Everyday Injustice

Having survived multiple recall attempts in his first term, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón officially launched his reelection in October at the SEIU Local 2015 office in front of a room full of supporters – many of them health care workers.

The DA noted his mother, an immigrant from Cuba often had to toil, working for below minimum wages.

That has translated into a commitment to fight for working people.

“We don’t talk about one of the biggest crimes in our history,” he explained. “It’s a theft of wages. A theft of labor. Billions of dollars each and every year – which impacts all of us by the way, because when you steal from workers, you’re stealing from the tax base of our community. You’re stealing from families. You are taking food away from babies. You are often precluding people from having a roof over their heads.”

Gascón also noted that despite the decline in crime, he is being attacked for being soft on crime.

He said, “I find it interesting when Republicans like Ron Desante and fellow presidential run also out on TV and says, while he’s in la, he talks about how crime is out proportion here and how burglars are now being prosecuted and organized retail theft because of George Gascón.”

He said one of his staffer Googled organized retail theft in Florida.

“The first thing that pops up is videos of people storming stores in Miami and other parts of Florida. And then we went to Houston and we looked at some other southern cities. And guess what? It’s a national problem,” he said.

He noted that they aren’t pointing this out because it doesn’t fit their narrative.

He said, “We need to make sure that we do not embrace the narrative that the Republicans have been using for the last 40 years. You can go back to Nixon when we were talking about the war on drugs and the war on crime. And it’s the same thing. And it cycles over and over and over again. Even though today as a nation, we have historically some of the lowest numbers of crime that we’ve ever had.”

He added, “Now we’re seeing crime going down at a very rapid rate and hopefully soon approaching pre pandemic times. And some people say, well, we don’t believe those numbers.”

Gascón pushed back noting that those are the numbers from LAPD and the Sheriff’s Department.

“You believe those numbers two years ago. Why don’t you believe it today? We don’t make the numbers,” he continued. He added, “But you know what it really tells us is that we can have reform and safety.”

This week on Everyday Injustice, we are joined by Jason Smith, Executive Director of the Michigan Center for Youth Justice.

The Michigan Center for Youth Justice (MCYJ) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing policies and practices that reduce confinement and support trauma-informed, racially equitable, socio-economically and culturally responsive, community-based solutions for Michigan’s justice-involved children, youth and young adults.

Listen as Jason Smith discusses their current legislative advocacy and projects, and the progress that has been made on age appropriate services.

This week on Everyday Injustice we have Caroline Isaacs, the Executive Director of Just Communities Arizona.

JCA is an abolitionist organization that seeks to end the current punishment system and its emphasis on criminalization, surveillance, and mass incarceration.

They envision a world in which prisons and jails are unnecessary.

“We believe those directly impacted by the current punishment system are central to this discussion and must be leaders in the movement to end mass incarceration,” they explain.

They add, “We believe local communities know best how to create safety and wellbeing for themselves; they should have agency in decisions that impact their lives, and these efforts should be fully supported and funded.”

Listen as Caroline Isaacs discusses what that means and that can be accomplished.

Freddie Gray was one of the seminal police killings when it occurred in Baltimore in 2016, leading to protests and riots and calls for reform. The officers were charged with murder by SAO Marilyn Mosby, but not of them were convicted.

Justine Barron in her book “They Killed Freddie Gray” following the work of her podcast, after sifting through thousands of documents and interviewing witnesses, concludes that the State Attorney and Media got the narrative and the killing completely wrong.

The forward to her book notes, “The media just as uncritically turned an enarmored eye to State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who emerged as a hero on the national stage, having pressed charges against six officers in the death of Gray.”

It added, “What the media failed to take notice of was that these superficially valiant prosecutions were based on the same false narrative the Baltimore City Police Department itself was hoping everyone would buy into” – and they did – “hook, line, and sinker.”

The rough ride narrative, Barron debunks and arguing instead that police likely killed Gray when they threw him head first into the van at Stop 2.

In her speech, Mosby issued a call for peace – and by announcing the prosecution, she stopped the protests and riots in their tracks – what Barrone argues was her actual goal.

She came to believe that the prosecution “was not so much accountability as the manufacturing of consent and silencing of dissent.”

Listen as Barron joins Everyday Injustice to discussion her book and its implications for police reform.

Listen to Everyday Injustices exclusive interview with Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón after he announced his reelection in front of an audience of workers at SEIU Local 2015.

Gascón noted that crime was going down despite the news coverage that would lead the public to the contrary conclusion.

“I would say one of the biggest challenges that we have is how can we get factual information in a way that people understand it, in a way that people see it,” he explained.

He added, “There’s so much misinformation concerning crime, and as you indicated, we’re actually, crime nationally, but certainly LA County per capita is coming down faster than many other jurisdictions that continue to adhere to the old way of doing business.”

Listen as Gascón talks about criminal justice reform, policing, and much more.

As more and more state have turned toward the legalization of cannabis, the federal government continues to lag. This week on Everyday Injustice, we talk with Christi Smith, a senior fellow for the R Street Institute’s criminal justice and civil liberties team.

She is a former adult probation and parole officer and retired assistant professor of criminal justice.

The war on drugs and the continued prohibition of cannabis has profound implications for mass incarceration.

The puzzling questions is why does cannabis remain “illegal at the federal level, and its possession and use are subject to the most severe criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act.”

As Smith finds, “More than 90 percent of Americans—on both sides of the political aisle—support legal adult use of medical or recreational cannabis.”

In addition, “Legalization is also increasingly supported by law enforcement, with two-thirds of police supporting medical or recreational cannabis.”

Listen as Christi Smith discusses the implications of federal cannabis policy and how federal legalization can restore police legitimacy while enhancing public safety.

Prison Education Programs are critical to incarcerated people being able to gain release and succeed once they have done so. Research demonstrates that correctional education is very effective at reducing recidivism.

Sarah Allred, spoke with Everyday Injustice and discussed her research on prison education programs including the challenges with the ability to convene, group consequences for individual misconduct, limited resources and other factors.

The carceral setting is not generally conducive to a good learning environment, and negative staff attitudes towards incarcerated individuals contribute to the prison environment

Listen as Everyday Injustice speaks with Sarah Allred on benefits and challenges of prison education.

On October 19, the 2023 Vanguard Justice Awards Gala, the Vanguard will present Danielle Harris, of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Officer and the Freedom Project with a Vanguard Justice Award.

The San Francisco Public Defender's resentencing unit, known as The Freedom Project, has assisted more than 100 people in their resentencing and parole hearings, and assisted in 77 family reunifications.

These efforts have saved over 1,000 years of prison time.

“The Freedom Project team was my lifeline—they saved my life,” said Belinda Anderson, who was represented by Danielle Harris and Stephen Liebb (winner of a Vanguard Justice Award in 2022) at the The Freedom Project. Anderson served 31 years before earning parole and being resentenced. “My second chance means I get to spend time with my family—especially my daughter and grandson—to celebrate the holidays together, along with other occasions big and small. I am successfully employed and I love the work that I do.”

Listen as we talk to Harris about her work and the work that the Freedom Project does on resentencing and also representation on parole hearings.

Join us in honoring Danielle Harris and the Freedom Project on October 19.

Tickets start at $100 per plate. Sponsors at $250. To sponsor this event and support this incredibly important cause – please click here – http://tinyurl.com/Vanguard2023.

On October 19, the 2023 Vanguard Justice Awards Gala, the Vanguard will present Juliana Drous, with a Vanguard Justice Award for Distinguished Attorney.

From Juliana Drous:

“I have been practicing criminal defense since 1980. I have had cases in all levels of the court: trials in state courts and federal courts, appeals in federal and state courts, two arguments in the US Supreme Court (lost both - also had a third I didn't argue, it won but it was a white collar case.) I have been involved in many habeas cases, actual innocence cases. Lost some, won a few. Went on to file file clemency petitions. Actually had one granted. I couldn't have done this work without others who are committed to this work. There are many who should be honored for the wonderful wok they have done to forward social justice.”

Join us in honoring Drous for her amazing work on behalf of the wrongly convicted and much more. Among others, she helped to free former Black Panther, Geronimo Pratt.

Tickets start at $100 per plate. Sponsors at $250. To sponsor this event and support this incredibly important cause - please click here - http://tinyurl.com/Vanguard2023.

Note: This episode originally aired October 3, 2022

In 2022, the Vanguard honored Stephen Liebb with an award for his work as a formerly incarcerated individual at the Vanguard Justice Awards Gala.

Stephen Liebb spent 33 years behind bars for first degree murder. 19 of those years were spent at San Quentin.

He earned his release on parole in 2013. Now he works as a legal assistant at the San Francisco Public Defender’s office on the Freedom Project, helping to free others from prison.

Listen to Steph’s remarkable story – hired by the legendary Jeff Adachi in 2018, but a lawyer at the time of his arrest in the 1980s, and his work behind bars to help his fellow incarcerated people file petitions and writs, giving them a chance to challenge their detention.

On October 19, the Vanguard in 2023 will present Danielle Harris and the Freedom Project a Vanguard Justice award. They will be among ten individuals honored.

Tickets start at $100 per plate. Sponsors at $250. To sponsor this event and support this incredibly important cause - visit this website: http://tinyurl.com/Vanguard2023.