WEBVTT - Orlean's Parish District Attorney Jason Williams on criminal justice reform

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<v Speaker 1>Hi, I'm Jason flam Usually I interview extraordinary people who

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<v Speaker 1>have been on the wrong end of Brontel convictions. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>welcome to my new series, Righteous Convictions, where I speak

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<v Speaker 1>with some of today's most prominent and active agents of change.

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<v Speaker 1>Our guest today saw the need for change in a

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<v Speaker 1>city that is ground zero for many of the problems

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<v Speaker 1>that plague our criminal legal system, and he decided to

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<v Speaker 1>stop them right at the source. When you mass produced convictions,

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<v Speaker 1>you compromise on accuracy, and that is what has left

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<v Speaker 1>us the city of New Orleans in the same Louisiana

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<v Speaker 1>with an outside percentage of people who are factually innocent

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<v Speaker 1>ritting away at jail. What do you think that percentage is? God,

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<v Speaker 1>there's no way for us to calculate the number of

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<v Speaker 1>people who are buried at a pine box and ango

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<v Speaker 1>of State penitentiary who are factually innocent, but we will

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<v Speaker 1>never hear their story. Now, as the newly elected d

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<v Speaker 1>A of Orleans Parish, he intends to not only make

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<v Speaker 1>the changes necessary for better outcome in the future, but

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<v Speaker 1>also to make good for the many wrongs of the past.

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<v Speaker 1>Orleans Parish District Attorney, former board member of the Innostance

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<v Speaker 1>Project of New Orleans. Jason Williams right now on Righteous Convictions.

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome back to Righteous Convictions today. I'm smiling as I'm

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<v Speaker 1>going to introduce you to one of my favorite people,

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<v Speaker 1>Jason Williams, who is the brand new d a of

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<v Speaker 1>the most incarcerated county in the most incarcerated city and

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<v Speaker 1>the most incarcerated state in the most incarcerated country in

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<v Speaker 1>the world, Orleans Parish in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jason, Welcome

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<v Speaker 1>to Righteous Convictions. Thank you for having me on the show. Man,

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<v Speaker 1>It's going to be with you. Jason is a chronic

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<v Speaker 1>overachiever who has done some really incredible things and I'm

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<v Speaker 1>not exaggerating when I say that. And Jason is one

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<v Speaker 1>of the most progressive da s in the country. Never

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<v Speaker 1>was a prosecutor. But Jason, let's go back to the beginning.

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<v Speaker 1>So you grew up in New Orleans, right, I actually

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<v Speaker 1>grew up in two places, Atlanta, Georgia and New Orleans.

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<v Speaker 1>My parents got divorced and I was about one, and

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<v Speaker 1>so I spent summers in New Orleans and the school

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<v Speaker 1>year in Atlanta. And what was it like growing up?

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<v Speaker 1>But I guess that was what the early nineties, right

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<v Speaker 1>or late eighties, early nineties, But yeah, it was a

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<v Speaker 1>tale of two cities for me. In Atlanta, I went

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<v Speaker 1>to a private school where, you know, my day was

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<v Speaker 1>pretty much filled from morning until almost bedtime because of

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<v Speaker 1>all the extraricular activities. Any police officer I met in Atlanta,

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<v Speaker 1>at least in my neighborhood was generally a planned encounter

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<v Speaker 1>or a good encounter, Whereas in the city of New

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<v Speaker 1>Orleans it was a very, very different scenario because there

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't the same type of organized school activities, organized sports

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<v Speaker 1>the same way that it existed in the city of

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<v Speaker 1>Atlanta for me, and so it was very easy to

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<v Speaker 1>see what the lack of attention to young people combined

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<v Speaker 1>with the over policing of communities could really give folks

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<v Speaker 1>a very different experience. And you mentioned it, Jason, New

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<v Speaker 1>Orleans is ground zero for unfairness in the criminal legal

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<v Speaker 1>system for a variety of different reasons, and I was

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<v Speaker 1>able to kind of see that dichotomy growing up. So

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<v Speaker 1>let's talk about your journey to Lane law, right, and

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<v Speaker 1>then you are now the district attorney, but you never

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<v Speaker 1>were a prosecutor, and that's really unusual. You know, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>gonna just say it's wonderful because we need d a's

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<v Speaker 1>who come from that side of the bar, who have

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<v Speaker 1>a different kind of understanding. And let's not forget you

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<v Speaker 1>about ten years on the board of the Innocence Project

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<v Speaker 1>of New Orleans, an incredible organization, So take us through

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<v Speaker 1>that trajectory. You know. I started off handling cases that

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<v Speaker 1>to in and broad while I was still in law

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<v Speaker 1>school through the Criminal Law Clinic with the supervising attorney.

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<v Speaker 1>She was amazing. She's about four ft tall. Name is

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<v Speaker 1>Betty Cole, and she just was a our house in

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<v Speaker 1>terms of standing up for people's rights, and that stuck

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<v Speaker 1>with me. Soon after graduating, I started my own practice.

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<v Speaker 1>The problem for me was the rate that this system

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<v Speaker 1>was churning through black, brown, and beige bodies defending these

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<v Speaker 1>cases one case at a time just was not having

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<v Speaker 1>a significant impact on stopping mass incarceration and wrongful convictions

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<v Speaker 1>here in the city of New Orleans. I started working

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<v Speaker 1>pro bono with the Innocence Project and then I joined

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<v Speaker 1>the board to help grow the organization so that it

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<v Speaker 1>could help more people. And then eventually I was appointed

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<v Speaker 1>to be a judge by the Supreme Court and two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand and three, and then I ran for the City

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<v Speaker 1>Council because I saw an opportunity to change the dynamic

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<v Speaker 1>about what we thought needed policing in the city of

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<v Speaker 1>New Orleans. So we engage the municipal bail reform, reducing

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<v Speaker 1>our pre trial jail population. We endeavored to decriminalize marijuana

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<v Speaker 1>so that now we were writing summons is for folks

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<v Speaker 1>rather than putting people in jail and arresting them. Trying

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<v Speaker 1>to figure out ways that we could combat three hundred

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<v Speaker 1>years of over police and over prosecuting certain people is

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<v Speaker 1>what I've done and others have done in the city.

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<v Speaker 1>And to be honest with you, the one actor that

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<v Speaker 1>was most responsible for architecting this amount of injustice and

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<v Speaker 1>mass incarceration, in my opinion, was a d A. And

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<v Speaker 1>so I began challenging some of the choices that he

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<v Speaker 1>was making, like putting rape victims in jail to make

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<v Speaker 1>them testify against their perpetrator, and putting domestic violence survivors

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<v Speaker 1>in jail to make them testify. What do you mean

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<v Speaker 1>they were locking up victims? Who locks up victims? People

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<v Speaker 1>find it hard to believe until they actually see the case.

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<v Speaker 1>And hear from the person, but rape and domestic abuse

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<v Speaker 1>survivors who had decided that they were too traumatized to

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<v Speaker 1>testify and were reticent to testify. He was asking for

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<v Speaker 1>material witness warrants and actually jailing victims and survivors to

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<v Speaker 1>force and compel their testimony in court. And in one instance,

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<v Speaker 1>in particular, domestic abuse survivor was jailed longer than her

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<v Speaker 1>abuser because even though after he was convicted, he got probation,

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<v Speaker 1>and so she was jailed to compel her testimony at

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<v Speaker 1>his trial. And when he was convicted, he didn't even

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<v Speaker 1>get as much time as she served. So if that's

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<v Speaker 1>not a perverse view of the role of a prosecutor,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know it is. It's beyond. I don't have

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<v Speaker 1>the right words for that, um, but that ain't that

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<v Speaker 1>ain't gonna be happening under your watch. I took him

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<v Speaker 1>on politically from the City Council, and I've ran on

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<v Speaker 1>a platform of ending mass and crosceration, putting a stake

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<v Speaker 1>in the ground saying this office will no longer be

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<v Speaker 1>a Jim Crow office, and it will treat victims and

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<v Speaker 1>survivors with respect, and it will also treat defendants with respect,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's something that has been missing for a very

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<v Speaker 1>long time. So before you spend time in the bench

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<v Speaker 1>as a judge and served as president of the City Council,

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<v Speaker 1>you had had a winning record as a defense attorney

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<v Speaker 1>and often did pro bono work for the Public Defender's Office,

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<v Speaker 1>which a couple of years back was in a serious

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<v Speaker 1>crisis where they refused to take on any violent felony cases.

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<v Speaker 1>I saw a piece about it at sixty Minutes because

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<v Speaker 1>they simply didn't have the financial or physical bandwidth to

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<v Speaker 1>handle this crazy onslaught of cases right, twenty cases a year.

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<v Speaker 1>So can you give us any insight into that crisis

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<v Speaker 1>and the role that you played from your seat on

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<v Speaker 1>the City Council. Basically, what you had was a d

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<v Speaker 1>A's office getting funding from the city at a rate

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<v Speaker 1>much higher than the Public Defender's Office was getting, but

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<v Speaker 1>they were handling roughly the same amount of cases. So

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<v Speaker 1>it just meant that you know, they have the investigations

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<v Speaker 1>of the police department. Of course the d A's Office did,

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<v Speaker 1>but you really were setting up people for failure because

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<v Speaker 1>you had lawyers that were overworked out gun from a

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<v Speaker 1>resource perspective, and the Public Defenders Office basically was saying, look,

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<v Speaker 1>we're not going to take more cases because we cannot

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<v Speaker 1>handle them effectively. And that position forced the judges and

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<v Speaker 1>the city and others to figure out how to correct

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<v Speaker 1>the inadequacies of the system. And one of my last

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<v Speaker 1>pieces of work on the City Council was to take

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<v Speaker 1>money away from the office I now sit in and

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<v Speaker 1>to deliver that to the Public Defender's Office to increase

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<v Speaker 1>their budget and to finally try to achieve some degree

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<v Speaker 1>of parity between prosecution and defense. And I'm now working

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<v Speaker 1>within a drastically reduced budget and we're successfully meeting the

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<v Speaker 1>needs of the office. It's extraordinary when you just do

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<v Speaker 1>the math. Right, If if these lawyers were handling four

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<v Speaker 1>cases a year on average, and there's only three or

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<v Speaker 1>sixty five days, and the course aren't open on weekends,

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<v Speaker 1>so they're handling more than one case at day, So

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<v Speaker 1>you don't have to be illegal scholar to understand that

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<v Speaker 1>they can't possibly mount an effective defense for almost any

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<v Speaker 1>of their clients. So that ends up with please and

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<v Speaker 1>and in fact, we know it was not uncommon for

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<v Speaker 1>their lawyers not to even show up, absolutely not because

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<v Speaker 1>they're lazy, but because they're tied up down the hall

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<v Speaker 1>in another section of court, and you can't be too

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<v Speaker 1>places at one time. And when they're finally they're they're

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<v Speaker 1>encouraging a person to plead guilty. And oftentimes it's because

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<v Speaker 1>it just hasn't been enough time to do a thorough investigation,

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<v Speaker 1>and because of the up charging, charging someone with a

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<v Speaker 1>crime that is far more severe than the offense, and

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<v Speaker 1>then the threat of the multiple bill, meaning you're you're

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<v Speaker 1>really facing a year in jail, but because of the

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<v Speaker 1>use of multiple offinder law, you're now facing up to

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<v Speaker 1>twenty years. So people believe that they're doing the right

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<v Speaker 1>thing about telling a client or if you plead guilty today,

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<v Speaker 1>they're not going to file the multiple bill, which puts

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<v Speaker 1>an innocent person in the position of weighing the rest

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<v Speaker 1>of their life versus being exonerated for a crime they

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<v Speaker 1>did not commit. Most people would take the choice of saying,

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<v Speaker 1>you know what, let me just lead guilty, because I

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<v Speaker 1>can't take the chance. I have kids, I have a life,

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<v Speaker 1>I can't spend the rest of my life in prison.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't think we can appropriately or accurately describe the

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<v Speaker 1>magnitude of what you described, because this isn't one person

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<v Speaker 1>in court that is having this conversation, It's multiple people

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<v Speaker 1>in twelve sections of court all day having this conversation.

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<v Speaker 1>And then you can very easily see how we became

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<v Speaker 1>the most incarcerated place in the world. The city of

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<v Speaker 1>New Orleans has been ground zero for the unfairness of

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<v Speaker 1>the American criminal legal system in every way, whether it

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<v Speaker 1>relates to misdemeanors, to traffic, to bail bonds and cash bail,

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<v Speaker 1>and wrongful convictions. It's not just the big cases, it's everything,

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<v Speaker 1>including the school to prison pipeline. What do you say

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<v Speaker 1>to people who say, wow, this is is Jason william Sky

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<v Speaker 1>or Larry Crash. Crime is gonna go crazy? Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>we know, like in San Francisco, where chessa poutine has

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<v Speaker 1>produced the jail population. By and corning to the sfpd

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<v Speaker 1>s own statistics, crime is down in San Francisco thirty

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<v Speaker 1>five point nine percent. So that would certainly fly in

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<v Speaker 1>the face of those arguments. But I'm sure you must

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<v Speaker 1>get hit with that. You know, what are you gonna

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<v Speaker 1>do to protect us? You don't want to lack all

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<v Speaker 1>these people up, do you hear that a lot, and

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<v Speaker 1>what's your answer to that. It came up a lot

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<v Speaker 1>during the campaign that some of the folks running against

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<v Speaker 1>me were really from that school of tough on crime,

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<v Speaker 1>prosecute as many people as you can, arrest as many

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<v Speaker 1>people as you can, and then try to give them

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<v Speaker 1>as much time as you can. But when you look

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<v Speaker 1>at the nineties to today, how many people we've churned

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<v Speaker 1>through the system, we have had the poorest public safety outcomes,

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<v Speaker 1>murder rate sky high, arm robbery rate sky high. When

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<v Speaker 1>you look at those things, there's been a direct correlation

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<v Speaker 1>between the over policing and over prosecuting with increases in crime.

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<v Speaker 1>And when you talk to sociologists the scientists, it is

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<v Speaker 1>clear that you do not make your city safer by

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<v Speaker 1>putting more bodies in jail. You actually make it less safe,

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<v Speaker 1>and you reduce trust in the system. Then witnesses don't

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<v Speaker 1>want to come forward and they don't want to participate

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<v Speaker 1>when that trust is severed with the public, and this

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<v Speaker 1>has been shown again and again, they will not call

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<v Speaker 1>the police because they have every reason to fear that

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<v Speaker 1>if they do, the situation is going to deteriorate further

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<v Speaker 1>and faster. So crime goes up, you start looking at

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<v Speaker 1>retaliatory crime because people are not using the legal system

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<v Speaker 1>to resolve these issues. They take it upon themselves, and

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<v Speaker 1>so you have retaliation going back and forth from family

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<v Speaker 1>to family or block to block. But it happens throughout

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<v Speaker 1>this country. I think the public made it very clear

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<v Speaker 1>in my election that they agree that the things that

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<v Speaker 1>have been tried in the past weren't working, and they

0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:54.600
<v Speaker 1>are prepared and ready for us to finally be smart

0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:58.280
<v Speaker 1>on crime, right, to confront the sins of the past,

0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:01.680
<v Speaker 1>to maybe invest in people in the front end, and

0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:05.040
<v Speaker 1>our young people get better outcomes out of them before

0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:09.720
<v Speaker 1>there is ever a victim. So now, by some sort

0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:12.880
<v Speaker 1>of miracle of the universe organizing itself in the correct way,

0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:16.920
<v Speaker 1>you now are the man right. What's your plan in

0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:19.800
<v Speaker 1>order to create real reform. It's important that we bring

0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:23.400
<v Speaker 1>the best and brightest local and national talent into this office.

0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:26.360
<v Speaker 1>My first appointment was Emily Mall as chief of our

0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:29.240
<v Speaker 1>Civil Rights Division. She's a former lawyer in the Louisiana

0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:32.760
<v Speaker 1>Supreme Court Chief Justice Johnson's office, former director of our

0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:36.440
<v Speaker 1>Innocence Project here in New Orleans. I've appointed Ben Cohen

0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.920
<v Speaker 1>as the Chief of Appeals. Coming in from Ohio, Ben

0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:43.080
<v Speaker 1>is one of the most respected appellate litigators. He's brought

0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:45.719
<v Speaker 1>four cases to the United States Supreme Court. He's won

0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:48.560
<v Speaker 1>three of those. He has served as a lead attorney,

0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:52.840
<v Speaker 1>and Ramos versus Louisiana toppling Jim pro era laws that

0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:54.840
<v Speaker 1>have been on the books in this state for far

0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:58.440
<v Speaker 1>too long. Appointed to Nay Felix as chief of our

0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:02.160
<v Speaker 1>Juvenile Division. To Nay is a former attorney with LCCR

0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:05.400
<v Speaker 1>Louisana Center for Children's Rights. I'm not the only person

0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:07.839
<v Speaker 1>who has worked on the other side of the aisle.

0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:10.880
<v Speaker 1>It gives you a very unique perspective about what a

0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:13.320
<v Speaker 1>good case is, what a bad case is, how to

0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:17.080
<v Speaker 1>build stronger cases. One of our first areas that that

0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:19.680
<v Speaker 1>we're standing up is this Civil Rights Division so that

0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:22.920
<v Speaker 1>we can correct the sins of the past. First, I

0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:27.760
<v Speaker 1>recognize the previous administration absolutely have calls harm to this community,

0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:29.800
<v Speaker 1>whether it was on our watch or not. It's certainly

0:14:29.800 --> 0:14:33.440
<v Speaker 1>our job to address the harm and injustices so that

0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:36.120
<v Speaker 1>we can instill some trust in the system in our

0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:39.400
<v Speaker 1>office and respect back into the office. When you mass

0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:44.920
<v Speaker 1>produced convictions, you compromise on accuracy, and that is what

0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:47.080
<v Speaker 1>has left us the city of New Orleans in the St.

0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:50.680
<v Speaker 1>Louisiana with an outside percentage of people who are factually

0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:53.680
<v Speaker 1>innocent riding away in jail. What do you think that

0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:57.880
<v Speaker 1>percentage is? God, it's high. The accurate number is far

0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:00.560
<v Speaker 1>higher than anything we can calculate. We because there's no

0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:02.600
<v Speaker 1>way for us to calculate the number of people who

0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:05.080
<v Speaker 1>are buried in a pine box and then go state

0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:08.160
<v Speaker 1>penitentiary who are factually innocent, but we will never hear

0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:28.320
<v Speaker 1>their story. I often tell our listeners on our other podcast,

0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:31.200
<v Speaker 1>Wrongful Conviction, that if they're ever picked up and brought

0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:34.480
<v Speaker 1>to the police station for whatever reason, the only thing

0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:37.080
<v Speaker 1>they should say is their name and I want a

0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.760
<v Speaker 1>lawyer and then stop talking. Is there some piece of

0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.840
<v Speaker 1>useful advice you could give? Yeah? I mean you're given

0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:46.880
<v Speaker 1>um graded advice, Jason. I have never seen anyone successfully

0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:50.440
<v Speaker 1>talked their way out of an arrest. That's an urban myth,

0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:53.760
<v Speaker 1>so there's no reason to even try. Right, it is

0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:58.600
<v Speaker 1>a job that is best left up to competent council. Right.

0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:00.920
<v Speaker 1>So the only advice I would ever give it the

0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:03.200
<v Speaker 1>same advice I give to my fourteen year old, my

0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.080
<v Speaker 1>fifteen year old now I just had a birthday. Is

0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:09.680
<v Speaker 1>to be respectful, to not make any sudden moves and

0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:13.320
<v Speaker 1>allow the fate to be handled in a court of

0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:17.840
<v Speaker 1>law rather than a police station or on a street court. Yeah,

0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:21.080
<v Speaker 1>that's good advice too, and I know it's it's it

0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:24.440
<v Speaker 1>makes me sick to think about how many fathers, Black

0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:28.200
<v Speaker 1>fathers have to have that same conversation with their children.

0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:32.600
<v Speaker 1>I feel like people are starting to understand the gravity

0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:34.480
<v Speaker 1>of the problem that we are on the virtual change

0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:37.640
<v Speaker 1>and it's it's obviously true because there you are, against

0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:41.320
<v Speaker 1>all odds. A defense lawyer is now the District Attorney

0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:44.360
<v Speaker 1>of Orleans Parish in New Orleans, which is just fucking great.

0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:47.160
<v Speaker 1>But I have to say so, it's just fucking great

0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:49.240
<v Speaker 1>because this is top of the funnel ship, right, We've

0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:51.280
<v Speaker 1>got to stop it at the top of the funnel,

0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:53.600
<v Speaker 1>and people like you are going to be such an

0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:57.920
<v Speaker 1>important part of that solutionist. So you're diverting more cases,

0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:00.160
<v Speaker 1>you're keeping juveniles out of adult court, ending the use

0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:02.680
<v Speaker 1>of the pitual offender statute that allow for sense increases.

0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:04.440
<v Speaker 1>There's so many more. We can talk about it all day.

0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:07.000
<v Speaker 1>For people who are listening and inspired by your words

0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:10.280
<v Speaker 1>and your course of action. How can they join you?

0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:12.520
<v Speaker 1>What can they do to be part of the change.

0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:15.280
<v Speaker 1>I encourage people to follow us at Run with Jason,

0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:18.720
<v Speaker 1>follow us with O. P. D A on social media,

0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:23.399
<v Speaker 1>Listen to podcasts like yours, get involved. Realize that it

0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:28.200
<v Speaker 1>is your tax dollars that are being misspent to achieve

0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:33.920
<v Speaker 1>perverse goals. Right Locking people up is not making you safer,

0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:36.840
<v Speaker 1>And get involved in how money is spent in your

0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:40.480
<v Speaker 1>town so that we can spend it on prevention, investing

0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:43.160
<v Speaker 1>in young people rather than trying to repair them after

0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:46.240
<v Speaker 1>twenty or thirty years of hurt. Everyone has a role

0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:49.160
<v Speaker 1>to play. Your tax dollars are involved in this thing.

0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:52.240
<v Speaker 1>So now return to our closing. First of all, thank

0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:54.840
<v Speaker 1>you again for you know taking the time, I know

0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:57.359
<v Speaker 1>it visit you are to be here on righteous convictions.

0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:01.720
<v Speaker 1>The mic is yours, Jason Williams, this parish district attorney

0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:05.960
<v Speaker 1>and Paul around. Thank you again Jason for for doing

0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.640
<v Speaker 1>what you do. It is changing people's minds, and it's

0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:10.960
<v Speaker 1>changing people's hearts, and it's gonna make the country a

0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:13.640
<v Speaker 1>safer and more equitable place. We are building the best

0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:16.919
<v Speaker 1>team and putting them in this office, to correct the

0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:20.359
<v Speaker 1>sins of the past, to disrupt the school to prison pipeline,

0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:24.359
<v Speaker 1>and really laying a foundation that will allow us to

0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:28.840
<v Speaker 1>be laser focus on violent crime, on domestic violence, on

0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:33.520
<v Speaker 1>unsolved murders, on sexual assault cases. So a lot of

0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:36.440
<v Speaker 1>people will tell you that criminal justice reform is an

0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:41.120
<v Speaker 1>experiment and that it is antithetical with public safety. And

0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:44.040
<v Speaker 1>the truth of the matter is when you realize that

0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:48.080
<v Speaker 1>you're focusing on people who are actually hurting people and

0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:51.520
<v Speaker 1>creating the space and resources to do that better. The

0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:53.879
<v Speaker 1>only way you do that is by getting rid of

0:18:53.920 --> 0:18:56.760
<v Speaker 1>the riff raft and the overuse of the virtual finder

0:18:56.880 --> 0:18:59.760
<v Speaker 1>law and the failed war on drugs. That is what

0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:03.399
<v Speaker 1>I call and that is what is being smart on

0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:08.160
<v Speaker 1>crime using taxpayer dollars the way that you've heard people

0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:12.919
<v Speaker 1>crying out for this past summer, right, investing in people,

0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:16.600
<v Speaker 1>investing in better outcomes, and really going after the people

0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:19.440
<v Speaker 1>that have hurt people. But we can't just do that

0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:22.960
<v Speaker 1>from today on. You've got to look back at all

0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:25.000
<v Speaker 1>the harm that's been caused and make sure that we're

0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:28.359
<v Speaker 1>correcting those things and making sure that anybody that was

0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:32.280
<v Speaker 1>convicted with a Jim pro era. Jury gets a fair shot,

0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:35.040
<v Speaker 1>and fairness will take us where we need to be.

0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:37.840
<v Speaker 1>It is not antithetical to public safety. It will make

0:19:37.920 --> 0:19:49.320
<v Speaker 1>us safety. Thank you for listening to Righteous Convictions. I'd

0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:52.320
<v Speaker 1>like to thank our production team Connor Hall, Jeff Clyburne

0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.880
<v Speaker 1>and Kevin Awards. The music in this production was supplied

0:19:55.880 --> 0:20:00.000
<v Speaker 1>by three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph. Follow us

0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:04.440
<v Speaker 1>on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction, on Twitter at wrong Conviction,

0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:09.240
<v Speaker 1>and on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction podcast. Righteous Convictions is

0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:11.720
<v Speaker 1>a production of Lava for Good Podcasts and association with

0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:18.040
<v Speaker 1>Signal Company Number one