Restorative Justice has been coming more into the forefront of the conversation around alternatives to a punitive approach to crime and violence, but there seem to be a lot of different ideas and misconceptions around what restorative justice is, who it’s for, how it works, and whether forgiveness is a necessary part of the process. In this episode, we speak to sonya shah, who has decades of experience as a restorative justice facilitator in communities and prisons to support victims and meaningfully address harm. In this conversation, we get personal about why we’ve felt resistant to RJ in the past and we learn a great deal from sonya about VODs (Victim-Offender Dialogues), how RJ centers the needs of survivors, and where it fits into the wide array of solutions we need for safety, healing, and accountability.

After landing in prison as a teenager under the Three Strikes law, Jay Jordan knows the ins and outs of the carceral system from firsthand experience. This knowledge informs his advocacy and leadership as the CEO of the Alliance for Safety and Justice.

In the second part of our 2-part conversation, Jay addresses what we need to do to move from a system of punishment to a system of care, and helps us imagine what that system of care could look like. He tells the stories of violence interrupters who are out on the streets every day, saving lives. We also discuss the role of creativity in activism and how it manifests to bring us into a better world. 

Jay Jordan is the CEO of the Alliance for Safety and Justice. Jay landed in prison as a teendager under the Three Strikes law. While spending two years in solitary confinement, a single question prompted Jay to change his life forever: Who are you? Since then, Jay has been answering that question every day through his advocacy on behalf of crime survivors and formerly incarcerated people who want to rebuild their lives after prison. In this episode we talk about everything from how Three Strikes can and should change to the inspiring journey of imperfection and how we can all learn to lead by example. This is the first of a 2-part conversation.

Lenore Anderson is the co-founder and President of the Alliance for Safety and Justice, one of the largest justice and public safety reform advocacy organizations in the country, and founder of Californians for Safety and Justice–the nation’s largest network of crime survivors.

Today’s conversation illuminates how we arrived at the various crises we face with a punitive approach to criminal justice, the progress we’ve made over the past two decades, and how we can continue to make the policy changes needed to reduce prison populations, help survivors heal, and make our communities safer.

This conversation covers a lot of ground, from the role of trauma in our carceral system to the advent of Three Strikes, as well as addressing the responsibility of white women to carry their weight in the movement for change.

Sam Lewis is the Executive Director of the Anti Recidivism Coalition.  A former life prisoner himself, Sam understands the enormous obstacles current and formerly incarcerated people face in reintegrating themselves back into their communities and rebuilding their lives. This conversation will delve deeply into the power of redemption and rehabilitation, the importance of providing meaningful support to those who need it most, and how being of service to our communities can heal the deepest wounds we carry.

In this conversation, we will be speaking with lifelong community organizer and Executive Director of Californians for Safety and Justice, Tinisch Hollins. We will discuss how Bay Area communities have come together to create ways of supporting kids and schools. We will also learn about critical legislation in the making, as well as Tinisch's journey of redefining justice and healing for survivors.

In this episode, Jess and Annie introduce themselves and describe their vision for this podcast. They also discuss their experience as victims of the high profile kidnapping of their sister, Polly Klaas, which left Jess and Annie indelibly marked. This tragic crime also resulted in some harsh sentencing laws that worsened mass incarceration, with an outsized impact on people of color. 

Annie and Jess hope to build A New Legacy for their sister through transformative conversations with community leaders and policy experts who are forging a new path of justice for this country.