In this episode of Just Justice, Jessica Henry speaks with law professor, innocence attorney, and former federal prosecutor Valena Beety about her new book, Pink Crime: Fighting the Criminalization of Motherhood, Pregnancy, and Queer Identity. The conversation explores how the criminal legal system judges mothers against impossible standards of “good motherhood,” how pregnancy outcomes and substance use can lead to surveillance, criminal prosecution, and family separation, and how bias against people who are LGBTQ can influence criminal investigations and convictions. This episode is essential listening for anyone concerned about the criminalization of abortion, attacks on reproductive freedom, and the expanding use of criminal law to control women's bodies and identities.

For more about Valeena Beety and to find the link to purchase Pink Crime, go to https://valenabeetyjd.com.

To learn more about Roseberline Turenne, the daycare worker discussed in this episode who was sentenced to 126 years in prison under highly questionable circumstances, read this amicus brief: https://valenabeetyjd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2024-01-12-Proposed-Amicus-Brief-Roseberline-Turenne-v-MD.pdf or check out this news story: https://www.yahoo.com/news/day-care-worker-says-she-194018682.html.

For more about Jessica Henry, go to jessicahenryjustice.com, and check out her substack, All Things Justice. 

Audio production by Kaz Araki

In this powerful conversation, Dawn discusses the trauma that shaped her case, the legal system’s failure to understand criminalized survival, the pain of separation from her children, and the challenges of rebuilding her life after prison. She also shares her advocacy for New Jersey’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act and her work through From Darkness to Dawn, LLC, which supports survivors and justice-impacted people as they reclaim their lives.

After more than a decade as a criminal defense attorney, Courtney Teasley saw the same problem over and over again: too many people entered the criminal legal system without a practical understanding of their rights or the systems shaping their choices. In this episode, Courtney explains why she sees legal, financial, and civic literacy as essential tools for disrupting pathways into mass incarceration. She also shares the meaning of her DAMM framework (Disproportionately Affected Marginalized Minority) and her vision for bringing legal literacy into public schools and everyday community life.

For more about Courtney Teasley and her work go to: https://emeffen.com/

For more about Jessica Henry, go to https://jessicahenryjustice.com/ or join her on Substack at https://jessicahenryjustice.substack.com/. 

Production Editor: Kaz Araki

What happens when a woman’s survival is treated as a crime?

In this episode of Just Justice, Jessica Henry speaks with award-winning journalist Justine van der Leun about her new book, Unreasonable Women: Three Stories of Violence, Imprisonment, and Extraordinary Survival. Drawing on seven years of reporting and more than 1,000 accounts from incarcerated women, van der Leun examines how the criminal legal system responds when women commit acts of violence against those who harmed them in order to survive.

Together, they discuss criminalized survival, the limits of self-defense law, trauma, punishment, and the stories that are too often missing from public conversations about women convicted of homicide. This episode includes discussion of physical and sexual violence.

For more about Justine van der Leun and to purchase her new book, Unreasonable Women, go to https://www.justinevdl.com/.

For more about Jessica Henry, go to https://jessicahenryjustice.com/ or join her on Substack at https://jessicahenryjustice.substack.com/. 

Production Editor: Kaz Araki

After nearly 25 years in New York prisons, Mujahideen Muhammad, MPS came home in 2024 and went straight to work on criminal justice reform. In this episode of Just Justice, he talks with host Jessica Henry about the New York Second Look Act, how prison education transformed his life at Sing Sing, the book club he built around James Garbarino's Miller's Children, and the humanitarian crisis in New York's prisons — including the death of Robert Brooks and the correctional officers' strike.Now a research assistant at the Columbia University Center for Justice and co-founder of the nonprofit Pillars of Promise, Mujahideen makes the case for re-sentencing reform, second chances, and elevating the voices of incarcerated people.

For more about Mujahadeen and his work at Columbia: https://centerforjustice.columbia.edu/people/mujahideen-muhammad

For more about Pillars of Promise: https://www.thepillarsofpromise.com/

For more about Jessica Henry, go to https://jessicahenryjustice.com/ or join her on Substack at https://jessicahenryjustice.substack.com/. 

Production Editor: Kaz Araki

In this episode of Just Justice, Jessica Henry sits down with Iris Eytan, founder of Protect Ethical Prosecutors (PEP), to examine prosecutorial misconduct and why it so rarely leads to consequences. Prosecutors hold more power than almost anyone in the American criminal legal system, yet broad legal immunity often shields them even after serious misconduct and ethical violations. Drawing on years of criminal defense experience, Eytan explains how that unchecked authority contributes to wrongful convictions, why prosecutors' offices resist transparency, and what prosecutorial accountability could realistically look like. Along the way, they dig into what prosecutorial misconduct looks like in practice, how absolute and qualified immunity protect prosecutors from civil liability, the institutional barriers that keep this misconduct hidden from public view -- and what can be done about it.

Learn more about Iris Eytan and PEP at https://protectethicalprosecutors.org/.

Connect with Jessica Henry at jessicahenryjustice.com.

If you enjoy this show, please consider leaving a rating and a review on Apple podcasts. It helps other people find the show! Thanks for all you do. 

In this episode of Just Justice, Jessica Henry speaks with Charles Rosen, founder of Ironbound Farm, about an unusual approach to justice: combining regenerative farming with second-chance employment. Charles shares what he’s learned from hiring people returning from prison, why jobs alone often aren’t enough, and how systems like parole can still derail successful reentry. Drawing on lessons from agriculture, he explores "regenerative justice," based on the belief that repairing people, communities, and even the land requires time, dignity, and connection.Join us for a conversation that highlights both the promise and the challenges of farming for justice. 

To learn more about Ironbound Farm and Ciderhouse (including how to visit the farm), go to https://www.ironboundhardcider.com/.

To watch Charles' TedTalk where he explains the connection between regenerative farming and regenerative justice, go to: https://www.ted.com/talks/charles_rosen_regenerative_agriculture_as_a_model_for_urban_renewal.

To learn more about Jessica Henry, subscribe to her free substack "All Things Justice" or visit her website at jessicahenryjustice.com.

Production Editor: Kaz Araki

Nikki Mammano is the author of Breaking Good, a fast-paced memoir that traces her journey from suburban New Jersey to the drug underworld of Waikiki and back again, through addiction, arrest, prison, and ultimately recovery. Our conversation is both poignant and unexpectedly funny as we explore trauma and second chances in our criminal justice system. Who gets imprisoned and who receives grace? What is prison really like? What does it take to rebuild a life after you’ve been labeled by the system? This is an episode you won't want to miss! 

To learn more about Nikki Mammano (and for links to her fabulous book) go to: https://www.nikkimammano.com/.

To learn more about RYSE Hawaii, go to Rysehawaii.org.

For more about Jessica Henry, go to jessicahenryjustice.com. 

Production Editor: Kaz Araki