Charged | A True Punishment Story

We check in with Tarari and others as they complete their time in the diversion program and look toward their futures. We hear from the people inside the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office about their plans to reshape their slice of the criminal justice system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A standalone episode about one of the voices featured in our series who is introduced to listeners as an expert but who goes through his own harrowing experience with the system when he’s sent to Rikers a few days shy of completing his parole. We document his ordeal and its surprising aftermath. This episode is brought to you by SendPro Online from Pitney Bowes. For a free trial plus a free scale, go to pb.com/CHARGED. Additional music for this episode by Lee Rosevere.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tarari enters a diversion program which saves him from jail but puts his life — and the lives of other defendants like him — on a knife’s edge. We hear from social workers who run the program about the many ethical quandaries of trying to help their clients inside of a system built to punish them.  This episode is brought to you by Gobble. Get 6 meals for just $36, plus free shipping, by visiting gobble.com/charged. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tarari faces a very long prison sentence before he’s offered the chance at mercy — with many strings attached. An episode from Eric’s past comes back to haunt him as he campaigns for D.A. and thinks through the consequences of extending mercy to people like Tarari. Additional music for this episode by Lee Rosevere.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As his family and friends hustle to come up with his bail money, Tarari ends up at one of the most infamous jails in the country: Rikers Island. Eric runs for his own term as district attorney just as the demands to close Rikers heat up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a free preview of a Slate Plus bonus episode of Charged. Only Slate Plus members get an additional episode of Charged every week, diving deeper into the legal issues discussed on the show. To listen to the rest of the bonus episodes this season, join Slate Plus at slate.com/charged. In this first bonus episode of Charged, host Emily Bazelon talks to producers Veralyn Williams and Alvin Melathe. Williams worked with Bazelon in the early stages of the podcast, and then Melathe took over a few months in. They discuss what it’s like being producers of color, and the racial nuances of making a podcast about crime and punishment in New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The mayor of New York deals with a big political problem by creating a new court in Brooklyn. Two men, born 25 years and a few blocks apart in Brooklyn, take entirely different paths to meet at that court—one as a defendant and the other as the district attorney.  This episode is sponsored by Audible. Start listening with a 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook plus two Audible Originals are free. Visit audible.com/CHARGED or text CHARGED to 500-500 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 1 of Slate Presents brought you the story of Ruby Ridge, and Season 2 brings you a fight to transform one big-city justice system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices