Podcast appearances and mentions of justice commission

The Australian state of Victoria will be formally apologising to indigenous people for colonisation next month. The symbolic action will be delivered by State Premier Jacinta Allan - acknowledging ongoing harm and injustices and land being taken without consent. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says this comes after a first-nations Justice Commission report recommended 100 actions - and more changes will be made as a result. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ruth van Vierzen's journey began in 1970, the year she was born and David Milgaard was wrongfully convicted of murder. While Ruth built her life, Milgaard spent years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, until his release in 1992. This injustice inspired a remarkable advocacy journey that ultimately reshaped Canadian law. In 2019, after Milgaard advocated for an independent commission to address wrongful convictions, Ruth reached out to him via LinkedIn. This connection led to the formation of a powerful advocacy group, including lawyer James Lockyer, wrongfully imprisoned Ron Dalton, and filmmaker Lori Kuffner. Through strategic letter writing, media engagement, and lobbying, the group secured meetings with Justice Minister David Lametti, which ultimately led to the establishment of the Miscarriage of Justice Commission. This was significant because Canada was the only G7 nation without such a body to review wrongful convictions, despite numerous government recommendations. The commission is crucial for all Canadians, particularly Indigenous people who are disproportionately affected by wrongful convictions. Though Milgaard passed away in 2022 before the commission was fully implemented, his legacy lives on in the David and Joyce Milgaard's Law, a symbol of transformative advocacy. Ruth's story shows that meaningful change often starts with one person's determination to take action or refuse to give up. When we see injustice, we all have the power and perhaps the responsibility to be that person.  What issue matters enough to you that you would be willing to persist until you see change?Send BEHAS a text.Support the showTo Share - Connect & Relate: Share Your Thoughts and Shape the Show! Tell me what you love about the podcast and what you want to hear more about. Please email me at behas.podcast@gmail.com and be part of the conversation! To be on the show Podmatch Profile Ordinary people, extraordinary experiences - Real voices, real moments - ​Human connection through stories - Live true storytelling podcast - Confessions - First person emotional narratives - Unscripted Life Stories. Thank you for listening - Hasta Pronto!

Hello and welcome to the Monday Breakfast show for Monday the 14th of July 2025. On today's show: Headlines: French parliament recognises 'New Caledonia' as its own state despite Indigenous Kanak resistance. NDIA admits to removing participant from scheme following participant's alleged criticism of scheme on social media Last Monday members of the Allan government met with what's called the 'anti-hate task force' in response to a number of events around so-called Melbourne, including an attack on a synagogue and continued protest against genocide in Palestine and ties to Israel. Both the Allan government and multiple media outlets such as The Age, the Herald Sun and the ABC were quick to conflate these events as anti-Semitic in yet another attempt to stifle criticism of Israel, the Victorian government, and other entities which have partnered with the Zionist settler-colony. The Monday Breakfast show was joined by Ohad Kozminsky, executive member of the Jewish Council of Australia, an independent Jewish voice supporting human rights and opposing antisemitism and racism, to speak about the task force and the false conflation of anti-genocide protest with anti-Semitism. Edmi spoke with Ian Hamm about the Yoorrook Justice Commission report and its findings, the responsibilities of First Nations people and settlers alike in pushing for First Nations sovereignty and land back, as well as using a framework of looking to the future when taking part in the struggle. Ian is a Yorta Yorta man who has been actively involved in the Victorian Indigenous community in a personal and professional capacity for over 30 years. He has had a wide exposure to, and led, policy reform and program implementation for both the State and Federal Governments at executive level, mostly notably in Aboriginal Affairs. Since 2000, Ian has been a board member of a range of NFP's, including a number as Chair. He has led some of these organisations through change and adaption to ensure they are well placed for the challenges of improving the lives of people in a rapid changing environment. Ian is Chairperson of the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation, First Nations Foundation, and President of the Community Broadcasting Foundation up until a couple of weeks. He is also a Board Director on The Healing Foundation, Yarra Valley Water, and Aboriginal Housing Victoria. Ian is also a sessional panel member on the Australian Financial Complaints Authority and Planning Panels Victoria. We play a segment from the Earth Matters show, providing Sasha Mainbridge's perspective on what she's learnt from life after a flood and the need to build back better after extreme weather events. Sasha is a resident of Mullumbimby, in the flood-prone Northern Rivers region of NSW, She is the founder and president of Mullum Cares, a non-profit organisation that focuses on resource conservation. Listen to the full episode and more from the Earth Matters crew at 3CR.org.au/earthmatters or listen live on Sunday from 11 to 11:30AM. The show ends with a conversation between Edmi and Emily, one of the editors from Dissolution Magazine, a local radical print publication. (Dis)solution creates and publishes work to unravel the knots of injustice in the post-end-of-history Anthropocene. It turns a critical eye to the machinations of exploitation at the intersections of politic, culture, and ecology, and the crisis and contradiction that follows. (Dis)solution believes in work that analyzes our world without insularity, work that informs our everyday-political movement through the eroding topographies of the 21st century—not merely to understand it, but to change it. Read more about Dissolution mag here.  Community announcements: Sri Lanka's tea industry – the second-biggest source of tea imports to Australia – is at a turning point. Plantation workers, who already work to unfair quotas in unsafe conditions, have been facing a shift from permanent, full-time employment to casualisation – losingincome, benefits, leave, job security and the right to unionise. On Saturday 19 July at Balam Balam Place, join Ceylon Workers' Red Flag Union activist Menaha Kandasamy to learn about their struggle for a fairer life, and find out how you can support them. Balam Balam Place is wheelchair accessible, masks are encouraged. Read more about the event here.   Songs played: SONGS PLAYED:'I Care' - Turnstile [https://lajuardi7.bandcamp.com/track/i-care]'Let Love Rule' - Archie Roach [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdHHL_kOEW4]'Forging On' - Turnstile [https://outright-hc.bandcamp.com/track/forging-on]'All For One' - Caution [https://mobcaution.bandcamp.com/track/all-for-one]

Victoria's inaugural treaty advancement commissioner, Aunty Jill Gallagher, has been questioned by Tom Elliott on the Yoorrook Justice Commission report, which has been tabled in parliament.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

*This episode of Doin' Time contains audio images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have died, and discussion of Deaths in Custody. On this week's episode of the Doin' Time show, Marisa had an extended interview with Marie Mitchell a proud Yorta Yorta woman from the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service,Director of Community Justice Programs. Marie joined Marisa on the show  to discuss deaths in custody, and Vals' services. Truth-telling, particularly in the context of overpolicing,  Aboriginal deaths in custody, child protection, the Yoorook report and the impacts of colonisation were discussed. Marie shared some of her personal story as well.Marisa then spoke to Brett Collins who updated listeners on the work of Justice Action, with a particular focus on Youth Justice and computers in cells to aid with education and external counselling.

*Content Warning: This episode of Doin' Time contains audio images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have died, and discussion of Deaths in Custody. Marisa speaks with  with Travis Lovett, a proud Kerrupmara/Gunditjmara man,Traditional Owner, and Deputy Chair and Commissioner of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, who has spent his life advocating for truth and justice for First Peoples. They discuss The Walk for Truth, Travis will be walking from Portland to Parliament from May 25 to June 18 to bring Victorians together as part of the state's truth-telling process. Travis is passionate about practicing his Culture, working with Community and preserving Aboriginal languages. They also reflect on the fact that the four year Commission will end on 30 June 2025.We also hear speeches by Rathy Barthlote from Refugee Women Action for Visa Equality, and Jasmine Fischer, a member of the Refugee Action Collective (Vic), introduced by Nasser Mashni, President of APAN, from yesterday's Palm Sunday Refugee Rally which was combined with the Palestine rally outside the State Library Victoria in Naarm.  

Bridget Brennan discusses her groundbreaking Four Corners investigation into Victorias Yoorrook Justice Commision. 

Quang Nguyen joins the show.

Transcripts and some chapter headings are AI Generated. They are not authoritative. Always refer to the actual content of the podcast. Please support Tommy's work: Urban Scoop SupportIn this inaugural episode of Battlefield USA, we delve into a deeply disturbing issue that has plagued the UK: the grooming gangs scandal. Our guest, Raja Miha, a decorated public servant and whistleblower, shares his harrowing journey of exposing the grooming and gang rape of young British working-class white girls by predominantly Pakistani gangs in Oldham. Raja discusses the political cover-ups, the racial motivations behind these crimes, and the systemic failures of the authorities to protect vulnerable children.Raja recounts his personal experiences of being labeled a racist and far-right activist by British politicians for speaking out against these atrocities. He highlights the political motivations behind the cover-ups, including the manipulation of postal votes and the influence of powerful MPs who fear exposure.The episode also explores the cultural prejudices ingrained within certain communities that have allowed these crimes to persist, and the societal implications of failing to safeguard children. Raja's story is one of resilience and determination, as he continues to fight for justice despite facing political persecution and threats to his life.We also discuss the recent parliamentary vote against a national inquiry into the grooming gangs, the implications of this decision, and the need for a Truth and Justice Commission to address the systematic grooming and gang rape of children in the UK.This episode is a call to action, urging listeners to not remain silent in the face of such grave injustices and to continue the fight for the protection of society's most vulnerable.

Social Affairs Correspondent Ailbhe Conneely has this report.

Join the conversation with C4 & Bryan Nehman. The chairman of the juvenile justice commission sat down with WBAL TV 11.  Nate Silver went off on election polls on a recent podcast.  Bill Maher talks Chicago teachers & the union on his show.  Many voters are upset over a recent mailer that went out.  Anthony Ambridge joined the show discussing opposition of Question F.  Chuck Todd, NBC News Chief Political Analyst joined the show discussing the upcoming election.  Listen to C4 and Bryan Nehman live every weekday from 5:30-10:00 a.m. ET on WBAL News Radio 1090, FM101.5, and the WBAL Radio App!

Mere days before the election, Torrey discusses the issues voters are considering as they head to the ballot box.  We discuss how voters are influenced by campaign messaging. We also talk about Gov. Moore's new Juvenile Justice Commission, and if it will have an impact on crime.  We also discuss the foreign policy implications of Trump vs. Harris.

Lecture summary: Part 1 of the Lecture focuses on the development of the right to self-determination as a rule of customary international law and its application to the Chagos Archipelago, Africa and the Commonwealth Caribbean. The adoption of Resolution 1514 by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 14, 1960 was a decisive element in the development of the customary character of the right to self-determination. After that transformational development it was colonial peoples, not colonial powers, who determined their independence and its form e.g. whether based on a republican system or a UK parliamentary system. Thus, after that time the colonial powers were under an obligation to respect the right of colonial peoples to ‘freely determine their political status', and any breach of that obligation would entail their international responsibility. Part 11 addresses the status of the right to self-determination as a norm of jus cogens, and concludes that on the basis of the relevant evidentiary material, the right to self-determination is a peremptory norm of general international law. Part 111 focuses on the right to self-determination in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Disappointment is expressed at the lack of clarity in the ICJ's treatment in its recent Advisory Opinion of the jus cogens character of the right to self-determination in cases of foreign occupation. Speaker: Judge Patrick Robinson 1. In 1964 graduated from the University College of the West Indies -London with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Latin and Economics. 2. In 1968, called to the Bar at Middle Temple, in which year also completed the LLB degree from London University. In 1972, completed the LLM degree in International Law at Kings College, London University. 3. Jamaica's representative to the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the UN General Assembly from 1972 to 1998. Led treaty -making negotiations on behalf of Jamaica in several areas, including extradition, mutual legal assistance and investment promotion and protection. 4. From 1988 to 1995, served as a member of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, including as the President in 1991. From 1991 to 1996, member of the International Law Commission. From 1995 to 1996, member of the Haiti Truth and Justice Commission. 5. In 1998 elected a Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and served as the Tribunal's President from 2008 to 2011; presided over the trial of Slobodan Milosevic. 6. In 2020 appointed Honorary President of the American Society of International Law (ASIL); in that capacity, in collaboration with ASIL and the University of the West Indies, organized two International Symposia which led to the launch on June 8, 2023 of the historic Report on Reparations for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery (TCS) in the Americas and the Caribbean, which quantified for the first time the reparations due from the practice of TCS in the Caribbean, Central America, South America and North America. 7. Elected a Judge of the International Court of Justice in 2014 and demitted office on February 5, 2024. The Eli Lauterpacht Lecture was established after Sir Eli's death in 2017 to celebrate his life and work. This lecture takes place on a Friday at the Centre at the start of the Michaelmas Term in any academic year. These lectures are kindly supported by Dr and Mrs Ivan Berkowitz who are Principal Benefactors of the Centre.

Lecture summary: Part 1 of the Lecture focuses on the development of the right to self-determination as a rule of customary international law and its application to the Chagos Archipelago, Africa and the Commonwealth Caribbean. The adoption of Resolution 1514 by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 14, 1960 was a decisive element in the development of the customary character of the right to self-determination. After that transformational development it was colonial peoples, not colonial powers, who determined their independence and its form e.g. whether based on a republican system or a UK parliamentary system. Thus, after that time the colonial powers were under an obligation to respect the right of colonial peoples to ‘freely determine their political status’, and any breach of that obligation would entail their international responsibility. Part 11 addresses the status of the right to self-determination as a norm of jus cogens, and concludes that on the basis of the relevant evidentiary material, the right to self-determination is a peremptory norm of general international law. Part 111 focuses on the right to self-determination in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Disappointment is expressed at the lack of clarity in the ICJ’s treatment in its recent Advisory Opinion of the jus cogens character of the right to self-determination in cases of foreign occupation. Speaker: Judge Patrick Robinson 1. In 1964 graduated from the University College of the West Indies -London with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Latin and Economics. 2. In 1968, called to the Bar at Middle Temple, in which year also completed the LLB degree from London University. In 1972, completed the LLM degree in International Law at Kings College, London University. 3. Jamaica’s representative to the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the UN General Assembly from 1972 to 1998. Led treaty -making negotiations on behalf of Jamaica in several areas, including extradition, mutual legal assistance and investment promotion and protection. 4. From 1988 to 1995, served as a member of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, including as the President in 1991. From 1991 to 1996, member of the International Law Commission. From 1995 to 1996, member of the Haiti Truth and Justice Commission. 5. In 1998 elected a Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and served as the Tribunal’s President from 2008 to 2011; presided over the trial of Slobodan Milosevic. 6. In 2020 appointed Honorary President of the American Society of International Law (ASIL); in that capacity, in collaboration with ASIL and the University of the West Indies, organized two International Symposia which led to the launch on June 8, 2023 of the historic Report on Reparations for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery (TCS) in the Americas and the Caribbean, which quantified for the first time the reparations due from the practice of TCS in the Caribbean, Central America, South America and North America. 7. Elected a Judge of the International Court of Justice in 2014 and demitted office on February 5, 2024. The Eli Lauterpacht Lecture was established after Sir Eli's death in 2017 to celebrate his life and work. This lecture takes place on a Friday at the Centre at the start of the Michaelmas Term in any academic year. These lectures are kindly supported by Dr and Mrs Ivan Berkowitz who are Principal Benefactors of the Centre.

Lecture summary: Part 1 of the Lecture focuses on the development of the right to self-determination as a rule of customary international law and its application to the Chagos Archipelago, Africa and the Commonwealth Caribbean. The adoption of Resolution 1514 by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 14, 1960 was a decisive element in the development of the customary character of the right to self-determination. After that transformational development it was colonial peoples, not colonial powers, who determined their independence and its form e.g. whether based on a republican system or a UK parliamentary system. Thus, after that time the colonial powers were under an obligation to respect the right of colonial peoples to ‘freely determine their political status', and any breach of that obligation would entail their international responsibility. Part 11 addresses the status of the right to self-determination as a norm of jus cogens, and concludes that on the basis of the relevant evidentiary material, the right to self-determination is a peremptory norm of general international law. Part 111 focuses on the right to self-determination in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Disappointment is expressed at the lack of clarity in the ICJ's treatment in its recent Advisory Opinion of the jus cogens character of the right to self-determination in cases of foreign occupation. Speaker: Judge Patrick Robinson 1. In 1964 graduated from the University College of the West Indies -London with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Latin and Economics. 2. In 1968, called to the Bar at Middle Temple, in which year also completed the LLB degree from London University. In 1972, completed the LLM degree in International Law at Kings College, London University. 3. Jamaica's representative to the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the UN General Assembly from 1972 to 1998. Led treaty -making negotiations on behalf of Jamaica in several areas, including extradition, mutual legal assistance and investment promotion and protection. 4. From 1988 to 1995, served as a member of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, including as the President in 1991. From 1991 to 1996, member of the International Law Commission. From 1995 to 1996, member of the Haiti Truth and Justice Commission. 5. In 1998 elected a Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and served as the Tribunal's President from 2008 to 2011; presided over the trial of Slobodan Milosevic. 6. In 2020 appointed Honorary President of the American Society of International Law (ASIL); in that capacity, in collaboration with ASIL and the University of the West Indies, organized two International Symposia which led to the launch on June 8, 2023 of the historic Report on Reparations for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery (TCS) in the Americas and the Caribbean, which quantified for the first time the reparations due from the practice of TCS in the Caribbean, Central America, South America and North America. 7. Elected a Judge of the International Court of Justice in 2014 and demitted office on February 5, 2024. The Eli Lauterpacht Lecture was established after Sir Eli's death in 2017 to celebrate his life and work. This lecture takes place on a Friday at the Centre at the start of the Michaelmas Term in any academic year. These lectures are kindly supported by Dr and Mrs Ivan Berkowitz who are Principal Benefactors of the Centre.

Lecture summary: Part 1 of the Lecture focuses on the development of the right to self-determination as a rule of customary international law and its application to the Chagos Archipelago, Africa and the Commonwealth Caribbean. The adoption of Resolution 1514 by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 14, 1960 was a decisive element in the development of the customary character of the right to self-determination. After that transformational development it was colonial peoples, not colonial powers, who determined their independence and its form e.g. whether based on a republican system or a UK parliamentary system. Thus, after that time the colonial powers were under an obligation to respect the right of colonial peoples to ‘freely determine their political status', and any breach of that obligation would entail their international responsibility. Part 11 addresses the status of the right to self-determination as a norm of jus cogens, and concludes that on the basis of the relevant evidentiary material, the right to self-determination is a peremptory norm of general international law. Part 111 focuses on the right to self-determination in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Disappointment is expressed at the lack of clarity in the ICJ's treatment in its recent Advisory Opinion of the jus cogens character of the right to self-determination in cases of foreign occupation. Speaker: Judge Patrick Robinson 1. In 1964 graduated from the University College of the West Indies -London with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Latin and Economics. 2. In 1968, called to the Bar at Middle Temple, in which year also completed the LLB degree from London University. In 1972, completed the LLM degree in International Law at Kings College, London University. 3. Jamaica's representative to the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the UN General Assembly from 1972 to 1998. Led treaty -making negotiations on behalf of Jamaica in several areas, including extradition, mutual legal assistance and investment promotion and protection. 4. From 1988 to 1995, served as a member of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, including as the President in 1991. From 1991 to 1996, member of the International Law Commission. From 1995 to 1996, member of the Haiti Truth and Justice Commission. 5. In 1998 elected a Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and served as the Tribunal's President from 2008 to 2011; presided over the trial of Slobodan Milosevic. 6. In 2020 appointed Honorary President of the American Society of International Law (ASIL); in that capacity, in collaboration with ASIL and the University of the West Indies, organized two International Symposia which led to the launch on June 8, 2023 of the historic Report on Reparations for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery (TCS) in the Americas and the Caribbean, which quantified for the first time the reparations due from the practice of TCS in the Caribbean, Central America, South America and North America. 7. Elected a Judge of the International Court of Justice in 2014 and demitted office on February 5, 2024. The Eli Lauterpacht Lecture was established after Sir Eli's death in 2017 to celebrate his life and work. This lecture takes place on a Friday at the Centre at the start of the Michaelmas Term in any academic year. These lectures are kindly supported by Dr and Mrs Ivan Berkowitz who are Principal Benefactors of the Centre.

Welcome to the Monday Breakfast show for October 21st, 2024.On todays show:Interview with Sue-Ann Hunter on Yoorook Justice Commission - Marisa speaks to Sue-Ann Hunter, Deputy Chair & Commissioner of Yoorrook Justice Commission, to provide updates on Victoria's Truth-Telling process and the land injustice inquiryAudio from the Public Forum for CFMEU Solidarity, hosted by the Migrant Workers' Federation last Wednesday October 10th at Democritus [pron. deh-moh-kritess] House in Thornbury.We hear some opening comments from Agapi Pashos, secretary of the Greek Democritus Workers' League & Renata Musolino, longtime OH&S officer at Victorian Trades Hall Council (Renata discussing 54th anniversary of Westgate bridge collapse: Tues Oct 15th).Interview with Kalyani Inpakumar, NSW Tamil Refugee Council coordinator and an organiser of the Sydney camp outside Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke's. Interview with Marissa on the Refugee encampments and encouraging listeners to attend the encampment leading up to the 100th day of protest Songs:Cremsian, Alabaster DePlume, Laith Albandak 7:18DePlume's new digital EP titled Cremisan: Prologue to a Blade; The EP features two tracks recorded earlier this year in Bethlehem, Palestine with pianist Sami El Enaniand Qanoun player Laith Albandak, and a third track inspired by the experience of living insolidarity with the people of Palestine.Canto de Ossanha, Baden Powel 04:15minsBaden Powell, was a Brazilian guitarist. He combined classical techniques with popular harmony and swing.He performed in many styles, including bossa nova, samba, Brazilian jazz, and Latin jazz coloured concrete, Nemaphsis 3:09minsNemah Hasan, known professionally as Nemahsis,is a Palestinian Canadian singer-songwriter from Toronto, OntarioCase of You, Joni Mitchell

A Miscarriage of Justice Commission Report can be read hereInjustices and Miscarriages of Justice Experienced by 12 Indigenous Women report can be read online hereConviction Integrity: The Canadian Miscarriages of Justice Commission by Carrie Leonetti, University of Auckland can be found hereThe brief submitted by the Hon. Harry Laforme, Hon. Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré, and Kent Roach to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights can be found hereNative Women's Association of Canada's submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights can be found hereSubmission of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies can be read hereUniversity of British Columbia's Innocence Project brief can be read hereBILL C-40, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, to make consequential amendments to other Acts and to repeal a regulation (miscarriage of justice reviews) is accessible here

In this episode, Caroline is joined by Travis Lovett, Deputy Chair and Commissioner of the Yoorrook Justice Commission. A proud Kerrupmara Gunditjmara Traditional Owner, Travis plays a key role in the first formal truth-telling process into historical and ongoing injustices experienced by First Peoples in Victoria, the Yoorrook Justice Commission. The Commission, established by an agreement between the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria and the Victorian Government, operates independently of both. It delivered an interim report in June 2022, and a critical issues report in August 2023, and will present a final report in 2025. The Commission is led by five Commissioners, with three being Aboriginal. They bring extensive knowledge and experience in areas such as First Peoples' knowledge, systemic disadvantage, land rights, history, law, trauma, and healing. In this episode, Travis shares his personal story, discusses what it's like being part of a big family and mob, and talks about his many passions, including being a dad, practising his Culture, working with Community, and preserving Aboriginal languages. Travis and Caroline discuss some of the most significant evidence of past injustices which have come forward. Commissioner Lovett also walks listeners through the truth-telling process, providing valuable insights into the important hearings taking place and the steps ahead. To follow the great work the Yoorrok Justice Commission are doing, visit their website https://yoorrookjusticecommission.org.au/ To follow Travis's journey then please visit his instagram page HERE. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review and don't forget to follow the show!  Follow Caroline on Instagram @blak_wattle_coaching and learn more about working with Caroline here!  If this episode has brought up anything for you contact 13YARN on 13 92 76. Or, visit the following pages for more useful contacts and support Where can I get help | R U OK? We would like to acknowledge Aboriginal people as Australia's First Peoples' who have never ceded their sovereignty. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri/Woiwurrung people of the Kulin Nation where the podcast was taped. We pay our deepest respects to Traditional Owners across Australia and Elders past, present and emerging. This podcast was brought to you by On Track Studio. www.ontrackstudio.com.au @on.track.studio For advertising opportunities please email hello@ontrackstudio.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Ayotzinapa massacre refers to the enforced disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teacher Training College in Mexico on the night of September 26, 2014. The students were intercepted by municipal police while traveling to a protest and were later handed over to a criminal gang, Guerreros Unidos. The Mexican government's initial investigation, which claimed that the students were killed and burned at a landfill, was widely criticized and deemed fabricated.Recent investigations have revealed that the disappearances were a state crime, involving various levels of government and military officials. Reports indicate that military personnel not only monitored the students' movements but also participated in their abduction. Additionally, the Mexican army had wiretapped communications related to the crime but withheld this information for years. New evidence suggests that some students were kept alive for several days before being killed on orders from military officers.The families of the disappeared students, along with human rights organizations, have continuously fought for justice. The current Mexican administration, led by President López Obrador, has established a Truth and Justice Commission to re-examine the case. This commission has made some progress, including issuing arrest warrants for high-ranking officials and military personnel involved in the cover-up and enforced disappearances.(commercial at 10:36)to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Iguala mass kidnapping: Guerreros Unidos cartel massacre of 43 innocent students in 2014 involved corrupt Mexican cops and soldiers, newly revealed text messages show | Daily Mail Online

In this episode, Oliver Traldi, a John and Daria Barry Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the James Madison Program at Princeton University, discusses his new book "Political Beliefs: A Philosophical Introduction," which is published by Routledge. Here is the description of the book:Anyone who's had an argument about politics with a friend may walk away wondering how this friend could possibly hold the beliefs they do. A few self-reflective people might even wonder about their own political beliefs after such an argument. This book is about the reasons that people have, and could have, for political beliefs: the evidence they might draw on, the psychological sources of their views, and the question of how we ought to form our political beliefs if we want to be rational.The book's twenty-four chapters are divided into four larger parts, which cover the following: (1) the differences between political and other types of beliefs, (2) theories of political belief formation, (3) sources of our political beliefs and how we might evaluate them, and (4) contemporary phenomena – like polarization, fake news, and conspiracy theories – related to political beliefs. Along the way, the book addresses questions that will arise naturally for many readers, like:Does the news you choose to watch and your own social media leave you stuck in an “information bubble”?Are you committed to a certain ideology because of the history of your society?Are people who believe “fake news“ always acting irrationally?Does democracy do a good job of figuring out what's true?Are some political beliefs good and some evil?As the book investigates these and other questions, it delves into technical, philosophical topics like epistemic normativity, the connection between belief and action, pragmatic encroachment, debunking arguments, and ideology critique. Chapter summaries and discussion questions will help students and all interested readers better grasp this new, important area on the border of politics and philosophy.Traldi is on Twitter at @olivertraldi. The PDF version of his book is available for free on the Routledge website.This episode was hosted by Elizabeth Schiller, who is the Staff Director for the Virginia Access to Justice Commission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nevena and Janet talk to Dechlan Brennan about Yoorook Justice Commission updates. Appearing before the Yoorrook Justice Commission, the Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos acknowledged royalties agreements were intentionally legislated and... LEARN MORE The post Saturday, 11th May, 2024: Freelance Journalist Dechlan Brennan. Yoorrook Justice Commission updates. appeared first on Saturday Magazine.

 Acknowledgement of Country// Headlines// We played a speech given by Declan Furber-Gillick, Eastern Arrernte man and member of the Black Peoples Union and Unionists for Palestine, at the April 15th rally at the Victorian Parliament steps launching the campaign to Get Elbit Out of Victoria. The campaign aims to end the state government's contracts with israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems as part of the global solidarity movement fighting for a free Palestine.// Content note: this interview contains discussion of massacres and systemic harm towards First Nations people. For support, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners can call 13 YARN on 13 92 76 or Yarning Safe'n'Strong on 1800 959 563. Listeners can also contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.  We heard part two of a conversation with Yoorrook Justice Commisioner Travis Lovett who joined Leila last week to share updates from the Yoorrook Justice Commission's land justice hearings. In this part of the discussion, Commissioner Lovett contextualises on-Country evidence given at the March 21st ceremonial hearings within histories of Victorian First Nations aquaculture, science and lore, long-standing strategies of resistance, and the ongoing impacts of colonisation. Listen back to part 1 here. Make a submission to the Justice Commission here.// El Gibbs, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Disability Advocacy Network Australia, spoke with us about last month's introduction of legislation aiming to amend the operation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in response to last year's NDIS review report. The legislation, put forward by Minister for the NDIS Bill Shorten, risks further undermining access to vital NDIS-funded supports for people with a disability in Australia.// Dr Stephen Townsend, Research Fellow at the University of Queensland's School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, joins us to talk about the management of concussion in elite Australian sporting codes, focusing on the AFL and AFLW. Despite the progressive introduction of concussion management protocols at both elite and community levels, serious concerns remain about how to safeguard athletes' health in an inherently risky game. Stephen is an historian who seeks to reveal the hidden past of sports concussion in Australia and internationally. You can find him on Twitter(X) @historycrab and at The Conversation.// Songs//For My Tittas - Barkaa//Indigenous Land - DRMNGNOW//

In this episode of Your Next Mission® video podcast, COL Jim D. Seward, Director of Veterans Justice Commission joins us for an insightful conversation. COL Seward sheds light on the chief priorities of the commission, while discussing the extent and nature of Veterans involvement in the criminal justice system and developing recommendations for evidence-based policy changes that enhance safety, health, and justice. Additionally, he focuses this powerful discussion on how we can help our Veterans who become lost in the system while educating agencies across the nation on ways to provide support. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yournextmission/message

Dr. Sandie Morgan is joined by Panida Rzonca as the two discuss the importance of organizations who provide services to those of different cultures, specifically the Asian Pacific Islander community. Panida Rzonca Panida has been working with Thai victims of human trafficking at Thai CDC since 2007. Panida oversees and provides all direct social and legal services at Thai CDC. Panida's experience includes clerking at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) where she worked with both clients of labor and sex trafficking. Currently, Panida is primarily assisting victims of sex trafficking from what may be the largest Thai sex trafficking enterprise to date. She provides counsel to victims who are called upon to be federal witnesses, provides immigration legal services and also case manages comprehensive social services including reporting trafficking cases to law enforcement and assisting victims in navigating the legal system to obtain immigration status, restitution, and ultimately, justice. In addition to her work in anti-human trafficking, Panida has been involved with both labor and housing rights advocacy. She is dedicated to workers' rights advocacy within the Thai community working on public awareness campaigns and direct services to help workers navigate governmental agencies for wage and fair labor standard claims. Panida is a HUD certified housing counselor, providing counseling to Thais with limited English proficiency that are in danger of losing their homes. Panida is determined to continue assisting the underserved through the Slavery Eradication and Rights Initiative (SERI) Project campaign to raise awareness of the Anti-Human Trafficking Program at Thai CDC. Panida is also a member of the California State Bar Access to Justice Commission and the 2018 President of the Thai American Bar Association. Panida finished her J.D. at Southwestern School of Law and her B.A. in Political Science with a focus on International Relations at the University of California at San Diego. Key Points The Thai Community Development Center is a community economic development organization that focuses on increasing economic mobility among Thais and other ethnic minorities in the greater Los Angeles area. With a grant from the Department of Justice Office of Victims of Crime, the Asian Pacific Islander Human Trafficking Task Force, Thai Community Development Center, and other sister agencies, are able to provide services in several Asian languages. The Asian Pacific Islander Human Trafficking task force does provides technical assistance through a variety of training, to its sister organizations, ensuring that they are all equipped to properly serve victims of sex and labor trafficking. When aiding victims of different cultures, it is important to understand the culture's dynamics and language to better serve the victim. Resources Asian Pacific Island Human Trafficking Task Force  Thai Community Development Center California Access to Justice Commission  Asian Pacific Islander Equity Alliance Office for Victims of Crime Asian Americans Advancing Justice  Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking  Korean-American Family Services  Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles Pacific-Asian Counseling Services South-Asian Network  Transcript Sandra Morgan 0:00 You're listening to the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast. This is episode #309: The Asian Pacific Island Human Trafficking Task Force, with Panida Rzonca. Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast here at Vanguard University's Global Center for Women and Justice in Orange County, California. My name is Sandie Morgan and this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Our guest today is Panida, the directing attorney at the Thai Community Development Center where she manages the delivery of legal and ...

This week on Conflict Managed, we are thrilled to have Lindsay Frilling, CEO of the Obion County Joint Economic Development Corporation, as our special guest.

In a world where legal representation can be prohibitively expensive, many individuals are left navigating complex legal matters on their own. But what if there was a way to bridge the gap, making justice more accessible to everyone? Join us on "Access to Justice Unveiled," where we explore the fascinating world of relaxed regulations on who can practice law, with the aim of improving access to justice for those who cannot afford attorney's fees.Meet NALA and NC State Bar Certified paralegal, [Your Name], who not only works as a project manager for the Access to Justice Commission but also runs a thriving freelance paralegal business. As a council member for the NC Justice for All Project, she is at the forefront of an initiative to bring limited licensure of paralegals to North Carolina. Her passion for justice and her dedication to making legal services more accessible are truly inspiring.In this podcast, [Your Name] delves into the intricacies of limited licensure for paralegals and its potential impact on individuals seeking legal assistance. She shares insights, stories, and experiences that shed light on the challenges and opportunities in this evolving legal landscape.If you've ever wondered about the future of legal services, the role of paralegals in expanding access to justice, or the innovative work being done by the NC Justice for All Project, then this podcast is a must-listen. Join us as we explore the possibilities of a more inclusive legal system and discover how it could change the lives of countless individuals.To learn more about the NC Justice for All Project and [Your Name]'s work, visit their websites:- NC Justice for All Project: https://www.ncjfap.org/](https://www.ncjfap.org/- Royal Touch Project Solutions: https://www.royaltouchprojectsolutions.com/ https://www.royaltouchprojectsolutions.com/Don't miss out on this eye-opening journey into the world of legal access and empowerment. Subscribe to "Access to Justice Unveiled" today!Set your meeting today: https://calendly.com/edarosa-law/15min?back=1&month=2023-10 Links to current sponsors:Intrepid Paralegals: https://ipsvirtual.com/Affirm Investigative solutions: https://affirmpi.com/Wynter Immigration Law Academy: https://immigrationlawacademy.club/Pictera Solutions: https://picterasolutions.com/Thank you for your interest! Hope to see you soon!Affirm Investigations Solutions Wondering if you have what you need to take on and ultimately win your client's legal case? AffirUnited Latinas, Inc. Elevating and preparing Latinas that are transforming the world! Join United Latinas today! Hectic The Freelancer App Opening your business is hard enough. The Hectic App helps you run your business! Get Staffed Up Get Staffed Up, the leading virtual staffing company for law firms in the United States! Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showFollow us on: LinkedIn Instagram @edarosallc1 Facebook

Pamela Moore, MA, LPCC, currently serves as a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Director of the State Bar of New Mexico's Professional Programs Group where she educates the legal community on positive health and well-being and assists in providing resources and services to any legal professional struggling with mental, emotional, or behavioral issues.  Ms. Moore served as an advisory member to the National Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs in 2019 and 2020 and is the New Mexico representative for the Institute for Well Being in Law.Tenessa Eakinscurrently serves as the Manager of the State Bar of New Mexico Lawyer Assistance Program (NM LAP). She oversees a 24-hour helpline for lawyers, law students, and all other legal professionals while also managing the NM LAP monitoring program, maintaining the program database, assists with varying levels of client treatment, program agreements, and helps to educate the legal community on positive health and well-being.  Ms. Eakins used to serve as an EMT-B for the 911 services of San Diego, California from 2010 - 2014.Amanda Parker, PhD Dr. Amanda Parker is a writer, researcher, and educator from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her PhD is focused on critical race studies in education and society. Her academic work and teaching concentrated on the intersection of race and gender, building solidarity, developing critically conscious teachers, and examining racism in families. Dr. Parker is the Director of the Equity in Justice Program at the State Bar of New Mexico. In this role she is fostering community relationships, leading educational efforts, and building programs to address equity and inclusion for judges, lawyers, and law students. She collaborates with the Equity in Justice Commission and other entities that are working together on reform. She lives in Albuquerque with her daughters and can be found walking her poorly behaved dogs and practicing yoga in her free time.William D. Slease (“Bill”) is the Professional Development Program Director for the State Bar of New Mexico.In addition to his duties at the State Bar, he serves as an adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law where he teaches Ethics, 1L Lab, and serves as a practice skills evaluator for the evidence-trial practice skills course.Judith GordonJudith Gordon works with law firms, individual attorneys and practice groups, equipping them with tools and strategies that empower them to lead and excel in practice without burnout. Her individual coaching and collaborative workplace programs equip professionals with the skills needed to optimize productivity and high-performance, build confidence and resilience, reduce stress, and work better together, to increase professional satisfaction and the bottom line. Judith is the founder of LeaderEsQ, LLC, a coaching and training consultancy, and she is on faculty at UCLA School of Law where she has been teaching emotional intelligence, stress management, and high-performance skills for the past decade.Disclaimer: Thank you for listening! This episode was produced by the State Bar of New Mexico's Well-Being Committee and the New Mexico Lawyer Assistance Program. All editing and sound mixing was done by BlueSky eLearn. Intro music is by Gil Flores. The views of the presenters are that of their own and are not endorsed by the State Bar of New Mexico or the Department of Justice. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment or legal advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

*Content Warning: This episode of Doin' Time contains audio images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have died, and of deaths in custody. First up on today's show, Marisa speaks with Sue-Anne Hunter who is a proud Wurundjeri and Ngurai (Nu-Ray) Illum Wurrung woman and Deputy Chair and Commissioner with the Yoorrook Justice Commission. She informs listeners on Yoorrook's work toward Treaty in Victoria through redress and address of the historical and contemporary systemic injustices against First Nations people. With in-depth discussion of the public hearings they have been running since her last Doin' Time interview in February, she highlights the importance of making public record of the true history in this state.  Next, Marisa speaks with David Mejia-Canales (Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre) about HRLC's call for the South Australian legislative council to block the proposed anti-protest laws that were recently rushed through the SA House of Assembly, discussing the potentially disastrous consequences of eroding civil liberties such as peaceful protest in this country.  Last up on the program, David Glanz from Refugee Action Collective (Vic) joins the program to discuss updates and news about refugees and asylum seekers, in particular about a forum being held on 29th May on the problem of children in detention and also of those who may live in the community, but in the precarious situation where lack of permanency denies them a future. Listeners are encouraged to get involved with regular events held by RAC Vic - check out their Facebook page here. Head to www.3cr.org.au/dointime for full access to links and previous podcasts.

As we've discussed many times on the podcast, the access to justice gap is a particularly complex challenge to address, due to its links to systemic issues such as poverty and limited availability to legal resources and technology. Today's guest, however, is helping people overcome these broader obstacles to legal services. Amanda Brown is the founder and executive director of Lagniappe Law Lab. The organization's mission is to facilitate access to justice at scale for Louisiana's underprivileged populations through the use of technology, human-centered design, and operations principles. Upon graduating law school, Amanda was a disaster recovery attorney, using technology to assist victims of disasters with accessing public benefits and title clearing. She then worked as a Microsoft NextGen Fellow for the American Bar Association's Center for Innovation, helping support the design and development of the Legal Services Corporation's legal navigator program, which connects those in need with legal resources available to them. She went on to serve as a legal technology consultant for the Louisiana Bar Foundation on its statewide triage portal. Drawing on these experiences in legal tech and the A2J space, Amanda founded Lagniappe Law Lab in 2019. She is also co-chair of Louisiana's Access to Justice Commission's technology subcommittee, and she is a member of the Legal Services Corporation's Emerging Leaders Council. Today, Amanda tells us about Lagniappe Law Lab—and how the team is incorporating human-centered design in its work, the unique challenges that the Lab's clients face in Louisiana, and how she entered the A2J path.

Dr. Joseph Graves, Jr. received his Ph.D. in Environmental, Evolutionary and Systematic Biology from Wayne State University in 1988. In 1994 he was elected a Fellow of the Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS.) In 2012, he was chosen as one of the “Sensational Sixty” commemorating 60 years of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Award.  In 2017, he was listed as an “Outstanding Graduates” in Biology at Oberlin College; and was an “Innovator of the Year” in US Black Engineer Magazine. His research in the evolutionary genomics of adaptation shapes our understanding of biological aging and bacterial responses to nanomaterials. He is presently Associate Director/co-PI of the Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) Engineering Research Center of Excellence (Gen-4 ERC) funded by the National Science Foundation (2022—2027). His book on nanomaterials is entitled: Principles and Applications of Antimicrobial Nanomaterials, (Amsterdam NE: Elsevier),  2021.  His books on the biology of race are entitled: The Emperor's New Clothes: Biological Theories of Race at the Millennium, Rutgers University Press, 2005 and The Race Myth: Why We Pretend Race Exists in America, Dutton Press, 2005; with Alan Goodman, Racism, Not Race: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, Columbia University Press, 2021. Racism, Not Race was named by Kirkus Reviews as “One of the Best Non-Fiction 2021” and to its “Best Books About Being Black in America 2021”.  Finally, his biopic work entitled, A Voice in the Wilderness: A Pioneering Biologist Explains How Evolution Can Help Us Solve Our Biggest Problems, (New York: Basic Books), 2022. He leads programs addressing underrepresentation of minorities in science. He had aided underserved youth in Greensboro via the YMCA chess program.  He has also served on the Racial Reconciliation and Justice Commission, and COVID Vaccination Task Fore of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. He also served as the science advisor to the Chicago, New Brunswick, and Methodist of Ohio Theological Seminaries through the AAAS Dialogues of Science, Ethics, and Religion (DoSER) program.

  *Content Warning: This episode of Doin' Time may contain audio images and descriptions of Aboriginal and Torres-Strait Islander people who have died, and of deaths in custody. First up on today's program, Marisa speaks with proud Gunditjmara man Alan Brown, an ambassador and life-member (and former chairperson/CEO) of the Victorial Aboriginal Health Service (VAHS), which this year celebrates 50 years of caring for community. He begins with a quick run-down on his experience broadcasting at 3CR with other First Nations Warriors since the 1970s, going on to share his insights on the historical and long-term resilience, courage, and vision of Victorian Aboriginal people, which led directly to the inception of VAHS as an organisation in FItzroy, and what makes it special. Next, Marisa speaks with Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition, about their recent media release, entitled: Government must stop its immigration re-detention raids. Lastly, Marisa interviews proud Wurundjeri woman, Sue-Anne Hunter, Deputy chair and Commissioner with the Yoorrook Justice Commission, which on Wednesday will commence two weeks of public hearings as part of its inquiry into the systemic injustices experienced by first peoples within Victoria's child protection and criminal justice systems.  You can watch the hearings online or make a submission at yoorrookjusticecommission.org

Note: In light of the growing body of news and evidence that the King County Jail is dangerous and ineffective at improving safety, the Hacks & Wonks team decided to re-air this illuminating episode about the harm that jail and the current bail system causes our community.   On this Hacks & Wonks midweek show, Chanel Rhymes, Director of Advocacy at the Northwest Community Bail Fund, joins Crystal Fincher to discuss our desperate need for bail reform. The NCBF is dedicated to ending cash bail and pretrial detention in Washington state. They do advocacy for reform, court watching to hold the system accountable, and they raise funds to provide bail for people who can't afford it on their own. Chanel explains the difficulties that jailing people prior to a conviction causes for people before they're even convicted of a crime, and dispels criticisms of bail funds as being dangerous for the community, rather than being a correction against systemic inequality. Crystal and Chanel also breakdown recent data on bail reform that shows that bail reform and eliminating pretrial detention for misdemeanors actually reduces crime in the long run, and doesn't negatively impact whether people show up to court. You can find information on the Northwest Community Bail Fund and resources for its court watching program in the links below. Chanel Rhymes Chanel Rhymes is the Director of Advocacy for the Northwest Community Bail Fund. Prior to joining the Northwest Community Bail fund, Chanel served as the Court Program Analyst for the Washington Supreme Court Minority and Justice Commission, executing the mission of ensuring that all courts in the state of Washington remain free of bias so that justice might be adjudicated in a neutral and fair manner. Previously, she was a Program Manager for the Freedom Education Project of Puget Sound where she developed and coordinated college courses for women seeking to attain their AA degrees while incarcerated at the Washington Correction Center for Women.   Chanel has worked with the Council of State Governments Justice Center, supporting their work on national criminal justice reform. She also has legislative experience as a Political Field Organizer and as a Legislative Liaison for the Washington Student Association, where she lobbied for the interests of students in higher education around issues of affordability, administration transparency, and accessibility. Chnel was raised in Tacoma, Washington, and received her BA from Evergreen State College with a focus in Law and Government Policy. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Find the host, Crystal, on Twitter at @finchfrii, find the Northwest Community Bail Fund on Twitter at @NWCBailFund.   Resources Northwest Community Bail Fund website   NCBF - Court Watch Resources and sign-up   “The Effects of Misdemeanor Bail Reform” from Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice   “No More Police: A Case for Abolition” by Mariame Kaba & Andrea J. Ritchie   Washington state court's Criminal Rule 3.2   “A Seattle man began the night in crisis. Then, a sudden death in restraint” by Sydney Brownstone and Greg Kim from The Seattle Times   “In a Sign of Worsening Conditions, Understaffed King County Jail Has Lacked Water for a Week” by Erica C. Barnett from PubliCola   “Public Defenders Union Joins Jail Guards' Call to Address COVID Crisis” by Paul Kiefer from PubliCola   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher and I'm a political consultant and your host. On the show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. Thank you so much for joining us today. I'm very excited about this show, where we get to talk with Chanel Rhymes, who is the director of advocacy at Northwest Community Bail Fund. Thank you so much for joining us. [00:00:51] Chanel Rhymes: Thank you for having me. I'm really excited to be here. [00:00:54] Crystal Fincher: Excited to have you on. Have been a follower of the organization for quite some time. Obviously, this has been a topic across the country, and really globally. We're behind a lot of the globe on this. But in our country, a topic especially in the past few years, and looking at just what we're doing in terms of our criminal legal system, all of the challenges within it, and what can be done to make our communities more safe, keep our communities more safe, and really move towards a world and communities where we meet basic needs and we don't choose punishment over healing injustice. So I guess starting out, can you tell me just what the Northwest Community Bail Fund is and does, and what brought you to this work? [00:01:46] Chanel Rhymes: The Northwest Community Bail Fund is a nonprofit organization. We post bail for those during pre-trial detention. A lot of folks cannot afford to access the services of a bail bond agency, whether they don't have the means or collateral, so we are here to fill in those gaps. Ultimately we would hope to see an end to pre-trial detention and cash bail, but, because we know that is gonna take time, in the meantime we work to reduce harm. So we post bail as well as just, make sure that the community is not harmed and folks can fight their cases from a position of freedom, which they're entitled to through the constitution and the Washington state constitution. [00:02:33] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. [00:02:34] Chanel Rhymes: I myself came to this work in- I've been doing criminal justice reform work for a long- or, excuse me, criminal punishment reform work, for a long time. I, myself, am formally incarcerated. I am very passionate about those that have done their time and served their time be- the opportunity to go back into society and be a contributing member. I personally believe, though, that we need to stop trying to fix things after and start things from the beginning. Kind of like the, the babies in the river. I'm not gonna keep taking the babies out. I'd rather let's not put the babies in. So I'm trying to, we, myself and our organization, is trying to work to so that folks are just not incarcerated. And a lot of times folks are incarcerated just because of not having means. [00:03:25] Crystal Fincher: And this is such an important conversation. One, just as we talk about right now, we're sitting here in the midst of a crisis as defined by our public defenders, staff at jails. We had a historic letter earlier this year where both public defenders and corrections officers are saying, "hey, we can't handle the population here at the King County jail. It's unsafe. It's beyond what we can tolerate." And I don't think a lot of people realize that a lot of people who are in jail have not been convicted of anything. This is a pre-trial detention. They've not been sentenced. They're not serving a crime. They've not been found guilty of anything. It is simply because of a financial reason that they are sitting in jail and all of the challenges that, that presents. What does it mean and what kind of challenges does it pose when we detain people before their trials? [00:04:25] Chanel Rhymes: Oh, plethora. You could risk losing your housing. You can lose your children, custody of your children. You can lose your employment. And with all that comes, a rippling effect of other things, whether that be financial instability, just the trauma itself of going to jail. A lot of people that, say "lock them up," or "they just need to go to jail," never seen the inside of a jail. It's one of the most horrific places. On top of, with us being in a pandemic, you could potentially die, ultimately, from sitting in jail because there are still COVID outbreaks in jails every week. And so ultimately you could lose your life for something you haven't even been convicted of yet. And that's no way to bake it. That's not the way our system is designed. It's not supposed to be set up that way. Or at least they say that. [00:05:24] Crystal Fincher: At least they say that. It is certainly not what we've been sold. And so it's such a challenge. It is very destabilizing. And even in the case that someone does wind up pleading guilty or serving time, we're relying on them having the means to pay whatever fines they're going to be charged to do all that. And so if they don't have a job, if they have lost, as a result of being detained, all of the ability to fulfill the terms of whatever punishment they've been handed, that's a challenge in and of itself. And the bottom line is, a lot of people think putting people in jail makes us safer. If we didn't have this, they would be out committing crimes. And every now and then there's a case that gets publicized where they say, see, look, this is- bail reform caused this. Is that the case? [00:06:24] Chanel Rhymes: It's not the case. Number one, judges decide what bail is. Number two folks have a constitutional right to bail. The purpose of bail - and our Washington Supreme Court has said this - the state is not in the primary interest of collecting bail bond forfeitures. It is more concerned with folks showing up to court. That is what the purpose is. That, whether somebody is released or not, does not make us safer. There are tons of people who are arrested for violent crimes and don't spend a day in jail because they have the means to bail themselves out. Where are the folks asking about them? I think it's very interesting that bail reform and, nonprofits, people who don't make money off of this business, are the ones under the microscope, but yet bail bond agencies make millions of dollars every day bailing people out that sometimes do go on to commit new crimes. We don't hear about those in the news. We only hear about the less fortunate, which is those folks that are coming to a community bail fund or, mutual aid fund, and it's because we demonize poverty in this society. And it's just bizarre to me, in a sense, that we've gotten to this point. As if folks don't understand that wages have been stagnant for 40 years. The cost of living is going up. People can't make it can't survive. And so putting them in jail, and then if they are convicted or plead guilty just to get out, they now have a criminal conviction. So then that creates barriers to getting employment. And the other thing that you need, housing, that is the first, one of the major things that disqualifies most folks for housing, is a criminal conviction. So if we're also criminalizing homelessness, locking people up, then convicting them, and then they get out and they can't rent anywhere, and then we're like, "why are you homeless?" We are just creating this cycle and it's really a cycle of abuse. [00:08:38] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, and one really has to ask is the offense that people really are in jail for whatever they've been accused of, or is it just that they're poor and can't afford bail? And even just the issue of bail overall, for some reason, we have landed in a place where we think that a dollar amount is indicative of whether or not someone is in danger or is safe regardless of what they have been accused of, regardless of what kind of flight risk someone may be deemed to be. Hey, if you have enough money to, if you're rich, and and you can pay for whatever, it really doesn't matter. You're not gonna be in jail. And, we have seen several examples of people who are, just a small misdemeanor accusation which, often can result in dropped charges overall for lack of evidence, for just not being worth it to pursue in the system, yet they have been in jail and have experienced, like you talked about, the loss of job, the loss of housing, and that being destabilizing. And in fact that increasing the chance that someone is likely to be involved in their criminal legal system in the future, as opposed to if they were able to maintain their connections in community. And then also on the back end, just about everyone we're sending into jail is going to come out on the other end. So don't we have an interest in making sure that we are doing all we can to set people up for success and to not drop them into another pit, which it seems this just sets up people to do. What do you tell people when they're like, "it's there to make sure they come back and if they don't have bail, then they won't come back. So bail is necessary and if they can't afford it, then you know, they could just leave and never come back anyway?" what do you tell people who just say bail is necessary to get people to show up? [00:10:48] Chanel Rhymes: They can find us anywhere. The world we live in now, if they wanna find you, they really can find you. But, ultimately, most people do wanna get this resolved. Nobody wants this hanging over their head. A lot of times people don't show up, not on purpose. People, don't FTA, or Failure to Appear, on purpose. Life happens. There's life circumstance. Also, too, people wanna get it taken care of because they probably didn't do it. People aren't really decking and dodging. I will add though that even if we have a lot of folks saying people they need to go to jail or they need to do this, a misdemeanor? It's max fine, like 90 days in jail. So I think too, people have a misconception of what our punishments, our sentencing structure is, and the difference between jail and the difference between prison, and misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, and felonies. Even with our gross misdemeanor, the max jail time is a year, up to a year, but after that, okay, they serve their time, they're back out, what are we going to do to help folks? What I tell people is how is this solving anything? Why would you want your tax dollars just to be wasted to keep doing this? And wouldn't you want your tax dollars to be used to help people. So they're not back in this situation? The amount of money that we spend on criminal punishment and police is just ridiculous when you compare it to what we spend on education. So if we really wanted to make changes, we would be investing our money in education, healthcare, mental healthcare, reproductive rights, all of those things. Never in our 40 years of plus doing this whole drug war or anything, have cops, police, arrest helped make us any safer or do any type of harm reduction. There's tons of studies out there that show when you reinvest that many within the community and provide people's services, recidivism goes down. I think it's odd that we just keep having to have this conversation over and over again, because we obviously know what's not working, but we are very, afraid to try what some people or some municipalities and governments have done that work. [00:13:11] Crystal: Well. And it feels like, for people who've looked into this, for the people who are the loudest on this issue on either side, they do know what the data says. They do know that the evidence shows conclusively, repeatedly - there was just a new study that came out and reiterated this just last month - that bail reform, not relying on bail and releasing people pre-trial, not subjecting them to all of the harms that result from that, doesn't hurt people appearing in court over people who have been detained, doesn't hurt their likelihood of committing a crime again, over people who have been in bail. So there is actually no advantage safety-wise. There's no advantage in the court system. It's not, "hey, a lot of people were failing to appear - weren't failing to appear - now they are with bail reform. It is actually the opposite. This is working to keep people safer. This is working to help people show up and we are not contending with how expensive this is to us as a society financially and in terms of just our safety and our health within the community. My goodness, courts are expensive to run and administer. Prisons and jails are so expensive to run and administer. All of the staff, all of everything required to do that is so costly. We're sitting here talking about upcoming budget shortfalls here in, the city of Seattle, throughout the state in different cities, yet when you look at the city's budget, such a huge percentage of it and their county's budget, such a huge percentage is dedicated to locking people up. And especially pre-trial, what benefit are we getting out of it? Why do you think people are so resistant to saying, "wow. Number one, we aren't getting the results that we want from our current system. It would actually save us money that we could invest in areas that we all know need it." Yet, lots of people still aren't there. Why do you think that is? [00:15:22] Chanel Rhymes: Because people are being misinformed, and fear-mongered by their local news and reporters, who I'm shocked at the things that they write and put out. And it's clear that a lot of reporters locally here have no clue about criminal law or criminal procedure. They are flat out lying to the public. And so then folks see that on TV, they read it in their newspapers, they read it online and they think that the sky is falling. Everything is super dangerous. I also think poverty is a lot more visible now. So people, their senses seem to think "oh, it's bad, it's more." And it's no, just more people are hurting and you're seeing it more. It's not hidden. It's coming into your neighborhoods. I truly believe it's miseducation, misinformation, and 30 years of watching Law and Order that people think they know the system and how things work. I blame our media to be quite honest, because they're just not being truthful. And most of the information that, it seems to me, that they're getting are coming either straight from prosecutors or straight from police. They are refusing to talk to anybody from the other side. [00:16:42] Crystal Fincher: And even, not from either, quote unquote side, there are actual experts on crime. They're called criminologists. We have lots of them at our wonderful universities, research universities here in the area, who are able to speak on what the evidence and research shows is and is not effective and useful and working in terms of keeping people safe, keeping people from committing crimes. And over again, they are coming up with data that says detaining people pre-trial just because they cannot afford to get out of jail does not keep us safer. Does not do anything to help our system to help reduce crime. It just doesn't do that. In fact if it had, if it has, any effect, it's the opposite effect. It actually makes outcomes worse. It makes people more likely to do that because they have been made more unstable and put in a more precarious position because of that. So if you were to talk to a lot of the local media, what would you advise that they do? [00:17:53] Chanel Rhymes: Educate themselves on the way that criminal law, that criminal procedure, works before just going with conjecture and their feelings and how they feel. There are laws, there are court rules, reasons why things are done. Ultimately too, the fact that they're saying, "okay, so we're holding people because they can't afford it." If they were so dangerous, no bail would be set. Obviously, a bail has been set, so that judge has deemed them safe enough to go back into the community once they pay that money. So you can't have it both ways either, it's completely they're there because they're a danger or is it really they're there because they can't afford it? Because if they were such a danger, then why is there a dollar amount that they could pay that says they're not dangerous? It just doesn't make any sense. I mean the argument of it makes us safer- it just doesn't. And I just think we've just been recycling the same thing over and over again. And then also, too, people, the internet, your phone, every social media, people are getting lots of just different images and things like things are horrible. "Seattle is dying, oh my gosh, they've closed my Starbucks." And it's really like people are homeless and hungry and that's, what's really- The fact that too, we are still within a pandemic and we have a lot of people in charge that want folks to just keep on going just out. "No, everything's fine." people are still financially hurting. We also hear a lot about, I'll just say that, media's writing a lot about retail. Nobody writes about wage theft. More money is stolen in wages than it is in deodorant. What does that tell you? I'm reading a police report and somebody is charged with stealing body wash, deodorant, razors. They're trying to survive. Those are essential items. Like we need to look at that. Like what services can we get that person so they don't have to steal the basic needs just to be a human and live in this society? [00:20:12] Crystal Fincher: I'm with you, I'm with you. So as we look moving forward, right now, you and Northwest Community Bail Fund are filling in this gap in our current system. Obviously there's a lot of changes that would be more effective if we made them. In terms of bail, what is it that you would like to see changed about our current system? Would you like to move to a system where judges just make the decision as they have in some other localities across the country? "Hey we're not really doing bail. We are making the determination about whether we feel this person is a flight risk or a threat to society. And if yes, we're detaining them and if, no, we're not." And throwing the idea of bail out the window in lieu of that? Or something different? What would you like to see in terms of bail in the system we're in? [00:21:10] Chanel Rhymes: There should be no bail. There should be no pre-trial detention. Folks are innocent until proven guilty. There's no reason for anybody to be caged. That's what they are, is caged. Before they have been convicted by a judge or jury of their peers. They've just been accused. We should be moving completely away from that. I would say, even just to start, we could have judges actually, follow court rule 3.2, which says you need to use the least restrictive means to release people. So that would be a start. We do court watching in courts around the area, particularly Seattle Municipal Court. We watch arraignment hearings. We, we take, track, demographic data, race, perceived age, age, date of birth. But we also track if court rule 3.2 is brought up by judges, by the prosecutor, or by the defense. And we recently had our data analyzed and it was only 13% in all of the cases that we had listened to that it was brought up. That's a very low number for a court rule to not even be mentioned during arraignment. And that has to do with whether folks are, public safety issue or, the means to pay to get out. So I think one, first thing is if y'all going, institute these rules and create these policies, you should follow them first. You're not even following your own policies, so can you accurately say if it's working or not? I don't think so, but ultimately it's a no. I'm an abolitionist. Get rid of them all. I just got my no more police book. I just started on that. This, it's not working. All we're doing is harming people and it's not sustainable and it costs too much. We could be investing those dollars in so many other ways that would actually give us a better return on investment because all we're doing is churning out more debt, ultimately, because if they can't get a job, they can't get housed, we're still gonna end up having to pay for it another way. [00:23:27] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. We're paying for it no matter what, just depends on whether it's an investment that's gonna yield a return later on. If we're dealing in, education and health and mental health and behavioral health support and treatment that do yield benefits for our entire community or whether we are dealing in the aftermath of pain and harm and paying to keep people in prison and incarcerated, which is just so terribly expensive and costly financially, and to our community, to that person, to the community, to everyone involved. What would you say to the people who- Obviously we always hear examples of violent crimes, horrible crimes, some horrible crimes happen that should never happen. And they see what someone has been accused of. They hear evidence against them and they're like, "that person is not safe on the street." And say, "we're afraid of what can happen. That they're a danger to society and based on what they've done, they should be detained." What do you say to people in that circumstance? [00:24:50] Chanel Rhymes: You have no proof that evidence is actually evidence that is true, or that can convict him. People are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, not public opinion. There's a process that you go through during criminal procedure where the judge gets to decide what evidence gets to come in and what doesn't. We don't just get to decide oh, that's true. That piece of evidence that the reporters said right there is true. Also, we all know police lie all the time. We're just gonna take the word of police because that's who most reporters are getting their information from, they're just reading it from police reports and statements or their, communications officer or whoever it may be. So how is it that untrained people in law, just the regular general public would be able to determine who's safe and who's not? I also think if a judge has set bail, who are you to say that, better than that judge about the case? I don't understand that. Either we believe in these systems and y'all want these systems to do their job, or y'all just want to do it out in the public. Are we going back to that? Where we just doing the public, in the public square, and then everybody we decide how things go? No. To me, it's just bizarre that somebody be like this is what happened. You really don't know that's just what it was reported. People have to be convicted in a court, not in public opinion, it's just not the way it works. [00:26:24] Crystal Fincher: Which is true. And once again, this most recent study in Houston, which backs up prior studies, under consent decree where more people had to be released within 24 hours of a misdemeanor arrest, there was a 6% decrease in new prosecutions over the three years that followed that they followed those defendants. They said, "okay, everybody's saying we need to see whether or not people, are really gonna show up. We need to see whether you letting people out is really going to, make things safer as these people claim, let's follow these defendants. Let's follow these people." Over a period of years, not even beyond, not even stopping at, okay this one case, their current case was adjudicated, whatever happened, they went beyond. Eliminating bail, taking that out as a factor, releasing them and not detaining them simply because they can't afford bail, resulted in a decrease over the existing system. Meaning that locking people up made it more likely that someone was going to commit a crime again. Made it more likely that things would be less safe in our community. I'm for what makes people more. We talk about all of these things. A lot of it is punishment related. And I think in so many of these conversations, we have to decide whether we are going to prioritize punishing people or whether we're gonna prioritize keeping our community safe, because they really are at odds. And punishment is not working for us, any of us, and it's really expensive. It is so harmful to the person involved, it's harmful to the community and it's so costly. And we talk about funding for jails. We talk about funding for police. There is only a certain amount of money in the whole bucket. So if we're giving more to one area, we're taking it from somewhere else or preventing it from being invested in somewhere else. And I'm sure everyone listening to this thinks, "hey, we need, we do need more behavioral health support. We do need more substance use disorder. Treatment and accessibility and availability. We do need to make sure people have access to these things without having to be involved in the criminal legal system to get clean or to get healthy." And so it's just such an important issue and I thank you for just being vocal about this. For helping people in this organization and doing something that is making our community safer. Really appreciate it. If people want to learn more or to get involved or donate to the Northwest Community Bail Fund, how can they do that? [00:29:11] Chanel Rhymes: You can go to our website, which is N-W- C-O-M-B-A-I-L-F-U-N-D.org So nwcombailfund.org. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram. I'm so grateful to have this conversation with you and inviting me on to talk about the organization that I dearly love, and we truly do wanna make our community safer and we wanna stop harming folks. [00:29:42] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, absolutely. Wanna stop harming folks. One thing that I do have to mention: I saw a report that you produced, and I feel like this was last year at some time now. You're not only doing this work, but you are, as an organization, being accountable, being transparent about the activity that's going on. You are showing results for what you're doing in a way that goes be above and beyond a number of others that I've seen. I appreciate that transparency in this organization. And then also wanted to mention, you brought up your court watching, also, earlier, which is such a useful and valuable tool. And just enlightening and informative because, to your point, lots of people don't know what happens in court. People have very limited experience, maybe someone contests a parking ticket or a speeding ticket or something. Lots of people have never stepped foot in one. And so have this idea from TV shows what it's like. It's nothing like what on TV shows. And so I sincerely appreciate that too. We're gonna link those court watching resources in the show notes, also for people to be able to access and follow. [00:31:05] Chanel Rhymes: Thank you. That is also available on our website, we're always looking for more court Watchers. We really need folks to go in person to courts. Seattle Municipal Court and Tacoma Municipal Court offer virtual courts so people can actually court watch from the comfort of their own home. If you're interested in court watching with us, please go to our website and fill out an interest form. [00:31:25] Crystal Fincher: Thank you so much for all of your information today, for what you do. It's been a pleasure to have you on Chanel. [00:31:31] Chanel Rhymes: Thank you. [00:31:32] Crystal Fincher: Thank you all for listening to Hacks and Wonks. The Producer of Hacks & Wonks is Lisl Stadler, our Assistant Producer is Shannon Cheng, and our Post-Production Assistant is Bryce Cannatelli. You can find Hacks & Wonks on Twitter at @HacksWonks, and you can follow me at @finchfrii spelled F I N C H F R I I. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. Just type Hacks & Wonks into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe, to get our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered right to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave us a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the episode notes. Thanks for tuning in. Talk to you next time.

Amanda Parker, PhD. Dr. Amanda Parker is a writer, researcher, and educator from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has a PhD focused on critical race studies in education and society and speaks regularly at national and international conferences where she presents her work on the intersection of race and gender, building solidarity, and raising critically conscious children. Dr. Parker is the Director of the Equity in Justice Program at the State Bar of New Mexico. In this role she is fostering community relationships, leading educational efforts, and building programs to address equity and inclusion for judges, lawyers, and law students. She collaborates with the Equity in Justice Commission and other entities that are working together on reform. She lives in Albuquerque with her daughters.Gavin Alexander, is an experienced and passionate advocate and thought leader in the areas of mental health, well-being, and diversity, equity and inclusion in the legal profession and beyond. He is an attorney and Certified Corporate Wellness Specialist, and he currently serves as the Wellness Director of Jackson Lewis P.C., a law firm with over 950 attorneys and over 60 offices across the United States. Before joining the firm, Gavin served as the firstever Fellow of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Lawyer Well- Being. Gavin shared his own personal experiences with depression and near-suicide in Depressionto Dedication: How Chief Justice Gants Saved My Life and Catalyzed Ongoing Advocacy forMental Health in the Legal Profession, 62 B.C. L. Rev. 2759 (2021), and “Trailblazing TowardBetter Mental Health & Well-Being in Law: Q&A with Gavin Alexander, Well-Being Advocate,”Thomson Reuters Practical Law (Apr. 26, 2022), and he regularly speaks at law firms, law schools, conferences, courts, bar associations, and other legal institutions. Gavin studied Theater and Mathematics at Wesleyan University, and he graduated from Harvard Law School magna cum laude in 2012. After law school, Gavin clerked for Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. From 2013-2020, Gavin was an associate in the corporate department of Ropes & Gray LLP's Boston office.Gavin has served as a Co-Chair of the Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association and as a board member of the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association. Presently, he serves as a member of the Mass. Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Lawyer Well-Being, as a board member and the DEI Chair of Lawyers Depression Project, and as a board member of Leadership Brainery. He also serves on the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs' DEI Committee, ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund Committee, Institute for Well-Being in Law DEI Committee, Boston Bar Association DEI Section Steering Committee, and the Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants Access to Justice Fund Advisory Committee. Gavin was named one of the Best LGBT Attorneys Under 40 by the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association in 2017, selected as one of Mass. Lawyers Weekly's 25 “Up & Coming Lawyers” for 2019, featured on the Mass. Super Lawyers “Rising Stars” list for 2018-2020, and inducted as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation in 2020. In 2021, he received the Mass. Association of Hispanic Attorneys' Leadership Award, where he was described as “by far one of the most committed allies in the areas of inclusion, equity and social and racial justice,” and in 2022, he received the Kevin Larkin Memorial Award for Public Service from the Mass. LGBTQ Bar Association.Disclaimer:Thank you for listening! This episode was produced by the State Bar of New Mexico's Well-Being Committee and the New Mexico Lawyer Assistance Program. All editing and sound mixing was done by BlueSky eLearn. Intro music is by Gil Flores. The views of the presenters are their own and are not endorsed by the State Bar of New Mexico, Jackson Lewis P.C., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, or any other group or organization with which any of the presenters may be affiliated. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment or legal advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. 

Laura Tuggle has been the Executive Director of Southeast Louisiana Legal Services(SLLS) since May 2014 after beginning her career at SLLS in 1993. She previously managed SLLS' Housing Law Unit during the years immediately following Hurricane Katrina from 2005-2010. Over her public interest career, she has excelled in many areas including direct services, systemic work, and policy advocacy resulting in increased access to housing for special populations including the homeless, peopleliving disabilities, and disaster survivors. Impact litigation filed by Laura resulted in significant legal victories for low-income tenants including millions of dollars in federal relocation assistance and establishing a private right of action for voucher assisted tenants to challenge utility allowances in federal court. She is an author of the Federally Subsidized Housing Program portion of the Louisiana Legal Services Desk Manual and coauthor of the housing portion of the Brookings Institute New Orleans Index at 5.Laura has received national, state, and local awards for her work in the interest of housing justice. Laura graduated from LSU in 1984 and received her Juris Doctorate degree from Tulane Law School in 1987. She currently serves on the Board of the New Orleans Family Justice Center, Shared Housing, as Co-Chair of the Legal Services Corporation's National Disaster Task Force Relationship-Building and Integration ofLegal Services into the Nation's Emergency Management Infrastructure Committee, on the Louisiana Access to Justice Commission's Funding, Technology, Disaster, and Building Brides Committees and on the Louisiana State Bar Association's Access to Justice Committee. She was recently appointed to the Legal Services Corporation's Housing Task Force. She also serves on several task forces to improve civillegal services and housing opportunities for vulnerable people.To learn more about the work of the Foundation, please visit braf.org.

Staff from City Bar Office for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging sat down with a Commissioner and the Special Counsel for the New York City Racial Justice Commission to discuss the process through which the Commission chose the measures that will appear on New York City ballots, and what changes New Yorkers can expect if the measures pass. Learn more about the Racial Justice Commission ballot measures at the RJC website: https://racialjustice.cityofnewyork.us/ Don't Forget! Early voting in NYC begins on October 29. Learn more about early voting: https://www.nycvotes.org/how-to-vote/early-voting/

The Racial and Justice Commission for NYC is supported by Mayor Eric Adams to educate New Yorkers about the three ballot proposals they will … Read More

Marie Kenyon, attorney and director of the Peace and Justice Commission for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, details her experience at the border and explains how Catholics are called to support immigrants and the law. 

In the 80s and 90s legal dramas ruled TV viewing in my household. Liability law and litigation seemed to be where the action was at least in that genre. What is the state of play today when it comes to being a successful lawyer? Meet Jamie E. Wright one of the most highly sought-after millennial lawyers and crisis communicators based in Los Angeles, CA. Being at the intersection of the law, business, pop culture and politics, Wright has made a name for herself in legal and business circles as an expert in managing multidimensional businesses and clients with keen insight on the law and a forward-thinking flare. She is an attorney and principal in the J. Wright Law Group, P.C. Wright, who is licensed to practice law in the State of California, and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley, she worked for the mayoral campaign of the former Mayor of Berkeley, Tom Bates. Due to her commitment to the campaign and work ethic, Wright was appointed to the City of Berkeley, Peace and Justice Commission at age 19. After graduating from UC Berkeley, Jamie attended the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. While at Hastings, Jamie was a member of the Negotiations Team and won second overall Mediator and second overall team in the National Negotiations Competition in Chicago. Additionally, she was the President of the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, and the Competitions Co-Chair for the Western Regional Black Law Students Association, a sub-division of the National Black Law Students Association. Wright was awarded a scholarship from the American Bar Association Business Section, as well as the Charles Houston Bar Association for academic excellence. She has gone on and had a successful career to date. Jamie is a recipient of the LA's most influential under 40 award and the Legacy Award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the 2nd Supervisorial District. Most recently, Jamie was appointed to the Marijuana Task Force where she is one of three Board members who draft regulations for physicians prescribing cannabis. Wright currently serves as the Secretary to the Board of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Southern California and Chairs the Emerging Leaders Committee which is comprised of young adults ages 18 to 35 who are engaged in combating social injustice in communities of colour. Additionally, she was the former Chairperson of the Board of Directors for the Inglewood Airport Area Chamber of Commerce. She is also a volunteer lawyer for a collective of minority cannabis growers in South Los Angeles. We hear from Jamie on: The most common type of liability lawsuitin which you stand to lose assets is one resulting from an accident, according to one article I came across. Clearly, your work is more than the art of “ambulance chasing” – explain what you do in a typical day. Quite simply, liability means legal responsibility for one's actions. Failure to meet this responsibility leaves a person open to a liability lawsuit for any resulting damages. In order to win a lawsuit, the claimant must prove that the accused party is liable. What role does the lens of liability law play in any successful legal practice in the USA and perhaps the world? What are some of the biggest challenges in this area of law today in 2022? What aptitudes make a great lawyer, especially in the liability practice arena? Medicinal cannabis is very mainstream these days but not always. How has that area of law evolved as society has become more accepting of its benefits for chronic pain sufferers, and what are the challenges you face? Take away: What is your final takeaway message for us on The Politics of Liability Law?   CONTACT INFO: Web: About Jamie - The Wright Law Firm Employment Lawyers (jamiewrightesq.com) LinkedIn:  (15) Jamie E. Wright | LinkedIn   If you are a podcaster who wants to record quality sound with ease, sign up to Zencastr Professional account today for a 30% discount. To reclaim this amazing Zencastr offer designed for The Politics of Everything audience, just use the Link: zen.ai/thepoliticsofeverything and use Promo Code: thepoliticsofeverything.

On this Hacks & Wonks midweek show, the Chanel Rhymes, Director of Advocacy at the Northwest Community Bail Fund, joins Crystal Fincher to discuss our desperate need for bail reform. The NCBF is dedicated to ending cash bail and pretrial detention in Washington state. They do advocacy for reform, court watching to hold the system accountable, and they raise funds to provide bail for people who can't afford it on their own. Chanel explains the difficulties that jailing people prior to a conviction causes for people before they're even convicted of a crime, and dispels criticisms of bail funds as being dangerous for the community, rather than being a correction against systemic inequality. Crystal and Chanel also breakdown recent data on bail reform that shows that bail reform and eliminating pretrial detention for misdemeanors actually reduces crime in the long run, and doesn't negatively impact whether people show up to court. You can find information on the Northwest Community Bail Fund and resources for its court watching program in the links below. Chanel Rhymes Chanel Rhymes is the Director of Advocacy for the Northwest Community Bail Fund. Prior to joining the Northwest Community Bail fund, Chanel served as the Court Program Analyst for the Washington Supreme Court Minority and Justice Commission, executing the mission of ensuring that all courts in the state of Washington remain free of bias so that justice might be adjudicated in a neutral and fair manner. Previously, she was a Program Manager for the Freedom Education Project of Puget Sound where she developed and coordinated college courses for women seeking to attain their AA degrees while incarcerated at the Washington Correction Center for Women.   Chanel has worked with the Council of State Governments Justice Center, supporting their work on national criminal justice reform. She also has legislative experience as a Political Field Organizer and as a Legislative Liaison for the Washington Student Association, where she lobbied for the interests of students in higher education around issues of affordability, administration transparency, and accessibility. Chnel was raised in Tacoma, Washington, and received her BA from Evergreen State College with a focus in Law and Government Policy. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Find the host, Crystal, on Twitter at @finchfrii, find the Northwest Community Bail Fund on Twitter at @NWCBailFund. Resources Northwest Community Bail Fund website: https://www.nwcombailfund.org/    NCBF - Court Watch Resources and sign-up: https://www.nwcombailfund.org/es/courtwatch/    “The Effects of Misdemeanor Bail Reform” from Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice: https://www.law.upenn.edu/institutes/quattronecenter/reports/bailreform/#/    No More Police: A Case for Abolition by Mariame Kaba & Andrea J. Ritchie: https://thenewpress.com/books/no-more-police  Washington state court's Criminal Rule 3.2: https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/CrR/SUP_CrR_03_02_00.pdf   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher and I'm a political consultant and your host. On the show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. Thank you so much for joining us today. I'm very excited about this show, where we get to talk with Chanel Rhymes, who is the director of advocacy at Northwest Community Bail Fund. Thank you so much for joining us. [00:00:51] Chanel Rhymes: Thank you for having me. I'm really excited to be here. [00:00:54] Crystal Fincher: Excited to have you on. Have been a follower of the organization for quite some time. Obviously, this has been a topic across the country, and really globally. We're behind a lot of the globe on this. But in our country, a topic especially in the past few years, and looking at just what we're doing in terms of our criminal legal system, all of the challenges within it, and what can be done to make our communities more safe, keep our communities more safe, and really move towards a world and communities where we meet basic needs and we don't choose punishment over healing injustice. So I guess starting out, can you tell me just what the Northwest Community Bail Fund is and does, and what brought you to this work? [00:01:46] Chanel Rhymes: The Northwest Community Bail Fund is a nonprofit organization. We post bail for those during pre-trial detention. A lot of folks cannot afford to access the services of a bail bond agency, whether they don't have the means or collateral, so we are here to fill in those gaps. Ultimately we would hope to see an end to pre-trial detention and cash bail, but, because we know that is gonna take time, in the meantime we work to reduce harm. So we post bail as well as just, make sure that the community is not harmed and folks can fight their cases from a position of freedom, which they're entitled to through the constitution and the Washington state constitution. [00:02:33] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. [00:02:34] Chanel Rhymes: I myself came to this work in- I've been doing criminal justice reform work for a long- or, excuse me, criminal punishment reform work, for a long time. I, myself, am formally incarcerated. I am very passionate about those that have done their time and served their time be- the opportunity to go back into society and be a contributing member. I personally believe, though, that we need to stop trying to fix things after and start things from the beginning. Kind of like the, the babies in the river. I'm not gonna keep taking the babies out. I'd rather let's not put the babies in. So I'm trying to, we, myself and our organization, is trying to work to so that folks are just not incarcerated. And a lot of times folks are incarcerated just because of not having means. [00:03:25] Crystal Fincher: And this is such an important conversation. One, just as we talk about right now, we're sitting here in the midst of a crisis as defined by our public defenders, staff at jails. We had a historic letter earlier this year where both public defenders and corrections officers are saying, "hey, we can't handle the population here at the King County jail. It's unsafe. It's beyond what we can tolerate." And I don't think a lot of people realize that a lot of people who are in jail have not been convicted of anything. This is a pre-trial detention. They've not been sentenced. They're not serving a crime. They've not been found guilty of anything. It is simply because of a financial reason that they are sitting in jail and all of the challenges that, that presents. What does it mean and what kind of challenges does it pose when we detain people before their trials? [00:04:25] Chanel Rhymes: Oh, plethora. You could risk losing your housing. You can lose your children, custody of your children. You can lose your employment. And with all that comes, a rippling effect of other things, whether that be financial instability, just the trauma itself of going to jail. A lot of people that, say "lock them up," or "they just need to go to jail," never seen the inside of a jail. It's one of the most horrific places. On top of, with us being in a pandemic, you could potentially die, ultimately, from sitting in jail because there are still COVID outbreaks in jails every week. And so ultimately you could lose your life for something you haven't even been convicted of yet. And that's no way to bake it. That's not the way our system is designed. It's not supposed to be set up that way. Or at least they say that. [00:05:24] Crystal Fincher: At least they say that. It is certainly not what we've been sold. And so it's such a challenge. It is very destabilizing. And even in the case that someone does wind up pleading guilty or serving time, we're relying on them having the means to pay whatever fines they're going to be charged to do all that. And so if they don't have a job, if they have lost, as a result of being detained, all of the ability to fulfill the terms of whatever punishment they've been handed, that's a challenge in and of itself. And the bottom line is, a lot of people think putting people in jail makes us safer. If we didn't have this, they would be out committing crimes. And every now and then there's a case that gets publicized where they say, see, look, this is- bail reform caused this. Is that the case? [00:06:24] Chanel Rhymes: It's not the case. Number one, judges decide what bail is. Number two folks have a constitutional right to bail. The purpose of bail - and our Washington Supreme Court has said this - the state is not in the primary interest of collecting bail bond forfeitures. It is more concerned with folks showing up to court. That is what the purpose is. That, whether somebody is released or not, does not make us safer. There are tons of people who are arrested for violent crimes and don't spend a day in jail because they have the means to bail themselves out. Where are the folks asking about them? I think it's very interesting that bail reform and, nonprofits, people who don't make money off of this business, are the ones under the microscope, but yet bail bond agencies make millions of dollars every day bailing people out that sometimes do go on to commit new crimes. We don't hear about those in the news. We only hear about the less fortunate, which is those folks that are coming to a community bail fund or, mutual aid fund, and it's because we demonize poverty in this society. And it's just bizarre to me, in a sense, that we've gotten to this point. As if folks don't understand that wages have been stagnant for 40 years. The cost of living is going up. People can't make it can't survive. And so putting them in jail, and then if they are convicted or plead guilty just to get out, they now have a criminal conviction. So then that creates barriers to getting employment. And the other thing that you need, housing, that is the first, one of the major things that disqualifies most folks for housing, is a criminal conviction. So if we're also criminalizing homelessness, locking people up, then convicting them, and then they get out and they can't rent anywhere, and then we're like, "why are you homeless?" We are just creating this cycle and it's really a cycle of abuse. [00:08:38] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, and one really has to ask is the offense that people really are in jail for whatever they've been accused of, or is it just that they're poor and can't afford bail? And even just the issue of bail overall, for some reason, we have landed in a place where we think that a dollar amount is indicative of whether or not someone is in danger or is safe regardless of what they have been accused of, regardless of what kind of flight risk someone may be deemed to be. Hey, if you have enough money to, if you're rich, and and you can pay for whatever, it really doesn't matter. You're not gonna be in jail. And, we have seen several examples of people who are, just a small misdemeanor accusation which, often can result in dropped charges overall for lack of evidence, for just not being worth it to pursue in the system, yet they have been in jail and have experienced, like you talked about, the loss of job, the loss of housing, and that being destabilizing. And in fact that increasing the chance that someone is likely to be involved in their criminal legal system in the future, as opposed to if they were able to maintain their connections in community. And then also on the back end, just about everyone we're sending into jail is going to come out on the other end. So don't we have an interest in making sure that we are doing all we can to set people up for success and to not drop them into another pit, which it seems this just sets up people to do. What do you tell people when they're like, "it's there to make sure they come back and if they don't have bail, then they won't come back. So bail is necessary and if they can't afford it, then you know, they could just leave and never come back anyway?" what do you tell people who just say bail is necessary to get people to show up? [00:10:48] Chanel Rhymes: They can find us anywhere. The world we live in now, if they wanna find you, they really can find you. But, ultimately, most people do wanna get this resolved. Nobody wants this hanging over their head. A lot of times people don't show up, not on purpose. People, don't FTA, or Failure to Appear, on purpose. Life happens. There's life circumstance. Also, too, people wanna get it taken care of because they probably didn't do it. People aren't really decking and dodging. I will add though that even if we have a lot of folks saying people they need to go to jail or they need to do this, a misdemeanor? It's max fine, like 90 days in jail. So I think too, people have a misconception of what our punishments, our sentencing structure is, and the difference between jail and the difference between prison, and misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, and felonies. Even with our gross misdemeanor, the max jail time is a year, up to a year, but after that, okay, they serve their time, they're back out, what are we going to do to help folks? What I tell people is how is this solving anything? Why would you want your tax dollars just to be wasted to keep doing this? And wouldn't you want your tax dollars to be used to help people. So they're not back in this situation? The amount of money that we spend on criminal punishment and police is just ridiculous when you compare it to what we spend on education. So if we really wanted to make changes, we would be investing our money in education, healthcare, mental healthcare, reproductive rights, all of those things. Never in our 40 years of plus doing this whole drug war or anything, have cops, police, arrest helped make us any safer or do any type of harm reduction. There's tons of studies out there that show when you reinvest that many within the community and provide people's services, recidivism goes down. I think it's odd that we just keep having to have this conversation over and over again, because we obviously know what's not working, but we are very, afraid to try what some people or some municipalities and governments have done that work. [00:13:11] Crystal: Well. And it feels like, for people who've looked into this, for the people who are the loudest on this issue on either side, they do know what the data says. They do know that the evidence shows conclusively, repeatedly - there was just a new study that came out and reiterated this just last month - that bail reform, not relying on bail and releasing people pre-trial, not subjecting them to all of the harms that result from that, doesn't hurt people appearing in court over people who have been detained, doesn't hurt their likelihood of committing a crime again, over people who have been in bail. So there is actually no advantage safety-wise. There's no advantage in the court system. It's not, "hey, a lot of people were failing to appear - weren't failing to appear - now they are with bail reform. It is actually the opposite. This is working to keep people safer. This is working to help people show up and we are not contending with how expensive this is to us as a society financially and in terms of just our safety and our health within the community. My goodness, courts are expensive to run and administer. Prisons and jails are so expensive to run and administer. All of the staff, all of everything required to do that is so costly. We're sitting here talking about upcoming budget shortfalls here in, the city of Seattle, throughout the state in different cities, yet when you look at the city's budget, such a huge percentage of it and their county's budget, such a huge percentage is dedicated to locking people up. And especially pre-trial, what benefit are we getting out of it? Why do you think people are so resistant to saying, "wow. Number one, we aren't getting the results that we want from our current system. It would actually save us money that we could invest in areas that we all know need it." Yet, lots of people still aren't there. Why do you think that is? [00:15:22] Chanel Rhymes: Because people are being misinformed, and fear-mongered by their local news and reporters, who I'm shocked at the things that they write and put out. And it's clear that a lot of reporters locally here have no clue about criminal law or criminal procedure. They are flat out lying to the public. And so then folks see that on TV, they read it in their newspapers, they read it online and they think that the sky is falling. Everything is super dangerous. I also think poverty is a lot more visible now. So people, their senses seem to think "oh, it's bad, it's more." And it's no, just more people are hurting and you're seeing it more. It's not hidden. It's coming into your neighborhoods. I truly believe it's miseducation, misinformation, and 30 years of watching Law and Order that people think they know the system and how things work. I blame our media to be quite honest, because they're just not being truthful. And most of the information that, it seems to me, that they're getting are coming either straight from prosecutors or straight from police. They are refusing to talk to anybody from the other side. [00:16:42] Crystal Fincher: And even, not from either, quote unquote side, there are actual experts on crime. They're called criminologists. We have lots of them at our wonderful universities, research universities here in the area, who are able to speak on what the evidence and research shows is and is not effective and useful and working in terms of keeping people safe, keeping people from committing crimes. And over again, they are coming up with data that says detaining people pre-trial just because they cannot afford to get out of jail does not keep us safer. Does not do anything to help our system to help reduce crime. It just doesn't do that. In fact if it had, if it has, any effect, it's the opposite effect. It actually makes outcomes worse. It makes people more likely to do that because they have been made more unstable and put in a more precarious position because of that. So if you were to talk to a lot of the local media, what would you advise that they do? [00:17:53] Chanel Rhymes: Educate themselves on the way that criminal law, that criminal procedure, works before just going with conjecture and their feelings and how they feel. There are laws, there are court rules, reasons why things are done. Ultimately too, the fact that they're saying, "okay, so we're holding people because they can't afford it." If they were so dangerous, no bail would be set. Obviously, a bail has been set, so that judge has deemed them safe enough to go back into the community once they pay that money. So you can't have it both ways either, it's completely they're there because they're a danger or is it really they're there because they can't afford it? Because if they were such a danger, then why is there a dollar amount that they could pay that says they're not dangerous? It just doesn't make any sense. I mean the argument of it makes us safer- it just doesn't. And I just think we've just been recycling the same thing over and over again. And then also, too, people, the internet, your phone, every social media, people are getting lots of just different images and things like things are horrible. "Seattle is dying, oh my gosh, they've closed my Starbucks." And it's really like people are homeless and hungry and that's, what's really- The fact that too, we are still within a pandemic and we have a lot of people in charge that want folks to just keep on going just out. "No, everything's fine." people are still financially hurting. We also hear a lot about, I'll just say that, media's writing a lot about retail. Nobody writes about wage theft. More money is stolen in wages than it is in deodorant. What does that tell you? I'm reading a police report and somebody is charged with stealing body wash, deodorant, razors. They're trying to survive. Those are essential items. Like we need to look at that. Like what services can we get that person so they don't have to steal the basic needs just to be a human and live in this society? [00:20:12] Crystal Fincher: I'm with you, I'm with you. So as we look moving forward, right now, you and Northwest Community Bail Fund are filling in this gap in our current system. Obviously there's a lot of changes that would be more effective if we made them. In terms of bail, what is it that you would like to see changed about our current system? Would you like to move to a system where judges just make the decision as they have in some other localities across the country? "Hey we're not really doing bail. We are making the determination about whether we feel this person is a flight risk or a threat to society. And if yes, we're detaining them and if, no, we're not." And throwing the idea of bail out the window in lieu of that? Or something different? What would you like to see in terms of bail in the system we're in? [00:21:10] Chanel Rhymes: There should be no bail. There should be no pre-trial detention. Folks are innocent until proven guilty. There's no reason for anybody to be caged. That's what they are, is caged. Before they have been convicted by a judge or jury of their peers. They've just been accused. We should be moving completely away from that. I would say, even just to start, we could have judges actually, follow court rule 3.2, which says you need to use the least restrictive means to release people. So that would be a start. We do court watching in courts around the area, particularly Seattle Municipal Court. We watch arraignment hearings. We, we take, track, demographic data, race, perceived age, age, date of birth. But we also track if court rule 3.2 is brought up by judges, by the prosecutor, or by the defense. And we recently had our data analyzed and it was only 13% in all of the cases that we had listened to that it was brought up. That's a very low number for a court rule to not even be mentioned during arraignment. And that has to do with whether folks are, public safety issue or, the means to pay to get out. So I think one, first thing is if y'all going, institute these rules and create these policies, you should follow them first. You're not even following your own policies, so can you accurately say if it's working or not? I don't think so, but ultimately it's a no. I'm an abolitionist. Get rid of them all. I just got my no more police book. I just started on that. This, it's not working. All we're doing is harming people and it's not sustainable and it costs too much. We could be investing those dollars in so many other ways that would actually give us a better return on investment because all we're doing is churning out more debt, ultimately, because if they can't get a job, they can't get housed, we're still gonna end up having to pay for it another way. [00:23:27] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. We're paying for it no matter what, just depends on whether it's an investment that's gonna yield a return later on. If we're dealing in, education and health and mental health and behavioral health support and treatment that do yield benefits for our entire community or whether we are dealing in the aftermath of pain and harm and paying to keep people in prison and incarcerated, which is just so terribly expensive and costly financially, and to our community, to that person, to the community, to everyone involved. What would you say to the people who- Obviously we always hear examples of violent crimes, horrible crimes, some horrible crimes happen that should never happen. And they see what someone has been accused of. They hear evidence against them and they're like, "that person is not safe on the street." And say, "we're afraid of what can happen. That they're a danger to society and based on what they've done, they should be detained." What do you say to people in that circumstance? [00:24:50] Chanel Rhymes: You have no proof that evidence is actually evidence that is true, or that can convict him. People are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, not public opinion. There's a process that you go through during criminal procedure where the judge gets to decide what evidence gets to come in and what doesn't. We don't just get to decide oh, that's true. That piece of evidence that the reporters said right there is true. Also, we all know police lie all the time. We're just gonna take the word of police because that's who most reporters are getting their information from, they're just reading it from police reports and statements or their, communications officer or whoever it may be. So how is it that untrained people in law, just the regular general public would be able to determine who's safe and who's not? I also think if a judge has set bail, who are you to say that, better than that judge about the case? I don't understand that. Either we believe in these systems and y'all want these systems to do their job, or y'all just want to do it out in the public. Are we going back to that? Where we just doing the public, in the public square, and then everybody we decide how things go? No. To me, it's just bizarre that somebody be like this is what happened. You really don't know that's just what it was reported. People have to be convicted in a court, not in public opinion, it's just not the way it works. [00:26:24] Crystal Fincher: Which is true. And once again, this most recent study in Houston, which backs up prior studies, under consent decree where more people had to be released within 24 hours of a misdemeanor arrest, there was a 6% decrease in new prosecutions over the three years that followed that they followed those defendants. They said, "okay, everybody's saying we need to see whether or not people, are really gonna show up. We need to see whether you letting people out is really going to, make things safer as these people claim, let's follow these defendants. Let's follow these people." Over a period of years, not even beyond, not even stopping at, okay this one case, their current case was adjudicated, whatever happened, they went beyond. Eliminating bail, taking that out as a factor, releasing them and not detaining them simply because they can't afford bail, resulted in a decrease over the existing system. Meaning that locking people up made it more likely that someone was going to commit a crime again. Made it more likely that things would be less safe in our community. I'm for what makes people more. We talk about all of these things. A lot of it is punishment related. And I think in so many of these conversations, we have to decide whether we are going to prioritize punishing people or whether we're gonna prioritize keeping our community safe, because they really are at odds. And punishment is not working for us, any of us, and it's really expensive. It is so harmful to the person involved, it's harmful to the community and it's so costly. And we talk about funding for jails. We talk about funding for police. There is only a certain amount of money in the whole bucket. So if we're giving more to one area, we're taking it from somewhere else or preventing it from being invested in somewhere else. And I'm sure everyone listening to this thinks, "hey, we need, we do need more behavioral health support. We do need more substance use disorder. Treatment and accessibility and availability. We do need to make sure people have access to these things without having to be involved in the criminal legal system to get clean or to get healthy." And so it's just such an important issue and I thank you for just being vocal about this. For helping people in this organization and doing something that is making our community safer. Really appreciate it. If people want to learn more or to get involved or donate to the Northwest Community Bail Fund, how can they do that? [00:29:11] Chanel Rhymes: You can go to our website, which is N-W- C-O-M-B-A-I-L-F-U-N-D.org So nwcombailfund.org. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram. I'm so grateful to have this conversation with you and inviting me on to talk about the organization that I dearly love, and we truly do wanna make our community safer and we wanna stop harming folks. [00:29:42] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, absolutely. Wanna stop harming folks. One thing that I do have to mention: I saw a report that you produced, and I feel like this was last year at some time now. You're not only doing this work, but you are, as an organization, being accountable, being transparent about the activity that's going on. You are showing results for what you're doing in a way that goes be above and beyond a number of others that I've seen. I appreciate that transparency in this organization. And then also wanted to mention, you brought up your court watching, also, earlier, which is such a useful and valuable tool. And just enlightening and informative because, to your point, lots of people don't know what happens in court. People have very limited experience, maybe someone contests a parking ticket or a speeding ticket or something. Lots of people have never stepped foot in one. And so have this idea from TV shows what it's like. It's nothing like what on TV shows. And so I sincerely appreciate that too. We're gonna link those court watching resources in the show notes, also for people to be able to access and follow. [00:31:05] Chanel Rhymes: Thank you. That is also available on our website, we're always looking for more court Watchers. We really need folks to go in person to courts. Seattle Municipal Court and Tacoma Municipal Court offer virtual courts so people can actually court watch from the comfort of their own home. If you're interested in court watching with us, please go to our website and fill out an interest form. [00:31:25] Crystal Fincher: Thank you so much for all of your information today, for what you do. It's been a pleasure to have you on Chanel. [00:31:31] Chanel Rhymes: Thank you. [00:31:32] Crystal Fincher: Thank you all for listening to Hacks and Wonks. The Producer of Hacks & Wonks is Lisl Stadler, our Assistant Producer is Shannon Cheng, and our Post-Production Assistant is Bryce Cannatelli. You can find Hacks & Wonks on Twitter at @HacksWonks, and you can follow me at @finchfrii spelled F I N C H F R I I. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. Just type Hacks & Wonks into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe, to get our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered right to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave us a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the episode notes. Thanks for tuning in. Talk to you next time.

Dan reports on Aundray Evans, Governor Evers' appointee to Wisconsin's Juvenile Justice Commission who is not only a conviced felon, but also faces two open cases for gun possession and armed robbery.

Diane & Rick address Carolina's email about her hateful ex-husband, who is remarried with a new baby five years after the divorce - but still has a major axe to grind with her even though she is trying to include him in major decisions.  What causes some people to hang on to their vengeful attitudes many years after the divorce? Find out in this episode!To get a special discount on therapy through BetterHelp,  visit www.BetterHelp.com/DilemmaBecome a CPDilemmas VIP patron and support our work with co-parents. Visit our Patreon page to get special listener perks like VIP access to our monthly live Q&A sessions!Diane talked about research regarding how the well-being of the custodial parent is vital to good outcomes in children (and why torturing or making your other parent's life miserable is not going to fare well for your kids). Here is more info on the subject: Functioning of the primary residential parent is important. According to Lye (1999),  “Children of divorce do better when the well-being of the primary residential parent is high. Primary residential parents who are experiencing psychological, emotional, social, economic, or health difficulties may transfer these difficulties to their children and are often less able to parent effectively.” However, she also found that well-being improves with time since the divorce. According to Furstenberg & Cherlin (1991), “It is likely that a child who alternates between the homes of a distraught mother and an angry father will be more troubled than a child who lives with a mother who is coping well and who once a fortnight sees a father who has disengaged from his family.” Further, Johnston (1995) said that “Joint custody is especially harmful when one of the parents is abusive, rigid, manipulative, or angry that he [or she] is divorced.”  Kelly and Emory (2003), in their research review article, conclude that “When custodial parents provide warmth, emotional support, adequate monitoring, discipline authoritatively, and maintain age-appropriate expectations, children and adolescents experience positive adjustment compared with children whose divorced custodial parents are inattentive, less supportive, and use coercive discipline.” Furstenberg, F.F., Jr., & Cherlin, A.J. (1991), Divided Families: What Happens to Children When Parents Part. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Johnston, J.R. (1995), Children's adjustment in sole custody compared to joint custody families and principles for custody decision-making, Family and Conciliation Courts Review, 33, 415. Lye, D.N. (1999). What the experts say: Scholarly research on post-divorce parenting and child well-being, Report to the Washington State Gender and Justice Commission and Domestic Relations Committee. Kelly, J.B. & Emery, R.E. (2003). Children's adjustment following divorce: risk and resilience perspectives. Family Relations, 52, 352-362.Shop for cool NON-Impossible merchandise and purchase something fun! Support from our listeners keeps us going!CLICK HERE to subscribe to our monthly podcast email to get a sneak peak into upcoming topics!Do you have a co-parent dilemma? Call our voicemail number at 1-234-DILEMMA (1-234-345-3662) or email 1234Dilemma@gmail.comSupport the show

In this episode we talk about virtual reality in courts and how it can promote access to justice. Having to go to court can be once in a lifetime experience for quite many people. It might be nerve-racking and even scary not knowing what is going to happen at court, especially for self represented litigants. A lot of courts might not even see this problem because for courts and people who work there, it's everyday life. Besides financial resources, not being familiar with the court processes might affect people to seek resolution to their cases just because the whole concept is so hard to understand. We meet with Dan Jackson, Molly French and Shikha Silliman Bhattacharjee who have created The Colorado Virtual Courthouse, a guided 360-degree virtual tour of a Colorado courthouse, designed to help Self Represented Litigants navigate court and improve access to justice. It introduces key court staff, explains common court procedures, and provides resources and information to promote better legal outcomes for self represented litigants. Tune in to hear how courts could make the real experience of visiting the court more familiar and less daunting. Dan Jackson has directed the NuLawLab at Northeastern University School of Law since 2013. Dan is a 1997 graduate of Northeastern Law and a 1990 graduate of Northwestern University. Following a postgraduate clerkship with The Hon. Hugh H. Bownes at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, Dan worked for 13 years with the law firm of Bingham McCutchen, ultimately serving as the firm's director of attorney development after practicing in the employment law group. Molly French currently works as Technology Manager at Colorado Legal Services in Denver, CO. She is on the advisory board of the Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project, and has served as the Chair of the Colorado Access to Justice Commission's Technology Committee, and is currently serving as a member of the Communications and Technology Committees. Shikha Silliman Bhattacharjee jointly founded HELM Social Design Studio in 2015, the first social design studio in South Asia dedicated to partnering with human rights defenders and their organizations to ideate, fund and build social design solutions that promote human rights and access to justice (http://helmstudio.org/).

Learn about the new draft CDC Opioid Guideline, how it impacts the mito community and how you can raise your voice to address important topics still to be decided by the CDC. We will hear from: Charles Mitter, Ph.D. Emeritus Professor, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, University of Maryland; Former Chair, Department of Entomology Caroline Sanders Senior Policy Director, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network George Lippman Social Justice Advocate, Chair of the City of Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission

NCAJ Executive Director Kim Crouch says there are three words that capture the spirit of women in law today: confidence, competence and resilience.  In this episode, recorded during the Fourth Annual NCAJ Women's Caucus Retreat, host Amber Nimocks leads a powerful discussion about the past, present, and hopeful future for women attorneys. Her guests, Judge Linda McGee and Kim Crouch, have both held leadership roles for NCAJ.  Kim says the biggest challenges now facing women attorneys are work-life balance and supporting other women in law.  “The next big chapter for women in the profession is going to be for women to be able to lean on other women, to continue to support other women, and for all of us to lift one another up,” Kim says.  For women entering the field today, Judge McGee has nothing but kind words.  “[These women] have already seen challenges,” she says. “They've been leaders. They've been active. They've been involved. They want to give to others. They need to be able to pat themselves on the back about the things that they've already accomplished. They've gotten through law school, they've passed the bar, and they're out there ready to practice law. So I think they need to feel proud of those accomplishments already.”  Judge McGee encourages new graduates to follow their passions, find what will bring them the most joy in their next career move, and be open to where the journey leads.  

Welcome to Sojourner Truth. Thank you for staying with us. This is your host, Margaret Prescod. Today: Poetry for Haiti, the worlds first Black republic, which is struggling to overcome neo-colonialism, imposed poverty, state violence, and natural disasters produced by climate change. In the early morning hours of August 14, 2021, a powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southern Haiti, killing at least 2,200 people and injuring over 12,000 others, according to France 24. These figures, however, are expected to be much higher and many people remain unaccounted for. The Associated Press reported that at least 136,800 buildings were damaged or destroyed. The August 2021 earthquake that struck Haiti was the deadliest natural disaster of 2021; and it was the worst natural disaster to strike Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. Just two days later, on August 16, 2021, Haiti experienced a direct hit from Hurricane Grace, which poured over 10 inches of rain on the nation. There was further damage from flash flooding and landslides that led to more casualties, especially among those hundreds of thousands of Haitians left homeless by the earthquake. According to the United Nations, at least 1.2 million people, including 540,000 children, had been impacted by the twin devastations of the earthquake and the hurricane. Meanwhile, all of this took place within the context of COVID-19, state violence, political instability, and attacks on the poor. In the Summer of 2021, a benefit for the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (known as HERF) was organized by longtime Haiti solidarity campaigners. HERF provides concrete material aid directly to the people of Haiti, such as water, food, shelter, medicine, housing, and more. The benefit, dubbed Poetry for Haiti, was an afternoon of soul-nourishing poetry and an opportunity to support Haitis movement for democracy. The event featured Devorah Major, San Franciscos Third Poet Laureate, Tongo Eisen-Martin, San Franciscos current Poet Laureate, and Shanga Labossiere. It also featured a heart-warming tribute by longtime Haiti human rights activist Pierre Labossiere, to beloved elders of the Haiti solidarity movement. They include: Mrs. Solange Aristide, mother of President Jean Bertrand Aristide; Terry Collins, a community leader and co-founder of KPOO-FM; and Jacques Antoine Gwo Lobo, a Haitian DJ, community leader, and activist with the Lavalas movement. The Sojourner Truth Team, myself and Assistant Producer Ramiro Funez, had the honor of meeting Gwo Lobo in 2019, when we traveled to Haiti to cover the grassroots uprising. We bid farewell to these beloved and highly revered elders. Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you exclusive audio from this historic event, Poetry for Haiti. The event was co-sponsored by the Haiti Action Committee, the Ecumenical Peace Institute, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, and St. Johns Presbyterian Church Mission and Justice Commission.

Welcome to Sojourner Truth. Thank you for staying with us. This is your host, Margaret Prescod. Today: Poetry for Haiti, the worlds first Black republic, which is struggling to overcome neo-colonialism, imposed poverty, state violence, and natural disasters produced by climate change. In the early morning hours of August 14, 2021, a powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southern Haiti, killing at least 2,200 people and injuring over 12,000 others, according to France 24. These figures, however, are expected to be much higher and many people remain unaccounted for. The Associated Press reported that at least 136,800 buildings were damaged or destroyed. The August 2021 earthquake that struck Haiti was the deadliest natural disaster of 2021; and it was the worst natural disaster to strike Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. Just two days later, on August 16, 2021, Haiti experienced a direct hit from Hurricane Grace, which poured over 10 inches of rain on the nation. There was further damage from flash flooding and landslides that led to more casualties, especially among those hundreds of thousands of Haitians left homeless by the earthquake. According to the United Nations, at least 1.2 million people, including 540,000 children, had been impacted by the twin devastations of the earthquake and the hurricane. Meanwhile, all of this took place within the context of COVID-19, state violence, political instability, and attacks on the poor. In the Summer of 2021, a benefit for the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (known as HERF) was organized by longtime Haiti solidarity campaigners. HERF provides concrete material aid directly to the people of Haiti, such as water, food, shelter, medicine, housing, and more. The benefit, dubbed Poetry for Haiti, was an afternoon of soul-nourishing poetry and an opportunity to support Haitis movement for democracy. The event featured Devorah Major, San Franciscos Third Poet Laureate, Tongo Eisen-Martin, San Franciscos current Poet Laureate, and Shanga Labossiere. It also featured a heart-warming tribute by longtime Haiti human rights activist Pierre Labossiere, to beloved elders of the Haiti solidarity movement. They include: Mrs. Solange Aristide, mother of President Jean Bertrand Aristide; Terry Collins, a community leader and co-founder of KPOO-FM; and Jacques Antoine Gwo Lobo, a Haitian DJ, community leader, and activist with the Lavalas movement. The Sojourner Truth Team, myself and Assistant Producer Ramiro Funez, had the honor of meeting Gwo Lobo in 2019, when we traveled to Haiti to cover the grassroots uprising. We bid farewell to these beloved and highly revered elders. Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you exclusive audio from this historic event, Poetry for Haiti. The event was co-sponsored by the Haiti Action Committee, the Ecumenical Peace Institute, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, and St. Johns Presbyterian Church Mission and Justice Commission.

What is it like to advocate for the poor and oppressed in Pakistan? What are the challenges that Christians and other minorities face? In Episode 4 of the Didomi podcast, Michael Mutzner and Wissam al-Saliby interview Yeshoo Ezra. Yeshoo is a lawyer and partner with Ezra Law Associates. He is also the Executive Director of the Presbyterian Peace and Justice Commission of Pakistan. To learn more on some of this episode's topics: Pakistan: Protect underage girls belonging to religious minorities from abduction & forced marriages, World Evangelical Alliance, 5 October 2020 Pakistan: Abduction, Religious Conversion, and Forced Marriage of Minors from Minority Religious Groups, World Evangelical Alliance, 20 August 2020 Stay up-to-date with Didomi podcasts via Twitter @didomi_co. We appreciate your feedback via email at contact@didomi.co. Music was generously provided by artist C4C.