold Prosecutors Accountable
Making Contact · 70 Million: An Effort to Hold Prosecutors Accountable Prosecutors hold immense power in the criminal justice system. They decide who to charge with what crime, when to offer deals, what sentences to recommend, and much more. Aside from legal statutes, ethical and constitutional rules govern what prosecutors can and cannot do. But a system that incentivizes bringing criminal cases to trial—and winning them—can...
70 Million: Where Juvenile Detention Looks More Like Hanging Out
Making Contact · 70 Million: Where Juvenile Detention Looks More Like Hanging Out There’s a place in rural St. Johns, Arizona, where teens who have encounters with officers of the law can play pool, make music, and get mentored instead of going to jail. It’s called The Loft, and it’s the brainchild of a judge who wanted to save the county hundreds of millions of dollars and divert young people towards the support many were not...
70 Million: How Black Women Are Rightfully “Taking Seats at the Table”
Making Contact · 70 Million: How Black Women Are Rightfully “Taking Seats at the Table” Nearly one in two Black women in the US have a loved one who has been impacted by our prison system. Many become de facto civilian experts as a result. Some rise to lead as catalysts for change. And now, scores of Black women are joining the ranks—as officers of the court, police, and judges—to manage and advance a system that has had such...
September 11th 20 Years Later: Surveillance, Policing, and Torture
Making Contact · September 11th 20 Years Later: Surveillance, Policing, and Torture September 11th, 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. In today’s program, we turn our attention not to the tragedy of 9/11 itself, but to 9/11 as an inflection point in U.S. culture and policy in two areas: domestic surveillance in the form of fusion centers, and the government and public regard of the use of...
70 Million: A Special Court Keeping Native Americans out of Jail
Making Contact · 70 Million: A Special Court Keeping Native Americans out of Jail Kirsten made her way out of jail and addiction with the help of a special court on the Penobscot Nation reservation in Maine. There, culture and justice work together to bypass traditional punitive measures for more restorative ones. Reporter Lisa Bartfai visits the Healing to Wellness Court to see how it all works. Image Caption: Courtroom chairs...
Movement Building and Transnational Freedom Struggles
Making Contact · Movement Building and Transnational Freedom Struggles Amid national outrage over the police killing of George Floyd in May of 2020, and other police-shootings of Black people, the movement to “defund the police” became a rallying cry to reimagine our approach to public safety. In this show, we’ll hear from renowned scholars about how we can build a global movement to spark lasting change or...
