Everyday Injustice

MIriam Krinsky is Executive Director of the group Fair and Just Prosecution, which is helping transform the criminal justice system by highlighting the roles and responsibilities of prosecutors.

A former prosecutor, we talk about how things have changed over the course of her career, the current progressive prosecution movement and what that means for this country.

Decarcerate Sacramento is a grassroots organization that formed over the summer to oppose Sacramento County's proposed $89 million jail expansion plan and instead get the board to invest in vital social services.

They came together last year and were able to get the board of Supervisors to cancel a planned $89 million jail expansion.

Overall their focus is on jail condition and mass organizing to to reduce the jail population.

Michelle Tong is a San Francisco Public Defender who is running for judge in an open San Francisco Seat.

She said on her campaign page: "I have dedicated my life’s work to advocating in the underserved communities of this city to better the lives of others. Judges have the unique power to make decisions that affect us day to day. From child custody decisions, to neighbor disputes, to critical criminal justice determinations, San Francisco Superior Court Judges hold the power to make life altering decisions that affect those in our communities."

She added, "As a resident of this city, a public defender, an immigrant rights’ advocate, and community based attorney, I will bring a unique perspective to the bench to help to better our communities and make us safe."

Listen to Michelle as she talks to Everyday Injustice about the legal system in San Francisco and her decision to run for judge.

Janos Marton is taking on longtime Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance who has served as DA for over a decade. He has led the effort to close the infamous Rikers Island jails and referring to his opponent as ‘the city’s leading jailer.’

Marton is a leading organizer in the New York City decarceration movement. This week he has joined the call for Mr. Vance to resign in light of criticism for decisions by his office that seemed to favor powerful defendants such as Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.

Mr. Marton has an ambitious goal of reducing the number of citizens in Manhattan jails by 80 percent while also ending the war on drugs, creating fairness in sentencing and protecting immigrants.

Janos Marton talked with Everyday Injustice this week about progressive prosecution and what he would add to the growing movement across the nation.

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San Francisco Public Defender Maria Evangelista is running for an open judge position in San Francisco, she is attempting to become the firstLatina judge elected in San Francisco history.

“I’m running for judge to ensure that our courts are in touch with the communities they serve and provide equal treatment for all people that come before the courts,” Ms. Evangelista told a media publication. “That really goes back to who I am and how I’ve spent my whole life serving the public.”

Listen as Everyday Injustice talks to Ms. Evangelista about her candidacy, criminal justice reform and the San Francisco criminal justice system.

Genevieve Jones-Wright was a public defender who ran for District Attorney in 2018 - she pushed for improving public safety, rehabilitation as opposed to increasing prosecutions as well as taking on mass incarceration.

In October 2019, she was one of the main speakers at the Vanguard Annual event on progressive prosecution and is the latest guest on Everyday Injustice in the progressive prosecution movement.

We discuss her career as a public defender, her criticism of the system, and her future plans.

In October George Gascon resigned from his position as San Francisco District Attorney, moved to Los Angeles to challenge incumbent Jackie Lacey.

He is running on a progressive platform. Listen as he describes why he made the move, discusses his campaign for district attorney in Los Angeles and talks about the strengths and shortcomings of his time in San Francisco as well as his decision not support Suzzy Loftus who was appointed to fill his position, but ended up losing to Chesa Boudin.

Joseph Tully is a criminal justice attorney out of Martinez who represented among others Paul Fullerton and Heidi Lepp. He is the author of a book called, California "The State of Collusion."

He said in the book: "It sounds troubling and extreme but I see it every week as a criminal defense lawyer practicing criminal law in California: psychopaths in law enforcement – and they’re not the outliers!"

He added: " It’s not surprising but it is outrageous that these dangerously flawed people make it past what should be a much tighter screening system with ongoing accountability."

On the podcast we talk about the criminal justice system and focus heavily on the two cases of local interest.

Eli Savit is an attorney, a law professor, and a former public-school teacher. A former law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Eli currently serves as the City of Detroit's senior legal counsel, where he leads criminal-justice reform work for Michigan's largest city.

Eli Savit is running for DA in Washtenaw County, Michigan, home of Ann Arbour and the University of Michigan. He is running to replace a 28 year veteran DA who has run his office as a traditional law and order prosecutor.

Eli is pushing a reform agenda - his plan includes eliminating cash bail, support for addiction and mental-health treatment programs, eradicating racial and socioeconomic inequity, and plea-bargaining reform.

In 2016, a group of anti-fascist counterprotesters clashed with neo-Nazis white nationalist rally June 26, 2016, at the State Capitol. Seven anti-fascist counter-protestors were stabbed and several hospitalized.

Tried separately were three counter protestors who faced felony assault charges. THat case dragged on until early this year, where the protestors were able to plead to misdemeanor charges and accept a prohibition against participating in protests for a several year period.

Everyday injustice talks to Sacramento Attorney Linda Parisi who disputes the notion that the anti-fascists are the moral equivalent of the neo-Nazis and talks about the case against her client, Mike Williams.