Joining Hunter today is Keith Wattley, the Founder and Executive Director of Uncommon Law. Keith and his team at Uncommon Law support people navigating California's discretionary parole process through trauma-informed legal representation, mental health counselling, legislative and policy advocacy, and in-prison programming led by those who have been through the process themselves. For decades, people have been aware of the pervasive bias that infects the parole system of California, but little has changed to address it. That’s where Keith and Uncommon Law come in.

Guests:

Keith Wattley, Founder and Executive Director, Uncommon Law

Resources:

Uncommon Law Website

https://www.uncommonlaw.org/

Follow Uncommon Law on

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/uncommonlawyer/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/UnCommLaw

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/UnCommonLaw/

1.     The Compassion Prison Project has some great information about rates of trauma - in particular, childhood trauma - among people in prison, and the relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and incarceration

2.     The Sentencing Project has several really excellent reports about our country's enduring reliance on life sentencing, how ineffective these kinds of sentences actually are in promoting public safety, and the relationship between life sentencing and mass incarceration

3.     Speaking of the Sentencing Project, Keith recently authored this op ed in The Crime Report with their Senior Director of Advocacy Nicole Porter, which explores similar ideas

4.     The Justice Policy Institute recently released this analysis of Maryland's parole process, highlighting several of the same issues we see in California. 

5.     Similarly, there has been fairly regular coverage of the racial biases evident in New York's parole hearing decisions in recent years

6.     Finally, feel free to check out this video series our organization put out last year; it explores cycles of violence from the perspectives of people who have both survived and caused harm, and gives a good sense of our work and messaging

 

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