Podcast appearances and mentions of Jon Katz

Send us a textFairfax criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz knows that acquittals are great and often exhilarating, but trials can also bring risks. On this Beat the Prosecution episode, Jon Katz talks on his own about the art of obtaining favorable plea or settlement deals, which need to be backed up by the threat and strength of trial readiness. Settlements can only be earned, but are never owed to a criminal defendant.  Many Virginia criminal and DUI defendants expect to be offered a plea deal, and want it to be a desirable plea deal. However, nothing in the law requires a Virginia assistant commonwealth's attorney (prosecutor) to make a plea offer, nor for the accused to do anything other than proceed to trial. Jon Katz's parallel blog entry on this subject illustrates one of his successful plea negotiations that can be of help to you as a criminal defendant and your Virginia criminal defense attorney. With this settlement, we started out with a Virginia DUI / driving under the influence of alcohol prosecution alleging a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over 0.20, which carries a mandatory ten days in jail. Jon reached an impasse with the prosecutor about going lower than the mandatory minimum five days in jail for a reduced BAC in the 0.15-0.20 range.Jon asked the prosecutor if he had read Roger Fisher's and William Ury's Getting to Yes on negotiated settlements, which emphasizes negotiating on goals versus positions. The impasse continued. Jon transcended the impasse by standing up, calling out the names of the two lead police officers in the case, telling them the great self improvement his client had pursued,  explained why the defendant's livelihood was at stake from the prosecutor's plea offer, and asked them for ideas on how this case could be settled without active jail. Without missing a beat, the arresting officer suggested three years of the ignition interlock device. The prosecutor went along with that, adding to complete forty-five community service hours...Fairfax criminal lawyer Jon Katz pursues your best defense against Virginia criminal & DUI prosecutions. Call us at 703-383-1100 or Info@KatzJustice.com to obtain your free in-person confidential consultation with Jon about your court-pending prosecution.This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

If you're a pet lover, it's natural to want your fur baby to be around forever. Even the thought of losing your animal best friend--a source of constant companionship, unconditional love, and joy--can be tough. And when that end does come, the pain can be truly heart wrenching and even immobilizing. From personal and professional experience, I've found that the loss of a pet--and the grieving process that follows--can be one of life's most devastating and hard-to-move-on-from events. In truth, there is something so indescribably sacred and precious about the human and pet companion bond that our hearts--so stuck in grief--can find it difficult to move on. Yet life calls us to move forward, to find peace, and, in time, maybe even a new friend to care for and love. Join Dr. Carla and NYT bestselling author and pet grief specialist, Jon Katz, who will support us in understanding and healing from pet loss. Topics discussed include dogs, pets, companionship, pet loss, death, support animals, emotional support, loss, grief, cancer, dying, vets, veterinarians, psychotherapy, farms, farm animals, anthropomorphism, connection, love, compassion, awareness, cycle of life, relationships, kindness, perspective, and pain.Please note that this episode contains sensitive material; listener discretion is advised.Emergency Assistance Note: If you or someone you know needs immediate support, please call your emergency services. In the US, 24/7 help is available by calling "911," "988" (Suicide and Crisis Hotline), or SAMSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). Support/informational links are in the show notes.Connect with Dr. Carla Manly:Website: https://www.drcarlamanly.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/drcarlamanly/Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/drcarlamanly/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drcarlamanlyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-marie-manly-8682362b/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.carlamariemanly8543TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr_carla_manlyBooks by Dr. Carla Manly:Joy From Fear: Create the Life of Your Dreams by Making Fear Your Friend Date Smart: Transform Your Relationships and Love FearlesslyAging Joyfully: A Woman's Guide to Optimal Health, Relationships, and Fulfillment for Her 50s and BeyondThe Joy of Imperfect Love: The Art of Creating Healthy, Securely Attached RelationshipsOracle decks by Dr. Carla Manly:EtsyAmazonConnect with Jon Katz:Website: https://www.bedlamfarm.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedlamfarm/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjonkatzYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/katzatbedlamfarm/videosBooks by Jon Katz:Going Home: Finding Peace When Pets DieSoul of a Dog: Reflections on the Spirits of the Animals of Bedlam FarmThe New Work of Dogs: Tending to Life, Love, and Family

Send us a textFairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz knows that it is not radical to protest, but instead is among our rights under the Bill of Rights. As an undergraduate alum of Tufts University, Jon Katz opened his eyes and ears all the more to the plight of Rümeysa Öztürk, who is not known to have written or said anything more radical than the decidedly non-radical op-ed she co-authored with three others in the Tufts  Daily. Ms. Öztürk has a great team of lawyers -- including our interviewee Mahsa Khanbabai -- and she recently won a federal court order to release her from detention while she fights deportation proceedings. The question arises about which lesser known people facing the same plight will be able to pull together the right legal team. Attorney Khanbabai suggests these relevant links: - Senate Judiciary Committee report on immigration detention https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/SENATE%20JUDICIARY%20COMMITTEE%20RANKING%20MEMBER%20REVEALS%20DEVASTATING%20INSIGHTS%20INTO%20ICE%20DETENTION%20IN%20EXCLUSIVE%20SITE%20VISIT.pdf- Justice for Rümeysa Öztürk financial campaign page- Abuse of migrants at detention centers https://www.laaclu.org/en/news/abuse-migrants-rampant-louisiana-ice-centers-report-finds- Deaths in adult detention https://www.aila.org/library/deaths-at-adult-detention-centers. This podcast episode also is available at YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH2sNLkhKH0This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textFairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz knows the importance of reducing not only conviction and sentencing risks in Virginia criminal court, but also to minimize adverse collateral consequences from court outcomes. Jon Katz has interviewed some immigration lawyers on our Beat the Prosecution podcast to address immigration risks from criminal case outcomes. This episode is the first one to have a lawyer tell about risks about traveling outside the United States with a criminal conviction or the equivalent, with Canada being the topic of this episode. Enter Canadian crimmigration attorney Marisa Feil, who tells the harsh realities of being barred from Canada for life for a Virginia DUI conviction, driving under the influence conviction anywhere, even a reckless driving conviction (which does not even need to be wet reckless) and many othe convictions. The bar can be overcome, but why get the bar in the first place if your Fairfax criminal lawyer / Virginia DUI attorney can avoid it? If you as a criminal defendant know or expect you will have a need to travel to Canada, talk with your criminal defense lawyer about how informing the prosecutor and/or judge about your risks for traveling to Canada from your case might be used to your advantage in negotiating for the most favorable possible outcome in your case (ideally not inviolving a conviction) and most favorable possible sentence if you are convicted. Before you make your travel arrangements, you may wish to obtain your FBI criminal record, which is the same database the Canadian immigration authorities use when you arrive at their border or at their airports. This episode is also available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhCcmAnQOBg , at Apple podcasts at https://podcast.beattheprosecution.com/2293867/episodes/17220159 , and Apple podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/winning-by-erasing-borders-marissa-feil-on-entering/id1721413675?i=1000709713616____Fairfax criminal lawyer Jon Katz believes in defending without borders of the physical, mental or thought process kind. For your free in-person confidential consultation with Jon about your court-pending Virginia prosecution, call 703-383-1100, Info@KatzJustice.com and (text) 571-406-7268. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textFairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz strongly dissents from the Trump administration's revoking of the Biden administration's policy of rarely making immigration arrests at courthouses other than for essentially exigent circumstances, lest undocumented people stay away from courthouses when criminal defendants, civil litigants, and witnesses. Separation of powers and federalism also favor no courthouse immigration arrests. "Nobody is above the law" oversimplifies this entire matter, as covered by this podcast episode, with Milwaukee lawyer Stephen Kravit as our guest, to explain the realities over the below-detailed incident involving Judge Hannah Dugan, and how to make systemic courthouse changes to avoid repeats of such incidents. Steve has written here (and continued here) on this matter. A few weeks ago, federal authorities arrested Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan at her own courthouse, leaving her unable to even handle her day's docket, after being charged federally for concealment and obstruction of justice involving an immigration administrative arrest warrant (meaning not issued by a judge) for a defendant in her courtroom, and arranging for him and his lawyer to exit her courtroom from a side door, which went into the same public hallway as her courtroom's main entrance. This episode is also available on YouTube.For more reading on efforts to protect separation of powers and federalism in courthouses, beneficial reading includes a Colorado judge's recent order for no civil immigration enforcement at the courthouse, the New York City Bar's dissent from the prosecution of Judge Dugan, this legal analysis of judges dealing with immigration enforcement at courthouses, this 2018 letter from dozens of former judges against courthouse immigration enforcement, this article (and here) on states that have pushed back against courthouse immigration enforcement, the NYC Legal Aid Society's suggestions on dealing with such enforcement.This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textFairfax criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz derives tremendous inspiration in his courtroom work from teacher Robert Thurman, for his humor, caring realness, great storytelling ability, and certainly his genius in conveying Buddhist, mindfulness and spiritual ideas in a way that draws in the audience. In this episode of Beat the Prosecution, Jon Katz goes beyond what has already been written about Bob, to find out what energizes and inspires him to be the great person and teacher that he is. Bob's story is fascinating, to say the least. In his early twenties or so, he went to Asia, and ultimately became a monastic. He was not even aware of the Beatles when they took America by storm. Then, Bob returned to layperson life, and became a Buddhist scholar and is a major translator of Buddhist texts. He was a professor at Amherst College and then Columbia University. He co-founded Tibet House in New York, along with Richard Gere and Philip Glass. With his wife Nena Thurman, he spearheaded the Menla reatreat center in the Catskills, which is a project of Tibet House. The greatness of the Thurman name expands further with their daughter Uma Thurman. Jon Katz first started reading Bob Thurman's writings and listening to him around fifteen years ago, and met him twelve years ago. Bob is able to tackle even the most challenging and troubling issues, and permeate them with his infectious, compassionate and riveting humor. Bob would be a great trial lawyer; fully, persuasively, and entertainingly engaging the audience, clearing the air of unnecessarily heavy energy, vibrating highly, and distilling the message without needing to rehash unnecessary factoids. Experience Bob's essence, persona and brilliance with his podcast, videos and books at BobThurman.com . Jon recommends visiting and donating to Tibet House, and visiting the Menla Retreat Center. Bob recommends reading his Wisdom is Bliss book Jon also very much likes Bob's Infinite LIfe book. Among the opportunities to meet Robert Thurman is the is the mid-August 2025 Ram Dass Legacy Summer Mountain Retreat in North Carolina. This Beat the Prosecution episode is also playable on YouTube and Apple podcasts.This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textBethesda lawyer Carolyn Elefant is a trailblazing lawyer. Not being cut out to conform to law firm life, she decided thirty years ago to strike out on her own. For decades and counting, she has shared her pearls of wisdom and encouragement -- including in her book Solo By Choice -- for lawyers to consider becoming their own bosses, and to thrive as solo and small firm practitioners. At first, Carolyn's focus on energy law might sound establishmentarian, until you hear here about her repeated representation of the underdog threatened with eminent domain and other actions when they simply want to be left alone. Carolyn lives the motto of helping others to rise as she rises. Fairfax criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz first met Carolyn over twenty years ago, at a few SoloSez small and solo law firm gatherings. Her persona seems lowkey as she pursues winning results for her clients as while balancing that with her personal life, as exemplified by her making the best out of solo law practice by teaming with her husband by sharing to be fully present with their young children, and then seeing Carolyn returning to work after their daughters' bedtime and working until 1:00 a.m. It is no wonder that Carolyn led the path for 777 (including Jon Katz, here signed in at page 25) and 334 small and solo practicing lawyers, respectively to join as amicus parties in the Susman Godfrey and Perkins Coie brave injunctive actions -- when some previously highly-sought-after large corporate law firms to work for have instead buckled down -- pursuing a stop to the Trump Administration's onslaught against those two law firms and other targeted law firms, for starters, to revoke access to federal personnel and to strip their lawyers of security clearances. True to her nature, in this podcast episode, Carolyn gives full credit to the lawyer and assistant team who worked with her on this great effort. This Beat the Prosecution podcast episode also is available visually at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyXS609LUFU&list=PLH1070JxGHYma6D5XevcUS_96cfmLm71AThis podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textFairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz knows that we are at the moment of truth for standing up to Donald Trump's onslaught against non-United States citizens, lawyers and law firms, and higher education. If not, we will face the discomfort of younger generations in the future asking what we did to raise our voices to all this injustice flying from all directions in this period in American government. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is among the groups at the forefront of challenging such a state of affairs, with FIRE having a wide range of the political spectrum among its staff and supporters. Do not let people marginalize your voice by endeavoring to paint you as a lunatic leftie, when such opposition is much more broadbased than that (and our guest Bachir Atallah voted for Donald Trump). Jon Katz deeply thanks lawyer and naturalized United States citizen Bachir Atallah -- who with his wife Jessica Fakhri suffered around a five hours-long detention including being held in cold cells, by Customs and Border Protection officials on their April 13, 2025 drive back from a weekend in Quebec, as Bachir reports -- and his attorney and sister Celine Atallah for addressing the ordeal of Bachir and Jessica, and their current pursuit of justice to put a stop to such mistreatment. Bachir's (nicknamed Basho) story has been covered widely in the news media, and here we go in full depth devoting this entire one hour Beat the Prosecution episode to the story of Bachir and Jessica. Nothing beats hearing Bachir's story through his own words, including his recounting repeatedly being subjected to secondary screening while traveling internationally. If United States citizens are not safe from the mistreatment that Bachir describes, who is? In Beirut at the time of this April 22, 2025 interview, Bachir expresses his real concern about how he will be treated upon his return to the Logan Airport in Boston.  Newsweek reports that "CBP Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham told Newsweek [Bachir Atallah's] accusations are blatantly false and sensationalized..." That conclusory denial comes from someone who was not present while the events unfolded, and an exhaustive Google search and search of the CBP and DHS websites does not reveal any further government statements nor explanations on the matter. The name of this podcast is Beat the Prosecution. A vital part of doing so is to maintain checks and balances among the branches of government, and certainly not to accept the Trump administration's running roughshod over the rights of non-United States citizens (and, here, the rights of U.S. citizen Bachir Atallah), lawyers and law firms, and higher education. This episode is also available in full here on YouTube.This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textFairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz learned early in his trial career about the critical role of persuasive storytelling, executed throughout the trial, and not only in opening and closing. Jon Katz in this first Beat the Prosecution episode in a year without a guest, illustrates how he won an assault trial by supporting his client's alibi by illustrating the alleged assault's happening in Club Blah, where the defendant at the time was in Club Ah, and could not bring himself to stepping foot in Club Blah any more than he could bring himself to drinking a cask of prune juice mixed with vinegar. The persuasive story at trial usually is not found overnight, but is discovered with close attention and listening, visiting the incident scene, and bringing the listeners to the scene and the circle and center of the story, often incorporating all five of the human senses. Read more about persuasive storytelling in court, with Jon's article published in the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers newsletter, entitled "Story power – DID YOU DO IT? Transporting the jury to the persuasive circle of the story, and applying psychodrama."Persuasive storytelling is a central approach of the National Criminal Defense College's Trial Practice Institute that Jon attended for two weeks in 1994, and the Trial Lawyers College, which Jon attended for an entire month in 1995, with psychodrama and scene re-enactment also being major focuses of the Trial Lawyers College. The parallel video of this podcast is at Fairfax Criminal Lawyer on Winning from the Center of Persuasive StorytellingThis podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textIn 2015, Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz finished court early enough to rush over to the Mindful Leadership conference in Arlington, eager to meet such great teachers as Roshi Joan Halifax, Jim Dethmer and Rhonda Magee. Sold out, said a front desk person. A woman overheard my asking what I could do about that, and she sold me her extra ticket. This conference was so good that it would have been worth flying coast-to-coast for such an experience. Learning applications of mindfulness to my life and work are very important. Among the best teachers for that at this conference was author of Awake at Work (and more) Michael Carroll -- currently with Global Coaching Alliance, and a student of such advanced teachers as Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche -- who immediately captured me with leading a grounding sit followed soon after with the story of a tollbooth angel who would greet people even at the most trafficked, sweaty and stressful times of day, hand them an M&M candy, and wish them a nice day. Michael bridges any gap between mindfulness and Buddhist teachings and applying them to the real world, including the rough and tumble of the workplace, and, in this episode, the courthouse. I should have known long ago already about highly accomplished samurai and Five Rings  author Miyamoto Musashi, but did not, other than hearing about Five Rings. In this podcast interview with Jon Katz, Michael masterfully relates the lessons of Musashi's masterful defeat of Sasaki Kojiro to its applications to our own lives. Michael is a life tourguide who helps reveal plenty, including lessons and truisms that are right in front of our eyes, but that we have yet to see more clearly. Check out -- and read -- his books and more here. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textFairfax criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz named this podcast Beat the Prosecution in sync with his teacher SunWolf's watchword that reality is no obstacle. By shooting for the stars, great outcomes be achieved in court. Nonetheless, plenty of criminal defendants get convicted, requiring all criminal defense lawyers to be great at sentencing. Recently, Jon Katz's fellow criminal defense lawyer Bret Lee told Jon of his and lawyer Marvin Miller's Northern Virginia federal criminal defense client Felicia Donald, saying she was willing to be on Jon's podcast. Dr. Donald is a physician who in 2020 entered a guilty plea to one prescription drug violation count involving opioids and one health care fraud count. Despite the prosecution's request for a fourteen year prison sentence and to include obstruction of justice in her sentencing guidelines, Dr. Donald's legal team obtained a sentence that was half of that, and that avoided a finding of obstruction. Dr. Donald is Jon Katz's second former inmate to appear on the Beat the Prosecution podcast. A big difference between the two is that the first such guest, Susan Crane, engages in peace actions against armaments and military facilities, admits her actions and asserts their justification under international law. Most other criminal defendants, including Dr. Donald, never seek any prosecution nor attention to their prosecution. Where most convicted criminal defendants would prefer to keep a low profile about their cases, Dr. Donald does a big service to current and future defendants by here discussing step-by-step her oversight in not securing a lawyer before she reported alleged wrongdoing by one of her employees to law enforcement officers (LEO) and before she turned over her cellphone and business documents to LEO, how she chose her initial and subsequent legal team, how she weathered the storm of incarceration during the pandemic and found opportunities to help fellow inmates, how she witnessed seriously inadequate health care for numerous inmates and dealt with her own serious health issues as an inmate, and how she obtained a sentence commutation under the CARES Act. For this episode, then, beating the prosecution is about obtaining the best possible sentence and being as resilient as possible from the point of arrest to the time of release from incarceration. Jon thanks Felicia Donald and Bret Lee for joining him. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textFairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz first met local highly-regarded immigration / crimmigration lawyer Ofelia Calderon (Merrifield, Fairfax, Virginia) nearly 20 years ago at a Cinco de Mayo celebration, introduced by Jon's then law partner Jay Marks who subsequently became Ofelia's law partner for a few years. Ofelia is the third immigration lawyer on this Beat the Prosecution podcast, and for good reason, with Ofelia being the first immigration lawyer to join us after Donald Trump returned to the White House and unleashed a slew of unfriendly, dangerous and often downright civil liberties- and due process-violating policies and actions against a slew of non-United States citizens. Many of Jon Katz's criminal defense clients are not United States citizens, and need to know what to do when police, judges, courthouse officials and jailers ask them about their immigration status, not only with direct questions but with such more subtle questions as "Where were you born?" This episode tells you how to handle your encounters with such authorities. Also motivating Jon's invitation for Ofelia to join this episode is her involvement as a board member of the Virginia Legal Aid and Justice Center (I recommend donating, here), which has this great Rapid Response toolkit for dealing with such practical immigration emergencies as being ready with powers of attorney to handle real estate and personal property assets of those detained by the immigration authorities. Ofelia is a true believer for the rights and interests of non-United States citizens. Jon was totally invigorated by this talk, and anticipates that you will be, as well. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textSouth Dakota trial lawyer Charles Abourezk has a compelling story as a lawyer and beyond that role. He grew up on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation, and advocated for Indian Americans before and after law school. He represented indigenous people's interests at the United Nations. He produced and directed radio and television programming concerning Native Americans. Charlie is Chief Justice of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe's Supreme Court in South Dakota; Justice of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Appellate Court; Justice of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Appellate Court; and Special Judge for Oglala Sioux Tribal Courts. Charlie attended the Trial Lawyers College in 1997, two years before your podcast host Jonathan Katz attended. There, Charlie particularly took to psychodrama. He remains and teaches actively on staff at the National Psychodrama Training Center. Charlie's late father James Abourezk was the first United States Arab American senator, who subsequently founded the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). He was a strong advocate for Native American rights while in the U.S. House and Senate. Law enforcement once searched Charlie's home on the reservation, and followed him around for a period of time, I take it due to his support of Native Americans. He says such an experience makes you stronger. Charlie strongly and aptly believes in the power of psychodrama for winning in court. His devotion to Native American rights made inviting him for this interview all the more compelling for Jon Katz, whose close friend and spirtual teacher Jun Yasuda strongly supports Native American rights. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textEvery criminal defense and other trial lawyer faces the possible moment of truth about how to handle an unjust judicial directive. This week's guest Rosa Eliades -- along with lead counsel Richard Kammen (who wore a kangaroo pin to Guantanamo court and has pointed words about the military commissions), and co-counsel Mary Spears -- in 2017 obtained approval from now-former Marine criminal defense Brigadier General John Baker to withdraw as civilian defense lawyers for Guantanamo defendant Abd Al-Rahim Hussein Muhammed Al-Nashiri, due to their not receiving judicial authorization to share critical but classified evidence with their client. The story did not end there, when their military commission judge -- Vance Spath -- not only would not accept that withdrawal, but ultimately ordered 21 days of home detention (later stayed by another authority) for contempt against that  general for correctly releasing the trio without first checking with judge Spath. I wrote more about this case in 2017, here. Rosa and Mary obtained relief from the D.C. Circuit in 2019 (In Re Spears & Eliades,  921 F.3d 224 (D.C. Cir. 2019), as a remedy for the conflict of interest of Judge Spath's (unrevealed to the defense in 2017) having had a pending application to be an immigration judge, through the same Justice Department involved in the prosecution of Mr. Al-Nashiri. What would have happened had that judicial conflict and related relief not taken place? Having been a contract lawyer rather than Defense Department employee, Rick Kammen separately obtained relief from Judge Spath's actions. Rosa continued until early this year doing criminal defense as a civilian lawyer with the U.S. Department of Defense's Military Commissions Defense Organization. Now she is based in Washington, D.C., with her solo law practice, also doing consulting for lawyers, with her company called Emergence Consultants. Rosa is the sixth among Trial Lawyers College attendees and instructors to appear on our podcast. Fairfax criminal lawyer Jon Katz attended in 1995. The TLC focuses heavily on winning through finding the persuasive story in our case, working closely with our clients, investing and integrating ourselves into our client's case and cause, discovery who we truly are as people and lawyers, and being our best real selves, engaging in psychodrama and scene re-enactment.This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textIn this Beat the Prosecution episode, Fairfax, Virginia, criminal / DUI defense lawyer Jon Katz talks with the fifth public defender lawyer to be on this podcast. Arlington County, Virginia, senior public defender Michael Cash is a true believer in his clients and his work. His successful law school application to the University of Virginia Law School proclaimed his goal to do indigent criminal defense work. His story is riveting, including how he does public defender work for his profession, and public defender work on his free time. Michael recognizes that being a tireless advocate for our criminal defense clients can wear down the prosecution and bring us closer to successful negotiated case settlements. He enjoys creating and filing innovative motions that bring his clients closer to the yes of a desirable case outcome. Michael views public defender work as the greatest lawyer job. How many people say that about their jobs? When Jon Katz was a public defender lawyer for five years in a neighboring state early in his career, he thirsted to meet colleagues among public defenders in that state who expressed a strong preference for doing criminal defense work. Usually he found that elsewhere, at national criminal defense lawyer conferences. Now, throughout Virginia are public defender lawyers and private practicing lawyers expressing that devotion. Now, we need to narrow the gap in the pay and available support resources between public defender lawyers and court-appointed private practicing lawyers serving indigent criminal defendants in Virginia. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a text"I lucked out with getting interviewed by a great host." Those are the words of this episode's guest Fredilyn "Fredi" Sison, upon speaking for the first time on a podcast. Fairfax, Northern Virginia, criminal / DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz has known Fredi for years. Jon Katz and Fredi Sison are both graduates -- from separate years -- of the multi-week Trial Lawyers College, when the TLC was still at Gerry Spence's beautiful Thunderhead Ranch, outside Dubois, Wyoming, before the schism that led to the TLC's operating elsewhere. Fredi for years taught at the TLC, continues teaching at the two-week Trial Practice Institute of the National Criminal Defense College (NCDC) that Fredi and Jon attended in different years as students, and joined TLC grads Mary Peckham and Joane Garcia-Colson not only to organize women lawyer training and development sessions through the Three Sisters group, but also with Mary and Joane co-authored  Trial in Action: The Persuasive Power of Pyschodrama (Trial Guides, 2010). Fredi for years, worked as a trial lawyer at numerous public defender offices. She now is a solo practitioner in Asheville, North Carolina, primarily handling court appointments, not wanting ability to pay to come between her and her clients. With the conviction rate being so high in federal court, Fredi redefines the meaning of winning, for instance when that means obtaining a partial acquittal, or working so hard on a sentencing that her client returns home that night rather than spending a lenthy time warehoused in prison. Fredi believes strongly in the persuasive power of psychodrama -- which we covered in an April 2024 Beat the Prosecution episode -- and improvisational approaches. Her devotion to delivering great criminal defense is inspiring and infectious. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textFor the first time on Fairfax, northern Virginia criminal / DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz's podcast, we have one of his former clients joining us. Susan Crane has engaged in four Plowshares peace actions and calculates that she has spent nearly a total of seven years of her life in jails and prisons. Jon Katz was honored to have co-counseled with Ramsey Clark and Anabel Dwyer in defending Susan, Jesuit Father Stephen Kelly, Elizabeth Walz, and Father Philip Berrigan in Susan's third Plowshares action, in 1999 hammering on two A-10 military aircraft, to convert them due to the depleted uranium missiles they were equipped to fire. Pretrial, Jon convinced the judge to dismiss the sabotage and conspiracy to commit sabotage counts against the defendants, leaving pending property destruction and conspiracy to commit property destruction counts, and an assault count against Susan that she got dismissed when the jury could not reach a verdict on that count. When the judge prevented the jury from hearing testimony from defense depleted uranium expert Douglas Rokke, the defendants dramatically shut down their participation in the trial. When prosecuted, Susan and all other Plowshares activists admit her actions, but insists that they were necessary and permitted under international law. We hear Susan's lessons for beating the prosecution from her heart-centered, engaging approach that cares deeply about everyone, including those who arrest her. She was ready to share information about depleted uranium with a soldier who was exposed to it. When hammering on material at a Lockheed Martin facility, Susan's fellow Plowshares activist Steve Kelly suggested that the employee in the room call security, lest he face job repercussions otherwise. That employee whispered to them that their action was courageous, and a circle of employees arrived and observed their actions, without stopping them, until security arrived. That is engagement. Susan is an active member of the Redwood City Catholic Worker. She has devoted her life to helping others, from peace actions, to Peace Corps work, to helping renovate squats. Jon encourages people to donate to a Catholic Worker center of your choosing. To donate to Susan's Catholic Worker center, select the Catholic Worker House- Redwood City box at this website. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textFairfax, Northern Virginia criminal / DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz knows the benefit of mindfulness and meditative practice to beating the prosecution and to living a great life. Jon Katz's main mindfulness practice is taijiquan / t'ai chi chu'an yang style short form (also known as 37 posture Cheng Man Ch'ing / CMC taijiquan). Jon has also been involved with lawyers mindfulness gatherings. Jon also benefits from the practice of Self Identity Through Ho'oponopono. This practice helps develop razor sharp focus, deep listening, and clearing out one's internal gunk. Right here in the nation's capital area are some great mindfulness teachers, including through the Insight Meditation Community of Washington. Two of IMCW's best teachers are Jonathan Foust and his wife Tara Brach (on whose Finding True Refuge YouTube series Jon Katz appears in 2012), who teach and speak both separately and jointly. Jon first met Jonathan Foust at the 2015 Mindful Leadership Conference in Northern Virginia, when Jon was taken by Jonathan's warm, soothingly bursting positive energy. Jonathan still deals with his own challenge with chronic migraines; hear in this interview how he handles it. Early in this interview, Jonathan leads a great short meditation, focusing on the three approaches of focus, flow, and releasing. Everything flows wonderfully from there in this talk. For over two decades, Jonathan lived in the Kripalu ashram community. He is devoted to helping others, and virtually weekly presents online mindfulness / meditation teachings, and also at times presents in-person retreats, including his Year of Living Mindfully program.  Jonathan here talks about persuading others through positively engaging with others and recognizing their unmet needs, and how criminal defense lawyers, criminal defendants and others can prepare ourselves well for the battle by going on retreat, which I view not only as daylong and weeklong retreats, but even micro-retreats during breathing pauses or longer. You will thank yourself for listening to what Jonathan has to say. With the dana / donation tradition, Jon Katz recommends people to donate here to Jonathan. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textLawyers were two of Fairfax, Northern Virginia criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz's early inspirations on the taijiquan / tai ch'i ch'uan path, those being the late Victor Crawford and this episode's guest, Leonard "Len" J. Kennedy. Vic was an energetic and engaging lawyer, who early in Jon Katz's criminal defense career told about his years-long practice of this martial art. Seeking a personal breakthrough, a few years later, Jon asked Vic to recommend a taijiquan teacher. Victor mailed Jon pamphlets about several teachers, including Glen Echo taijiquan. There, Jon learned from Ellen and Len Kennedy who met as students of Alice and Robert W. Smith, the first western student of Cheng Man Ch'ing, who was fundamental in bringing taijiquan to the United States and spreading its popularity for serious study and practice. Ellen and Len have also studied with Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo (who has also taught my later taijiquan teachers David Walls Kaufman and Julian Chu), whose local sessions I have attended several times. Len Kennedy is a communications lawyer who became general counsel of Nextel and Sprint, and later became the first general counsel of the Consumer Financial Protection Board. In this episode, Len discusses how he has integrated taijiquan into his life and very demanding career, and how criminal defense lawyers and criminal defendants can achieve more by engaging in wise action rather than brute force. Here are some great words of wisdom from Len to me and his other students during his teaching sessions: "No hurry, no worry." "When you are fatigued, do t'ai chi." How do you deal with change? Do you resist the change, or work with the change? When you are standing still, what is still moving? (Your blood, breath, heart and cells, for instance.) Separately, Len has said that internally, during one of "those meetings," the t'ai chi practitioner does t'ai chi, through relaxing and sinking into one's chair or into the ground if standing. Len says: "T'ai Chi is a skill, an art and a Way that promotes internal growth, sensitivity through development of the heart, mind and spirit. Practice helps us to 'become what we are' in the words of the Greek poet Pindar and a human being in the fullest sense in the words of Professor Cheng." He sums it up with: "Move daily, Breathe deeply, Live fully." This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textFairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz's first client visit to a jail was with his law professor and immigration legal clinic director Paul Grussendorf. Jon Katz's first two trials were also with Paul, one a deportation hearing for that jailed client after he had gotten convicted for importation of two kilos of cocaine into the United States, and the other for an Ethiopian client who had found safe haven in Zimbabwe and then flew to the United States, when U.S. immigration policy disfavored forum shopping for safe havens and political asylum after already finding the same outside the U.S., even when escaping the then-governing brutal Marxist Ethiopian government (when the anti-communist-focused Reagan was president). In the silver lining department, Jon obtained political asylum for another Ethiopian client, who claimed religious persecution. Then Jon graduated from law school.  Paul has blazed quite a professional and personal trail, in documentary filmmaking before law school, graduating law school in his early thirties, becoming the immigration law clinic director soon thereafter at Jon's law school, becoming an immigration judge, becoming an asylum officer, and working in other areas of asylum and refugee matters. Like Jon Katz, Paul believes in fully getting to know our clients to effectively represent them. In this podcast episode, Paul includes crimmigration issues, and the importance for criminal defense lawyers to have sufficient relevant immigration law knowledge or else to obtain advice from competent immigration lawyers.  Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 (2010). Read Paul's My Trials: Inside America's Deportation Factories, available in paperback and Kindle. Under the pen name Jonathan Worlde, he authored the fictitious Deep in the Cut.This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textIn mid-December 2024, Denmark released Captain Paul Watson (co-founder of Greenpeace, and founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society) after five months of captivity in an apartment-like incarceration setting in Greenland, when Denmark ultimately declined to extradite him to Japan for a matter about which Captain Watson asserts his innocence. Fairfax, Virginia criminal defense and DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz three weeks after Captain Watson's release had the privilege to spend an hour with him on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, covering such topics as risking detention and prosecution for what we deeply believe in; the international law limiting whaling and sealing; preparing for and winning at trial (he has never been convicted); and his uncanny ability to be non-angry. Remarkable is Paul's confirmation that he does not get angry, other than when he expresses it with his pen. Non-anger is very vital to beating the prosecution. Paul has been prosecuted numerous times, but all his trials have resulted in acquittals. Listen to how that resulted. Paul Watson and Jon Katz both eat vegan (with Paul motivated heavily by ecological reasons, and Jon being primarily motivated by nonviolence), and know members of the American Indian Movement (with Paul having been a medic during the Wounded Knee action, and Jon peripherally meeting AIM members through his peace teacher Jun Yasuda, a close friend and supporter of the late Dennis Banks). Jon recommends reading Paul's autobiography Hitman for the Kindness Club, and listening to his podcast entitled Captain Paul Watson Foundation. More about Paul and his foundation's work is at PaulWatsonFoundation.org. Watson is one of the films about him. Donations to his foundation can be made here. One of Paul's previous organization's ships was named the Steve Irwin, who supported Paul's approach for animals. Those approaches include ramming whaling ships without causing injury to others, applying dye to seals to make their skins unmarketable, using stink bombs, and releasing animals from captivity. Paul magnificently sums up his work with this phrase that also is all about how to beat the prosecution: courage, passion and imagination. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textMarijuana in large part accelerated Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz's transition from working at a corporate law firm to becoming a criminal defense lawyer many years ago. Jon Katz one day read about a federal prosecutor's issuance of a subpoena for High Times Magazine's advertiser records. Jon figured that the prosecutor was going after customers of hydroponic indoor marijuana growers. In protest, Jon took out a subscription to High Times, and told the same by letter to the then-federal attorney general and High Times. As a result of that subscription, Jon learned about criminal defense lawyer Don Fiedler, who was then national director of NORML, who helped Jon steer his path towards criminal defense. In rapid order, Jon joined the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and met its then-executive director Keith Stroup. the founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), which is devoted to marijuana consumers, rather than to manufacturers and sellers. Jon had previously read the authorized NORML biography High in America, and has been fascinated by Keith's story. Keith has for many years been back with NORML, where he is current legal counsel. The story of marijuana legalization and decriminalization provides strong lessons for criminal defense lawyers and their clients, about perseverance, team building and reversing roles. Marijuana remains criminalized at the federal level, but its odor is no longer a basis under Virginia law for a police search, and possession of designated amounts is no longer an offense in Virginia, which still needs legalized retail sales beyond medicinal sales. Many marijuana reformers have worked tirelessly and creatively over the decades to get us to where we are now. The team building involved in obtaining marijuana reform goes well beyond so-called political progressives. The reversing roles looks at what makes politicians and other policymakers tick for no longer demonizing marijuana. On this episode of Beat the Prosecution, Jon welcomes Keith Stroup and NORML political director Morgan Fox, for an eye-opening look at how far marijuana reform has come and what still needs to be done. Jon believes strongly in decriminalizing all drugs, as well. For more information about NORML and how to join and donate to the group, visit NORML.org. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textGreat criminal defense is like delivering clients excellent results while balanced on a pinnacle thousands of feet above the ground below. For that reason, Fairfax criminal / Virginia DUI attorney Jon Katz has invited Zen priest and former New York City emergency room physician Wendy Lau, M.D., who went from computer technology to medical school, and, after burnout, to the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe. Effective criminal defense lawyers in so many ways are like emergency room physicians, single-mindedly reaching out to their patients as verbal bows and arrows can be flying -- or seem to be flying -- from all directions. Wendy has experienced having one patient die, only to still have a roster of other patients to help in the very next moment. She repeatedly takes on the treacherous journey to provide highly needed free healthcare to people in remote areas of Nepal. A recent documentary on that Nomads Clinic work -- Into the Heart of the Mountain -- is available here. Wendy teaches the practice of G.R.A.C.E.- Gathering attention, Recalling intention, Attuning to self and others, Considering what will serve, Engaging and ending.  Physicians and everyone else will benefit from Wendy's Inner Practice of Medicine book. Wendy welcomes donations to the Upaya Zen scholarship fund bearing her name. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textCriminal defense lawyers must hang together lest they hang separately. Northern Virginia lawyer Sameera Ali accepted an Alexandria Juvenile & Domestic Relations (JDR) Court request to represent an indigent defendant (for abysmally low pay), let the court know she was not available on the then-pending court date, got the prosecutor's office on board for seeking a very brief court date rescheduling to when Ms. Ali was available, and instead got issued a show cause notice to appear in the same court to address why she should not be held in jailable contempt of court. Once this story hit the Washington Post (with the bittersweet ending of a dismissal of Sameera's show cause case, but only after a one hour hearing), the outpouring of support for Sameera came rushing through. The show cause hearing courtroom was filled with supportive criminal defense lawyers and also included prosecutors and city attorneys. With criminal defense lawyers ready to instantly rally around their mistreated sister and brother lawyers, and with the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' strike force, judges, prosecutors and police should think carefully before trespassing against one of our own. On this Beat the Prosecution episode, Sameera and Erin Smith tell about the events following the unjust issuance of this show cause order against her, Erin's immediate departure from the Alexandria JDR court's indigent appointment list, and what happened at the hearing where the show cause order against Sameera got dismissed. Longtime public defender lawyer Lauren Whitley talks about the importance for lawyers to speak out about judges' wrongful actions. Sameera's law partner Jim Magner talks about the importance for people to recognize the devotion and talent that so many lawyers demonstrate in representing indigent defendants. Not present for this show is Christopher Leibig, Sameera's lawyer who filed this great motion to dismiss the show cause matter against Sameera. Striking is the absence of anger nor any agenda in Sameera nor Jim, and just Sameera's getting right back in the saddle and urging criminal defense lawyers to accept court appointments to represent indigent defendants. Many criminal defense lawyers are unsung and undersung heroes. Sameera is a hero to let the light be shined on her plight, to not let this matter knock her down, to win, and to treat such mistreatment with such dignity and can-do strength. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," as Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textNow that marijuana has become heavily decriminalized in Virginia and beyond, Fairfax criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz sees drug reform and protecting adults' right to choose their consensual sexual activity as critical to protecting everyone's civil liberties.  Joining us for this Beat the Prosecution podcast episode are Woodhull Freedom Foundation president and CEO Ricci Levy, and WFF general counsel and First Amendment defense lawyer Lawrence G. Walters. John has known these two guests for many years. The Woodhull Freedom Foundation's website presents the group's mission as affirming sexual freedom as a fundamental human right. Politicians often target consenting adult sexual acitivity for expanded criminalization of consensual adult sexuality, including prosecutions against so-called obscenity, criminalizing sex work, and criminalizing omissions of verification of the adult status of people visiting websites providing sexual material.  Efforts by many governments to clamp down on consenting adult sexual activity often go beyond the criminal law, Among its work, the Woodhull Freedom Foundation is working to stop age verification laws, to decriminalize sex work, and to prevent consensual adult sex work from being lumped into campaigns against human trafficking,  Jon Katz recommends donating to WFF, at https://woodhull.app.neoncrm.com/forms/primary-donation-form . This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a text"Aspiring full time anti-racist" is how senior Fairfax public defender lawyer Bryan T. Kennedy describes himself on his Twitter page. In this episode of Beat the Prosecution, Bryan joins Fairfax criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz in discussing how to beat the prosecution both in court and through out-of-court action, action, and more action, including with strength in numbers and having a great team of lawyers and non-lawyers. Bryan is a founding member of Justice Forward Virginia , which has made huge inroads in bringing Virginia out of its capital punishment dark ages and away from its Jim Crow past, to promoting winning legislation that reduces police ability to racially profile and keeps their power better in check, and eliminates presumption of pretrial detention for certain alleged crimes; and supporting robust indigent defense and challenging mandatory minimum sentencing. I recommend donating to Justice Forward Virginia. Bryan is a lawyer's lawyer and a public defender's public defender. He underlines how some of the greatest criminal defense lawyers start as public defender lawyers and do not have to leave their principles at the door by starting as a prosecutor instead. He is fully bilingual in English and Spanish, which is a major asset in this county with so many people who speak Spanish (and so many other non-English languages) as a first language. Bryan is a true believe in the criminal defense cause, and is not afraid to stand up to judges and everyone else in the process. Thanks to Bryan for joining Jon Katz for an hour on this podcast episode. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textOne of the two founders of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education -- Harvey Silverglate -- figured the group might no last much past ten years beyond its 1999 founding. Instead, Silverglate, describes the group -- renamed Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression  -- as having filled the gap that was left when the ACLU became more of a progressive organization and less of a free expression protector. Fairfax criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz first met criminal defense and civil liberties lawyer Harvey Silverglate over twenty years ago through their mutual membership in the Naitonal Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He met First Amendment lawyer Robert Corn-Revere -- now FIRE's chief counsel -- through their mutual membership in the First Amendment Lawyers Association, of which Bob is a past president. Both Bob and Harvey are CATO Institute scholars. Jon Katz has advised a conservative student referred by FIRE, in his campus disciplinary proceeding when his private university trampled on his right to videotape a campus speaker and university-paid public figure when no advance warning had been made against such recording activity. Jon was also referred by FIRE to advise a state university professor whose First Amendment rights were violated by being suspended from his job due to an uproar by numerous alumni and members of the public after he appeared as an unwitting hotseat guest of the O'Reilly Factor (on which show Jon has twice appeared, and also has appeared twice on the Radio Factor.) Worse, the federal government zeroed in on this professor, and dragged him through a six month trial (which Jon did not handle) that resulted in acquittal on numerous counts and a hung jury (10-2) on some additional counts.What becomes readily apparent in this Beat the Prosecution episode is that staying true to our principles helps criminal defense and civil liberties lawyers win in court. Harvey tells of the jury nullification that delivered him acquittals of around 30 people prosecuted for trespassing in the carrying away from the office of a Harvard dean in his chair, in protest over the Vietnam war, with the prosecutor then declining to prosecute the approximately 70 additional defendants. Bob tells about winning in the Supreme Court against a prosecution under a statute criminalizing the filming of dogfighting and other animal cruelty ("crush films"). Visit here to donate to FIRE and This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Every Dog Deserves A Second Chance Bestselling author Jon Katz is back on Animal Radio. A few years ago, he was on top of the world. Then came the end of his 35-year marriage, and he went broke. He needed a second chance. Along came Frieda, a Rottweiler-shepherd mix that also needed a second chance. Listen Now Suffering in Silence Often, when an animal is sick, it goes unnoticed. Some believe that's because they can't show weakness in the wild. Animal Radio Veterinary Correspondent Dr. Marty Becker will tell you what signs to look for that indicate your furr-kid is sick. Listen Now Pot Plant Pesticides Killing Animals Half a million marijuana plants have been recovered on US Forest Service land so far this year. However, it's not what they're growing but how they're growing that's killing wildlife, tainting water supplies, and endangering hikers. NBC affiliate Elyce Kirchner reports. Listen Now Tinsel and Tails Celebrity Photographer Mike Ruiz is here to talk about the Celebrity Catwalk event and what some well-known "A-list" celebs are doing to help companion animals nationwide. Listen Now FDA To Regulate Pet Food The Food and Drug Administration proposed rules that would govern pet food production and farm animal feed for the first time. The proposal comes years after the biggest pet food recall in history. Listen Now Read more about this week's show.

Send us a textFairfax criminal and DWI lawyer Jonathan Katz heard Abbie Hoffman's lawyer Gerald Lefcourt speak in 1991 about how Abbie had asked Gerry to keep Hoffman out of jail so that he could keep pursuing his agenda. At that moment, Jon wondered whether he had missed the boat on the days of defending activists. Nine years later, Jon teamed with Ramsey Clark to defend the Plowshares 4 at their 2000 criminal jury trial following their action against depleted uranium, and Ramsey mentioned there being plenty of interesting activists to defend when doing so for free. Thanks to Plowshares and Catholic Worker activist Mark Colville of the Amistad Catholic Worker in New Haven for joining Jon in talking about his three Plowshares actions and resulting jury trials for two of them, and his Catholic Worker activities, including with Rosette Village. Plowshares actions include admitting the defendants' actions, while arguing that the action should not be convicted any more than Underground Railroad activists should have been convicted. Mark presents great ideas for beating the prosecution through such approaches as keeping our eyes on the prize of winning no matter the seeming and actual hurdles along the way, pushing the envelope of advocacy as necessary, and working in community / teamwork. Jon recommends donating to the Amistad Catholic Worker or any other Catholic Worker community, and/or the Rosette Village, helping homeless people.  This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textWhen Fairfax criminal defense / DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz attended his first National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers meeting, he was wowed by a talk by New York attorney David L. Lewis, who is brilliant, uniquely humorous, and tremendously persuasive. David has been very generous in sharing his knowledge and experience with his fellow criminal defense attorneys. After all these decades, David continues to inspire Jon Katz in pursuing his clients' best defense, following the possibilities and not being hemmed in by perceived boundaries. Hear David's fascinating story about his path to criminal defense and winning, his time as a judge, and his recent return to criminal defense, as a partner with New York City's Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textFairfax criminal defense lawyer and DUI attorney Jonathan Katz has been inspired for years by the great and to-the-point online dharma talks and guided meditations by Venerable Thubten Chodron. Venerable is at once compassionate, kind, generous of her time and as tough as nails. Through divine coincidence that neither knew about at the time, Venerable was editing a book about inmates when Jon Katz invited her onto this show. Transcending all religious and non-religious approaches to life, Venerable here gives great lessons on non-anger, selflessness, restorative justice, working with inmates, mindfulness and more approaches that work very well for helping criminal defendants and their lawyers obtain the best possible results in court, and for making us feel more grounded. Venerable suggests entitling this podcast as harmonizing the situation rather than beating the prosecution, to which Jon responds why the name remains as it is. Check out Venerable's many great books, and the section of her abbey's website with writings by incarcerated people and prison volunteers. You are bound to be inspired by Venerable's words and great spirit.  If you like what you hear, please consider donating to her abbey. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textThere are heroes, and then there are heroes. Lisa Monet Wayne is one of Fairfax criminal / Virginia DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz's greatest heroes. Lisa was one of Jon Katz's earliest great criminal defense teachers, encouraging attorneys not to shy away from taking even the toughest cases to trial. She was among Jon's teachers at the National Criminal Defense College's Trial Practice Institute.  Lisa is one in a line of great former Colorado Public Defender training directors. She is currently Executive Director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). This interview will be a battery recharge for all criminal defense lawyers. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textFairfax criminal defense and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz was floored when he met law professor, mindfulness teacher, and teacher on overcoming racial injustice Rhonda Magee, at the 2015 Mindful Leadership conference in Arlington, Virginia. Nine years later, Jon Katz catches back up with Rhonda, talking about her essential book The Inner Work of Racial Justice, her work with addressing how we handle racial injustice, about being proactive rather than reactive to others' verbal and nonverbal trespasses, and her online events and meditations. Rhonda is a leader in these practices.  This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textIn 2015, Fairfax criminal lawyer Jon Katz finished court earlier than expected, and beelined to the Mindful Leadership conference in Crystal City, Virginia, in part to meet speaker Roshi Joan Halifax. Snagging a ticket to this soldout event, Jon met Roshi Joan, and also sat mesmerized by speaker Jim Dethmer's (co-founder of the Conscious Leadership Group) talk about conscious leadership, and about the difference between leading from above the line (where one is open, curious, and not attacking) versus from below the line. This conscious leadership approach is fully addressed in The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Warner Klemp. The challenges abound for criminal defense lawyers and their clients to get sidetracked by actually or apparently slinged mud, heartlessness, dehumanization efforts, underhandedness and prevarication from various quarters in the courthouse and beyond. Getting angry and misdirected is weakening. Smiling in the face of proverbial flying vomit and diarrhea -- when knowing the possibilities of sweet success that may be right around the corner -- is the powerful way to proceed. Conscious Leadership's Deb Katz pulls no punches in addressing how she transitioned from years of proceeding as an unconscious leader to a conscious one. She talks about how it is possible to say f--k you from above the line, and how sweetness does not automatically put one above the line. Deb addresses how Conscious Leadership draws on numerous pre-existing approaches to leading in a beneficial way. She and Jon both benefit from the teachings and practices of Ho'oponopono, which is featured on a previous Beat The Prosecution podcast episode. This conversation between Jon Katz and Deb Katz (same last name, but no close family connection) dives deep into transitioning into the conscious leadership approach. The universal and Apple podcasts URL for this episode are at https://podcast.beattheprosecution.com/2293867/episodes/15777966 and https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675?i=1000669998168This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textCriminal defense usually includes keeping the burden with the prosecution to attempt to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. That approach can be turned upside down with activists who broadcast their actions loudly and clearly. Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz first faced that situation when teaming with Ramsey Clark to defend four Plowshares activists who hammered on warplanes outfitted to fire depleted uranium missiles. The four defendants' openness about their actions made winning the destruction of property count a challenge to win at their jury trial, while pretrial, Jon still convinced the trial judge to dismiss the sabotage and sabotage conspiracy counts. Early in his criminal defense career, Jon Katz heard Gerald Lefcourt tell about how his client Abby Hoffman sought for Lefcourt to keep him out of jail so that he could pursue his activism. Jon wondered if he had missed the boat for defending activists until he was asked to defend the Plowshares. Ramsey Clark told Jon that the opportunities to defend activists are many, at least when doing so pro bono. When Jon asked about a lawyer(s) to turn to for suggestions for defending activists, Mark Goldstone's name immediately came up. Mark was delighted when he received a court appointment for an activist protesting in the Capitol against Ronald Reagan's policies in supporting anti-communist combatants in Nicaragua, and was even more delighted when the lawyers for the 130 other defendants withdrew their representation, leaving those defendants with Mark. When Jon met Mark, Mark led the demonstrations committee of the local National Lawyers Guild, which Jon Katz first joined because of its work for criminal defendants and immigrants, and its stand for racial justice and gender equality, but left several years later when the group became too doctrinaire, and even issued a call to support Muntadhar al-Zaid -- who in 2008 threw his shoes at George W. Bush in Iraq -- and called to donate shoes for needy people, with not a peep against violence that was part of the shoe throwing. Over the decades, Mark has become a go-to lawyer for political activists -- including supporting their First Amendment free expression rights -- and for judges seeking criminal defense lawyers for appointments for such defense. Mark is a devoted, principled and caring person and attorney. Jon has great respect for him.This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Reaching and being in a state of zero is vital for Fairfax, Northern Virginia criminal defense and DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz. Jon Katz has learned and applies this approach of zero through taijiquan, mindfulness, nonduality, and Self Identity Through Ho'oponopono (SITH). Taijiquan master Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo taught that by being at zero, we are never chasing nor letting outside forces nor influences guide our path. Mindfulness helps us clean our internal gunk and vibrate away new gunk. Nonduality / non-attachment enables us to find, harness and unleash our power internally, without gauging our well being by outside circumstances, and helps us live in the moment. The samurai who is not in the moment, is fearful of possible death, and is thinking of their next move is more likely to have their head lopped off. Self Identity Through Ho'oponopono is about taking personal responsibility -- which is also central to conscious leadership -- for what we are experiencing and perceiving; cleaning our internal gunk, data and memories; and emanating that approach to the benefit of our family members and everyone else. No matter how sensible or not the foregoing practices appear at first, this approach works powerfully for Jon Katz both in his criminal defense work and in his personal life. Jon learned about SITH in 2011, and that year met one of its main teachers and practitioners -- and Jon's very important teacher Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, whose first words to Jon upon their meeting each other was "lawyer". Dr. Hew Len was a psychologist, dealing with plenty of people experiencing psychological imbalance, and Jon Katz deals with people having such experiences through his criminal defense work. Ihaleakala Hew Len took his last breath in 2022.  Kamaile Rafaelovich  (also spelled Kamailelauli'I) -- known as KR -- is president of IZI, LLC, which teaches and applies SITH. KR learned about SITH from its founder Morrnah Simeona before Dr. Hew Len started learning from Morrnah. KR has blessed Jon by joining him for this podcast. If the ideas and messages in this podcast episode do not resonate with you the first time, you may find that they make sense after listening a second or third time. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

After learning about non-attachment after revisiting Wim Wenders's visit in Tokyo-Ga to the gravesite of famous director Yasujirō Ozu (who left his body only eight months after Jon Katz was born), whose headstone was marked solely with the character 無 Mu (translatable as nothingness), Fairfax Virginia criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz learned more clearly and deeply about nonduality / non-attachment, and began more intentionally pursuing this life path, through his continued practice of the taijiquan martial art, additional mindfulness practice, and lessons from such great teachers as Baba Ram Das (born Richard Alpert) about our interconnectedness.Jon learned about the lawyers mindfulness movement, ultimately attended a great partially silent long weekend law professionals' retreat at the Blue Cliff Monastery, for a year became coordinator of the then-named Contemplative Lawyers group of the national capital area, and finally was willing to spend a long weekend in heavy silence and meditation -- other than during group discussion and question and answer sessions -- at the 2015 Mindful Lawyering long weekend at the Garrison Institute.While Zoketsu Norman Fischer -- a former abbot at the San Francisco Zen Center, which Shunryu Suzuki Roshi founded -- was the biggest draw for Jon among the teachers at this Mindful Lawyering retreat, the remaining lineup of teachers was also great. Nikki Mirghafori stood out for Jon among the retreats' teachers for her apparent particularly practical approach to applying mindfulness, together with her profession as an artificial intelligence scientist. Nikki also brings us front and center to the mindfulness of death, seeing that we all have only one exit from this world. Nikki's social media links are at www.facebook.com/dr.nikki.mirghafori; www.facebook.com/nikki.mirghafori; linkedin.com/in/nmirghafori; www.instagram.com/nikki.mirghafori; x.com/NikkiMirghaforiIn this Beat the Prosecution podcast conversation between Nikki and Jon, they both learn that their early meditation practices involved applying Herbert Benson's Relaxation Response, and moved forward. Nikki's early mindfulness practice took place during very substantial personal challenges. Jon asks Nikki for ideas for lawyers, criminal defendants and others to deal with their suffering, addiction, and suicidal thoughts, as well as how to beat the prosecution. Nikki's lessons include being mindful and compassionate, engaging in restorative justice, and being ready to interact with prosecutors and others on a human level.  Visit Nikki's website for a treasure trove of discussion, meditations, and daily happy hours of guided meditation, talks and discussion.  This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

When Fairfax, Virginia criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz faces particularly challenging times in court, he often imagines that his peace teacher Jun Yasuda is to his right, his trial teacher Steve Ranch is to his left, and his martial arts teacher is also right there. This Beat the Prosecution episode interviews Jon Katz's friend and peace mentor Jun Yasuda, who spearheaded making the Grafton, New York, Peace Pagoda a reality.https://www.graftonpeacepagoda.org (This peace pagoda is such an amazing place that Jon's friend's usually constantly overactive dog stood in quietness when first visiting the pagoda.)Lama Surya Das has aptly pointed out that it is not enough to rage against violence if we do not also pursue peace within ourselves. Likewise, an effective criminal defense lawyer needs to find and develop internal peace so that anger, stress, and upset do not eat the lawyer alive; and so that the lawyer may think, see and hear clearly -- and show total compassion, teamwork and listening with their client -- on the road to pursuing the best defense. Jun Yasuda is as tough as nails, having crisscrossed the nation on foot in even harsh climates, having fasted for peace and justice for days on end, and having set her own selfish interests aside for the greater good of humankind. She advocated for sanctuary in New York for American Indian Movement cofounder Dennis Banks when his sanctuary in California was cancelled. She dry fasted for a week for Mumia Abu-Jamal when he was still on death row. Jun-san briefly was in a lockup adjacent to Leonard Peltier's during the pendency of his trial where she went to support him. (Mr. Peltier's prosecutor ended up concluding that his prosecution and continued incarceration were and are unjust. https://www.amnestyusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/From-US-Attorney-James-Reynolds.pdf . His authoring appellate judge decades ago supported clemency for Peltier. https://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/download/Heaney.pdf )Jun-san recognizes the importance of restorative justice as an alternative to the overgrown criminal justice system that she points out disproportionately incarcerates minorities and often uses inmates for free and cheap labor. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Art Spitzer for four decades served as the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the national capital area. Fairfax, Virginia criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jon Katz has known Art since before the time Jon served on that group's board for three years in the early 1990's, and through that experience has met such great civil libertarians as Art Spitzer, Eugene Fidell (a dean of military criminal defense lawyers), and Mary Jane DeFrank, who for years served as the affiliate's executive director.   Art tells a fascinating story about how he started his post-law school career in a traditional path of serving as a federal judicial law clerk followed by doing litigation with one of the nation's most prestigious corporate law firms, except he did not personally care whether his corporate clients won or lost, even though he was professionally invested in their winning. He did enjoy the pro bono work his law firm did for such groups as the ACLU. Attending college in the 1960's, Art witnessed the political demonstrations of the time, and ultimately he learned that the D.C. ACLU was hiring a replacement legal director, a job that he loved throughout.  Art won the essential Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68 (1984), which provides that when the defendant's sanity at the time of the alleged crime is likely to be a significant defense at trial, the government must pay for a psychiatrist to assist on the issue for an indigent defendant.  Our recent previous podcast guest Stephen Bright thirty-three years later won McWilliams v. Dunn, 582 U.S. 183 (2017), which breathed further strength into Ake. Hear Art and Jon discuss the overlap between the First Amendment and criminal law, demonstrators' rights, and the ACLU's opposition to criminalizing the possession (versus production) of child pornography. When Jon asks how to beat the prosecution or any litigation opponent, Art sticks to fully preparing and fully serving clients. He credits his initial law firm experience for enabling him to learn how to do this work. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Lawyer Stephen B. Bright is a hero to Fairfax criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz and to many other people. Steve left the security of his public defender salary at one of the nation's premier defender offices, to barely receive pay during some of the early months of his working to overturn death sentences imposed in the Georgia capital punishment machine. While Jon Katz was yearning to shift to serving social justice when at a corporate law firm doing litigation and regulatory work, at a 1990 post-Supreme Court oral argument reception at the nearby ACLU, Jon met Steve Bright, arguing lawyer Charles Ogletree, and Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson.  Professor Ogletree had argued what would lead to a unanimous Supreme Court's reversing a death penalty conviction involving racially motivated jury selection, in Ford v. Georgia, 498 U.S. 411 (1991). The room included numerous criminal defense lawyers. This gathering helped provide Jon Katz the extra oomph to become a criminal defense / public defender lawyer eight months later. At this gathering, Jon asked Steve Bright about any enlightened law firms Jon might consider applying to. Steve's answer was along the lines that such a phrase is an oxymoron. Stephen B. Bright is a criminal defense and civil rights powerhouse. He won all his four Supreme Court cases. Steve's Southern Center for Human Rights quickly made its reputation for great and devoted work that even law students and lawyers whose resumes could have earned them stellar salaries, went to work at the SCHR. Steve Bright underlines the necessity of fighting hard and well both at the trial and appellate levels for capital defendants and all criminal defendants, and the necessity of abolishing the death penalty, which he recognizes as being rooted in slavery. Steve has witnessed four of his clients being executed in the electric chair and one by lethal injection. He underlines how improved capital defense has reduced the nation to around forty annual death sentences from a high in the three figures, but even one death sentence is too many. Stephen B. Bright now consults with lawyers and is a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School and a visiting professor at  Georgetown Law School. Read his essential co-authored book about his work and Supreme Court victories, The Fear of Too Much Justice: Race, Poverty, and the Persistence of Inequality in the Criminal Courts (2023). See his detailed wesbite related to that book. https://www.thefearoftoomuchjustice.com/See Steve's online  capital punishment course at https://campuspress.yale.edu/capitalpunishment/ and  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNez7ZuPRY3KNJ2ef16qebyZeThis podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Jon Katz is BACK, he is a lifestyle coach, and also found a way to make an income on his own terms.   He has made some huge improvements in his life and chats with me about them all the time.   If you liked the show, help it grow!   Leave a review and rate 5 stars on Apple Podcast, and Spotify!

Ernie Lewis was one of Fairfax criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jonathan Katz's instructors at the National Criminal Defense College's Trial Practice Institute. Ernie is a past head of the Kentucky public defender system and a co-founder of the National Association of Public Defense. Join us as Ernie talks with Jon Katz about Ernie's relentless, fully prepared and caring approach to beating the prosecution. For Ernie's very direct approach to effectively defending the accused, see his "10 Top Things I always wanted to say at a judge's conference," including:"You do too see race when you make decisions.” ” You don't really believe the police in your findings on motions to suppress.” “Don't tell me you're not thinking about your next election when you set a high bond.”https://publicdefenders.us/blogs/10-top-things-i-always-wanted-to-say-at-a-judgeqs-conferenceThis podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

True believer criminal defense lawyer J. Tony Serra has been defending for over sixty years. He sees the criminal justice system as a broken system, without letting him shy away from fighting in court whatsoever. https://pier5law.com/attorneys/j-tony-serra/Early in his career, Fairfax, Virginia criminal defense / DUI lawyer Jon Katz became aware of Tony and his being a true believer. Tony's single-minded and highly capable devotion to pursuing great outcomes for his clients with his self-imposed vow of poverty is enough to take notice of him, and to recognize that one does not need to be a member of the traditional legal establishment to obtain great results in court. Tony is not interested in negotiating settlements in his criminal defense work. He wants to go to trial and thoroughly prepares for trial. He has experience as a criminal defendant through civil disobedience, having been incarcerated for a few brief periods of time from his being a tax protestor. This episode includes how Tony has made the most of his experiences as an inmate -- when he helps other inmates with their legal matters -- and also Tony's suggestions for sentenced people to prepare to be incarcerated. Tony strongly opposes the system of snitching / cooperating by an inmate / criminal defendant / suspect against another person. He believes in criminal defense lawyers banding together. At the core, he believes in being fully alive. It is this very aliveness that helps Tony connect with and persuade jurors. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Cross examination master Larry Pozner https://www.pozneroncross.com for decades has been practicing law and teaching criminal defense and other lawyers how to effectively cross examine witnesses, without needing to be born with that ability. Fairfax, Virginia, criminal defense / DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz first met Larry at a National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers conference in Philadelphia in 1991. Jon Katz was immediately drawn to Larry's excellence as a lawyer and teacher, and his selflessness in sharing what he knows. Larry travels all over the country and beyond teaching cross examination. He is a very disciplined and dedicated attorney for obtaining the best possible results for his clients. Larry Pozner has been particularly devoted to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and to the criminal defense lawyers who learn from him. Jon was blessed for Larry to have been among his two cross examination instructors at the 1994 Trial Practice Institute of the National Criminal Defense College in Georgia. Listen to this podcast episode for Jon's discussion with Larry about that experience and much more. Larry is one of many great NACDL members and other attorneys who welcomed Jon Katz into the fold of criminal defense and to the recognition that even solo practicing criminal defense attorneys never need to feel that they are alone. Larry Pozner and friend Roger Dodd's Cross-Examination: Science and Techniques are essential for any trial lawyer. https://store.lexisnexis.com/products/crossexamination-science-and-techniques-skuusSku6893 Learn more about Larry,,his upcoming programs and his training DVDs at https://www.pozneroncross.comThis podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

What do engaging with our suffering, breaking from addiction, and knowing our true nature have to do with beating the prosecution? Join Jon's riveting talk with Claude AnShin Thomas who has travelled the path between fighting in the thick of the Vietnam war to now being a warrior for peace and for helping others, including veterans. Claude ultimately became a mendicant Soto Zen Buddhist monk, meeting people "at the point of their humanity", as Claude says. After leaving Vietnam, Brother Claude pickled himself in drugs, alcohol and sex. Learn how he successfully ended drug and alcohol use with the help of a treatment program, how he became a monk, and how he travels to schools, prisons, war zones, and so many other places where he is invited, wanting to meet with a cross section of people there. Fairfax, Northern Virginia criminal defense / DUI lawyer Jon Katz first met Claude around 2005, when Claude completely revealed the inner turmoil he underwent during and after his fighting in Vietnam, his life committed to service to others, and about living in peace with unpeacefulness. It is not a stretch to say that the courthouse is full of turmoil, and also of possibilities, starting with the criminal defense lawyer and defendant quieting their minds, being in the present, and, again, living in peace with unpeacefulness. If you like what you hear on this Beat the Prosecution episode number 28, please visit Claude's organization's website Zaltho.org, and read and share his essential autobiography At Hell's Gate- A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace, and read his other books On the Edges of Peace, and Bringing Meditation to Life. Your donations at https://www.zaltho.org/donation-causes can support the Zaltho Foundation generally, Veterans' Pet Health Care, and Zaltho's Solar Project. This podcast is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

What do lacrosse, being self-demanding, and being ever vigilant have to do with beating the prosecution? Join us as championship lacrosse coach Bob Streeten talks with his former summer camper and now-Fairfax, Northern Virginia criminal defense and DUI lawyer Jon Katz about there being no replacement for preparation, hard work, excellent planning and strategy, and being self demanding for winning, whether in court, the playing field or life. Check out Bob's lengthy 2022 sports interview at https://www.mytwintiers.com/sports/legends-of-the-twin-tiers-bob-streeten. As the foregoing interview's liner notes aptly underline: "No man defines the sport of lacrosse in the region more than Corning's Bob Streeten."This podcast is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

What do non-ego, blue jeans, and tireless work have to do with beating the prosecution? Join us as Fairfax, Northern Virginia, criminal and DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz talks in depth with Corpus Christi, Texas, trial lawyer Robert C. Hilliard, who was Jon's roommate at the Trial Lawyers College. https://hilliard-law.comEarly on, Bob inspired Jon to stay on the path of deeply caring for his clients, and to become his own boss. Bob's experience pursuing products liability cases against manufacturers served him well in achieving the ending of a multiyear vehicular homicide sentence for a defendant who asserted that his car's brakes did not work to avoid the fatal collision. Bob argued right up to the United States Supreme Court for the right to sue a United States Border Patrol agent for his cross-border fatal shooting of a teenager. Hernandez v. Mesa, 589 U.S. 93 (2000) (a 5-4 decision declining to permit such a cause of action for a cross-border shooting). Bob Hilliard pursues victory for his clients without ego, without airs, and with hard and smart work.In this episode, we talk about being authentic and powerfully vulnerable, and about the connections we make with our loved ones, with each other and with jurors. We include discussing our late friend Dax Cowart, and Bob talks about how meaningful it is to have Dax's walking stick in his office. Jon and Bob have not seen each other in person for years, and here pick up where they last left off, as if it was yesterday. This podcast is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

What do Gideon, Hawkeye and being a warrior have to do with beating the prosecution? Join us as Virginia criminal defense and DUI lawyer Jon Katz (who started his criminal defense career as a public defender lawyer)  talks with Northern Virginia public defender lawyers Shawn Stout and Shalev Ben-Avraham. Jon has deep respect and appreciation for both of these lawyers, who have been selfless in talking with Jon about challenging aspects of his cases and about defending all of our clients. Shawn has been involved in reforming the criminal justice system to the benefit of all defendants. Shalev is a fellow graduate of the multi-week Trial Lawyers College, and defended capital defendants before Virginia abolished state-sponsored killings. You will not want to miss this episode. This podcast is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Why does Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz's law firm symbol incorporate the taiji / yin yang / supreme ultimate symbol with the scales of justice? Because powerful balance and constant internal strengthening is needed to beat the disharmony of a prosecution, and because for decades Jon has incorporated his taijiquan / t'ai chi ch'uan martial art (the Yang style 37-posture short form modified by megaster Professor Cheng Man Ch'ing /CMC ) into his pursuing the best defense. Jon writes here about applying taijiquan and other vital internal practices to defending his clients. https://katzjustice.com/transcending-poop-in-virginia-defense-view-of-fairfax-criminal-lawyer/Our guest for this episode is Jon Katz's amazing taijiquan teacher and author T. Julian Chu, whose teacher Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo was a senior stident of Professor Cheng. Jon has himself been blessed to have attended several weekend taijiquan training sessions taught by Ben Lo, learning firsthand what Master Lo meant when saying "No pain, no gain. No burn no earn" and "My name is Ben Lo. Bend low." Jon has also had fhe good fortune talking with Ben several times during breaks from those teaching sessions. Julian Chu is an amazing teacher, person, taijiquan practitioner, and altruist for teaching this martial art. With only a week's advance notice to him of this podcast episode, Julian convincingly illustrates not only why taijiquan helps everyone, but also how this martial art benefits litigants and their lawyers, including criminal defense lawyers, even in the presence of an angry prosecutor and a very firm judge. Among the many lessons taught by Julian in this episode are the power of active softness (not limpness and not brittleness), balance, quieting the mind, and investing in loss. Julian talks about the powerful moving meditation and mindfulness aspects of taijiquan, and about the science that shows why this practice works beyond one'a imagination. Julian recommends the following website for learning more about taijiquan, where several of his articles are included https://taijidc.wordpress.comIf you wish to study taijquan, Julian recommends his senior students at Wei Hwa Chinese School in Fairfax County (https://www.weihwa.org), and Li Ming Chinese Academy in the Capital Beltway area (http://li-ming.org/en/)If you wish to see highly advanced taijiquan practitioners in action, visit one of the weekly Sunday (starts 10:00 a.m.) summer taijiquan gatherings, where Julian (occasionally, as he transitions to North Carolina), many of his students and others practice the taijiquan form, push hands, sword, spear and saber. These Sunday morning summer sessions have started, taking place at the David C. Chen Memorial Tai Chi Court in Cabin John Regional Park, Potomac, Maryland. This podcast is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

 What do keeping composure, staying off the witness stand, and grilling an admitted liar have to do with beating the prosecution? Join Fairfax, Northern Virginia criminal and DUI defense lawyer Jon Katz as he discusses lessons from the current prosecution against Donald Trump for what you and your attorney should and should not do on the path to obtaining as much justice as possible for you at trial. This podcast is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit BeatTheProsecution.com or contact us at info@BeatTheProsecution.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). Hear our prior podcasts, at https://podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com/If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675