Paul Hyman
Both Sides of the Bars – Top Trends in Criminal Legal System Reform in 2024 – Dec 16 2024

Both Sides of the Bars – Top Trends in Criminal Legal System Reform in 2024 – Dec 16 2024

In this year-end wrap-up report, an expert in sentencing reform, voting rights, and confronting racial disparities in the criminal legal system looks back at 2024 and explores key changes formerly incarcerated activists, lawmakers, and advocates took to challenge mass incarceration. They include decarceration, voting rights and collateral consequences, and trends in prison capacity. Guest Nicole D. Porter, senior director of advocacy at Washington, D.C.-based The Sentencing Project, also looks...

Both Sides of the Bars – Mass Incarceration Doesnt Mean Less Crime – Nov 22 2024

Both Sides of the Bars – Mass Incarceration Doesnt Mean Less Crime – Nov 22 2024

In the last decade, nearly all 50 U.S. states have declined in both crime and mass incarceration rates, but according to a recent report by The Sentencing Project (TSP), there's a startling disconnect between the two. This report exposes the limited impact of imprisonment on public safety and challenges the notion that higher incarceration rates lead to safer communities. In this episode, two Washington, D.C.-based guests -- Nazgol Chandnoosh, TSP's co-director of research, and Bryan...

Both Sides of the Bars – The Advocacy for Americans’ Right to Vote – Oct 14 2024

Both Sides of the Bars – The Advocacy for Americans’ Right to Vote – Oct 14 2024

Dr. Ronald F. Day, senior VP of The Fortune Society, is joined by two voting advocates: Dana Vickers Shelley, Executive Director of the ACLU of Maryland; and Bonifacio Aleman, a lead organizer at Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. They discuss what are the efforts in their respective states regarding restoring voting rights to people with felony convictions, and how denying the right to vote is rooted in a deeply racist system.

Both Sides of the Bars – The Case for System Reforms to Reduce Youth Incarceration – Sep 2024

Both Sides of the Bars – The Case for System Reforms to Reduce Youth Incarceration – Sep 2024

Compelling research finds that incarcerating or detaining young people is not necessary or effective. Rather, removing young people from their homes, schools, and communities, and placing them in institutions increases the likelihood that youth will return to the justice system and reduces young people's future success and wellbeing. Incarceration also exposes many youth to abuse. A recent report from The Sentencing Project (TSP) describes reforms that states and local justice systems can and...

Both Sides of the Bars – Raise the Gate: The Case for Cash Assistance for People Leaving Incarceration. – Aug 2024

Both Sides of the Bars – Raise the Gate: The Case for Cash Assistance for People Leaving Incarceration. – Aug 2024

The period immediately following release from prison is a time of intense vulnerability for far too many people who are otherwise ready to start rebuilding their lives. Without the ability to pay for necessities like housing and transportation, or to contribute to household expenses, people leaving prison struggle to reconnect with loved ones, comply with supervision requirements, and move forward with their lives. Immediate financial support upon release provides immediate stability for them...

Both Sides of the Bars – Supporting The Children of Incarcerated People: A National Parents Day Special. – Jul 2024

Both Sides of the Bars – Supporting The Children of Incarcerated People: A National Parents Day Special. – Jul 2024

The arrest of a parent can be traumatic for many children. The removal of a mother or father from a child’s life forces that child to confront emotional, social, and economic consequences that may trigger behavior problems, poor outcomes in school, and a disruption or severance of the relationship with the incarcerated parent that may persist even after the parent is released from prison. This episode's two guests are both leaders in prison family support and are here to discuss what needs to...

Both Sides of the Bars – Advancing LGBTQ+ Rights In the Shadow of Mass Incarceration: A PRIDE Month Special. – Jun 2024

Spotlighting the ongoing struggle to keep members of the LGBTQ+ community safe, advocates from across the country unite to challenge narratives and craft impactful solutions. Amidst rising anti-trans and anti-queer rhetoric, transformative organizations and groups like the Transgender Law Center (TLC) in Oakland, California and the LGBTQ+ Law and Policy Unit at the Legal Aid Society in New York City advocate for holistic solutions like access to healthcare, financial assistance, other...

Both Sides of the Bars – How Mandatory Minimums Perpetuate Mass Incarceration & What To Do About It. – May 2024

There is widespread evidence that mandatory minimum sentences produce substantial harm with no overall benefit to crime control, according to a recent report by The Sentencing Project (TSP). Mandatory minimums are legal provisions in each state and the federal government that require a specific minimum prison term for certain crimes, regardless of individual circumstances. Determined by lawmakers rather than judges, these sentences represent a uniquely American approach to sentencing that has...

Both Sides of the Bars – Correction: It’s Time to Rethink Parole in the Age of Mass Incarceration – Apr 2024

The United States alone locks up a quarter of the world’s incarcerated people. And yet, apart from clichés – “paying a debt to society” … “you do the crime, you do the time” – there is little sense collectively in America regarding what constitutes retribution or atonement. We don’t actually know why we punish. In his investigation into the crisis of the American criminal justice system, author Ben Austen’s powerful new book, “Correction,” offers a behind-the-scenes look at the process of...

Both Sides of the Bars – Incarcerated Women, Disrupted Families – Mar 2024

Both Sides of the Bars – Incarcerated Women, Disrupted Families – Mar 2024

Andrea James, executive director and founder of the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, and Serena Martin-Liguori, executive director of New Hour -- share insights into the challenges faced by incarcerated women and the profound impact on their families. Learn how these two advocates are working tirelessly to support and rebuild the broken homes left in the wake of incarceration, and hear about the collateral damage – strained relationships and the...

Both Sides of the Bars – NY Gives Clean Slate – Feb 2024

In this episode of BSOTB, host Rob DeLeon – deputy CEO of The Fortune Society – and his two guests discuss the importance of the Clean Slate Act. They are Katie Schaffer, director of organizing and advocacy at Center for Community Alternatives (CCA), and Ismael Diaz Jr., a community organizer at CCA who, after returning home after 10 years of incarceration, struggled to access employment, housing, education, and healthcare.

Both Sides of the Bars – 13th Forward – Jan 2024

In this episode of BSOTB, two members of 13th Forward – Jacalyn Goldzweig, leader of the 13th Forward Coalition for The Legal Aid Society, and Wilfredo Laracuente, 13th Forward leader, educator, and formerly incarcerated advocate, discuss their current legislative push to pass a constitutional amendment in New York State that would end slavery as punishment as a crime and companion legislation that would ensure that all those working inside are treated with dignity and respect.

Both Sides of the Bars – Criminal Justice Pioneer Retires – Dec 2023

JoAnn Page, president of The Fortune Society, is retiring. She led Fortune for 34 years, growing the non-profit from a staff of 20 and a budget of $700,000 to a staff of over 500 and an annual budget of more than $60 million. With that growth, she transformed the organization into one that not only provides advocacy and direct services but also housing to set people on a path toward meaningful transformation. Last year Fortune served more than 11,000 individuals with life-changing services.

Both Sides of the Bars – Public Safety Without Mass Incarceration – Oct 2023

With 2023 marking 50 years of mass incarceration in the U.S. -- the prison population has expanded by 500% since 1973 -- there is a clear need to reimagine the country's public safety infrastructure, according to a new report by The Sentencing Project (TSP) which advocates for effective and humane responses to crime.

Both Sides of the Bars – Reform – July 2023

This episode's guest is Mr. Myrick, who is now president and CEO of People For The American Way (PFAW), a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit progressive advocacy group, focuses on the three steps public officials need to take to end today's public safety crisis.

Both Sides of the Bars – Reform – July 2023

Our guests today – three reentry non-profit leaders based in New York -- will discuss the challenges of confronting efforts to rollback reforms, and the need to shift narratives to show that these reforms advance racial justice as well as stronger and safer communities.

Both Sides of the Bars – Sentencing Reform for Criminalized Survivors – June 2023

Despite the criminal legal system’s espoused goal of securing justice for crime victims, all too often survivors of domestic violence are arrested, prosecuted, and punished. For instance, survivors may be criminalized for coerced criminal acts or for protecting themselves or loved ones. According to a new report by The Sentencing Project (TSP) and Survivors Justice Project (SJP), the need for sentencing reform for survivors is urgent. In this episode, our guest is TSP sentencing reform counsel...

Both Sides of the Bars – 13th Forwards – May 2023

In this episode of BSOTB, two members of 13th Forward – Jacalyn Goldzweig, leader of the 13th Forward Coalition for The Legal Aid Society, and Wilfredo Laracuente, 13th Forward leader, educator, and formerly incarcerated advocate, discuss their current legislative push to pass a constitutional amendment in New York State that would end slavery as punishment as a crime and companion legislation that would ensure that all those working inside are treated with dignity and respect.

Both Sides of the Bars – Repurposing Closed Prisons – Apr 2023

In this episode of BSOTB, the report's author -- TSP senior director of advocacy Nicole D. Porter -- discusses how out of step the U.S.'s scale of incarceration is with the rest of the world and the unacceptable racial bias that dominates criminal legal practices.

The Chart – 45-22 – Feb 20 2023

This is the weekly ranking of contemporary music as generated by one of the most important radio stations in South America. Content: Top 5 songs2 new suggestions. Count down of the top best songs of the last week.