We will replay – "A Conversation with Nancy Leazer – How We Can Use Our Prisons As More Than Warehouses". Nancy Leazer was the last Director of the old Kansas City Jail, The Farm, before they moved to the Jackson County jail. When the Municipal Correctional Institution was closed in 2009 and all the inmates moved to the county jail, a lot more than the jobs of the employees were lost. The leadership and staff of MCI brought in local not-for-profit businesses to provide services that the city could not afford to address the mental health, drug abuse, homelessness and other problems of the inmates. This created an atmosphere of respect and concern for the prisoners by the administration, staff and organizations that came to provide services. None of those connections and resources have been invited to continue in the county jail where Kansas City now houses prisoners and that has resulted in more recidivism.  Host Dr J. Renee talks with Nancy Leazer, former Superintendent of Corrections at MCI about how she came to the job and the atmosphere she fostered in the facility. She explains how she worked with local service providers to get help for the inmates and…

A group of prisoners at the South-Central Correctional Center in Licking MO have started a program called Resistance Against Prison Pipelines, also known as RAPP.  On 2/17, Jaws of Justice Radio aired recorded interviews with two of them, Ozzie Collins and Derrick Peace.  On February 24th, we will play Keith Brown El’s interview with the third inmate, Barry Holcomb.  They are all three interested in reducing high incarceration rates.  They believe our youth can be redirected from a life in prison. In the second half of our hour, host Margot Patterson will talk with Evan Greer of Fight for the Future.   Fight for the Future is a nonprofit advocacy group in the area of digital rights founded in 2011. The group promotes causes related to copyright legislation, as well as online privacy and censorship using the Internet. Evan has been organizing hard-hitting political campaigns for more than a decade. A talented writer, she is a regular contributor to numerous publications, including The Guardian, Newsweek, and Time Magazine. Prior to joining the Fight for the Future team, she toured as a professional musician. She continues to create music and organize live music events. fightforthefuture.org

A group of prisoners at the South-Central Correctional Center in Licking MO have started a program called Resistance Against Prison Pipelines, also known as RAPP.  On 2/17, host Keith Brown El will air his recorded interview with two of them, Ozzie Collins and Derrick Peace.  They are all three interested in reducing high incarceration rates, and they believe that youth can be redirected from a life in prison.  Keith Brown El’s interview with Barry Holcomb, who has an interest in child psychology, exceeded the time we have available for one show.  We will air the segment of Keith Brown El’s interview of Barry Holcomb on another show. In the second half of our hour, Kansas City Missouri municipal court judges Courtney A. Wachal and Martina L. Peterson will be the live guests of host Melvin Merritt, along with Benita Jones, Public Information Officer of the Kansas City Municipal Court, 511 E. 11th Street Kansas City, MO.  They will discuss Domestic Violence Court and Drug Court as those courts relate to issues of child support, including re-instatement of an offender’s driver license so that a supporting parent can drive to work. https://www.kcmo.gov/city-hall/departments/municipal-court Now the Calendar for the week of February 17th,…

On Monday, 2/10, at 9 AM, host Elisa Breitenbach is back for a discussion with Teresa Woody, Litigation Director, and Christina Ostmeyer, Communications and Digital Advocacy Director of Kansas Appleseed.  Kansas Appleseed is a nonprofit network of 17 Centers across the U.S. and Mexico, dedicated to advancing justice and opportunities that help low-income people and working families have better lives. We will be discussing the lawsuit that has been filed for Kansas children in foster care.   The class action lawsuit was filed November 16, 2018 by Kansas Appleseed, Children's Rights, the National Center for Youth Law, and attorney Lori Burns-Bucklew against Governor Jeff Colyer and the officials responsible for the Kansas Department for Children and Families, Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment, and Kansas Dept. for Aging and Disability Services.  The National Center for Youth Law and Children's Rights contends Kansas violates foster children's civil rights by moving them too often, adding to their trauma and restricting their access to necessary mental health treatment.  Children in Kansas foster care face extreme housing instability—sometimes moved more than 50 or 100 times—and are deprived of critical mental health assessments and services. Tune in! http://kansasappleseed.org During the show, you will hear our programmers…

For the first part of the hour, we will replay from our 1/6/20 show.  Host Keith Brown El talks with Edward Pennington, Jeffery Scott and Willie Copeland, three men who were recently released from prison.  They’ll talk about their prison experiences and discuss the transition back into society. On the second part of Jaws of Justice, host Elyse Max speaks with Steve Nearenberg, attorney and organizer for Never Again KC, about the role of UMB Bank in the detention of immigrants. They will be joined by Jared Goldstein, organizer for Never Again Rhode Island and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Roger Williams University School of Law.  UMB Bank represents the bondholders of the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island, where over 100 immigrant detainees are currently housed. UMB is suing the city of Central Falls for $130,000,000 to keep the facility open after the municipality moved to stop jailing immigrants. Activists from the organization “Never Again” in Kansas City and Rhode Island are working together to put pressure on UMB to withdraw their lawsuit. https://www.facebook.com/Never-Again-Action-Rhode-Island-101094064725629/ https://www.facebook.com/NeverAgainKC/ https://www.neveragainaction.com/

On today’s show, Host Latahra Smith interviews Keith Carnes, an inmate in Missouri who says he did not commit the crime for which he is serving time.   Latahra has studied Carnes’ case, read transcripts of depositions and trial testimony, interviewed experts and sought out witnesses in Kansas City’s toughest neighborhoods. Smith believes that Carnes is serving a life sentence for a murder he didn’t commit.  Keith Carnes's website is http://www.justiceforkeithcarnes.com On the second part of the hour, we will replay our interview with Michael Kaye about the prison to pipeline phenomena. Police officers are fixtures in most schools today and their role has changed over time from protecting the students from outside dangers to enforcing school rules and even arresting students for violations. Our guest has been working with one school district to develop a Memorandum Of Understanding between the police and school administrators and hopefully turn off the school to prison pipeline. Host Teresa Wilke talks with Micheal Kay, Preofessor of Law Emeritas at Washburn University about his work with the police and school administrators to define the role of officers in their schools. Calendar of Events 1-27-2020  Corey’s Network will have their weekly meeting with a Survivors’ Workshop on…

Host Elise Maxx talks with James Shelby, aka Qadhafi, has been incarcerated in Missouri for over 22 years. While inside, Qadhafi was active with the NAACP prison branches and he helped to found the Missouri chapter of IWW’s Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC). Since his release five months ago, Qadhafi has continued to be a leader in the struggle. He worked with KC Tenants to pass legislation that prevents landlords from discriminating against felons in housing. He founded his own non-profit – HugYoHood. And he recently accepted a position as a community advocate for Elad Gross’s campaign for Attorney General. Tune in Monday to hear us talk with Qadhafi about his activism, contributions and insights to the movement as a formerly incarcerated person. https://www.facebook.com/HugYoHood/ During the second half of our hour, host Melvin Merritt discusses sex trafficking in our community.  There are estimated to be more than 4 million people – half younger than 18 - in human trafficking across the country.   This breaks down to about 80,000 people per state.  Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, including sexual slavery. A victim is forced into a situation of dependency on their trafficker and can then…

Host Teresa Wilke will talk with Victoria Ferguson about the social action group she has organized, Justice 4 Inmate’s.  Their goal is to hopefully bring change, reform and accountability with respect to issues caused by the housing of inmates in the state of Missouri.  They are a voluntary and open group.  On January 23th, they plan to rally at the capitol in Jefferson City Missouri in order to draw attention to the needs of our state prisoners.   Let’s listen.  Interested people can help the cause. On the second part of the hour, host Latahra Smith will talk with Laurie Smith, the sister of Allen Dale Smith.  He was accused and convicted of burglary and murder in Douglas County Kansas in 2005.  His case was assigned to Prosecutor Amy McGowan and there were issues with her prosecution.   Allen Dale Smith has claimed there was intentional error by the State during his prosecution.  His sister will discuss that case.

New Douglas County KS Criminal Justice Coordinator, Mike Brouwer, brings a wealth of experience in criminal justice and behavioral health to Douglas County KS, where Lawrence is located.  He will be our guest and talk with host, Teresa Wilke, about what has been learned since their large jail was built in 1999.   In response to overcrowding in the Douglas County jail, in 2015 the Douglas County Commission proposed jail expansion.  The people asked for a vote and overwhelmingly voted against jail expansion but supported a mental health crisis center.  The Douglas County Commissioners are still on track to expand the jail and now are also building a mental health crisis center. On the second part of the hour, our host, Keith Brown El, will talk with three men, Edward Pennington, Willie Copeland and Jeffrey Scott, who have recently been released from prison about their transition back into society. Calendar of Events 1-6-20  Corey’s Network will have their weekly meeting with a Survivors’ Workshop – How to Deal with the Media - on Monday January 6th, from 6 – 8 PM at the Church of the 4 Corners – The City House, 14300 E. US HWY 40, Independence, MO. The church…

2019 Legal Year In Review - Our Lawyers Break It Down The end of the year traditionally brings our panel of lawyers, Craig Lubow, David Bell and Robin Martinez together to talk about the Supreme Court rulings, new laws, legislative actions and cases that will have a lasting effect on our lives. Tune in and see if you agree with who won and who lost.