David Windecher reflects on growing up in poverty, navigating corruption, and facing 13 arrests, and how those experiences shaped his commitment to non-violent rehabilitation over punishment.

This clip explains why lived experience matters when designing justice reform and why treatment, not incarceration, often delivers better outcomes for individuals and communities.

🎧 Full Episode:

🔗 Learn more about RED:

This clip picks up where the last one left off.

David Windecher shares the rest of Nicole’s story. The woman who helped him believe he could belong in the world went on to retire as a commissioner in the same police department that arrested him 10 out of 13 times.

Sometimes justice is not about punishment. It is about transformation.

Full episode:

At just 19 years old, David Windecher had been arrested 13 times and was searching for a way out of the criminal justice system. Then he met Nicole.

In this clip, David shares how one conversation, one challenge, and one person willing to invest in him changed the trajectory of his life. Her promise was simple and powerful: step away from the gang life, and she would help him earn his GED, get into college, and pursue law school.

She followed through. And that belief became the turning point.

This is a reminder that rehabilitation often starts with someone choosing to see potential instead of a record.

🎧 Full Episode 52:

Learn more about Rehabilitation Enables Dreams (RED):

In Georgia courtrooms, recommendations can include custodial sentences that change people in lasting ways. In this clip, David Windecher argues prosecutors should experience custody firsthand before making those calls.

Full Episode 52 (YouTube): https://youtu.be/mBsN_S9Dejw

In this clip from Episode 52, David Windecher shares the moment that pushed him to the edge—a simple walk home that turned into a wrongful stop, a drawn weapon, and an arrest for crossing a patch of grass. His reaction says everything: “I can’t win for losing here.”

This turning point captures the frustration, fear, and helplessness that so many young people experience when trapped in a system they cannot navigate. It also becomes a defining moment in David’s journey toward becoming an attorney and ultimately founding RED: Rehabilitation Enables Dreams.

Watch the full episode on YouTube:

Learn more about RED:

See You In Court Podcast:

In this excerpt from Episode 52, David Windecher reveals a hard truth he confronted early in his legal career. He entered the profession believing it was a prestigious world driven by integrity, ethics, and public service. What he found instead felt, at times, like “joining another gang.”

This moment ties to the larger conversation about why justice demands humility, awareness, and a willingness to confront uncomfortable realities within our own institutions.

Full Episode 52: https://youtu.be/mBsN_S9Dejw

In this excerpt from Episode 52, David Windecher offers a grounded definition of justice: a thoughtful balance between accountability and rehabilitation, shaped by both lived experience and his work through RED.

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mBsN_S9Dejw

Follow the podcast:

#SeeYouInCourt #CivilJustice #LegalCourage #RehabilitationEnablesDreams

In this short exchange from Episode 52, Lester describes the crushing caseload prosecutors face in Georgia’s courts — hundreds of files, little time, and constant pressure to keep cases moving. David Windecher agrees and underscores how impossible it is to apply meaningful attention to each case under that kind of workload.

Watch the full episode with guest David Windecher:

Learn more about RED Rehabilitation Enables Dreams:

Explore more episodes:

No 16-year-old should be incarcerated with adults.

In this SYIC short, attorney and RED founder David Windecher explains the trauma young people face in adult custody and why prosecutors should experience 90 days inside before making sentencing recommendations.

Listen to the full interview: https://seeyouincourt.podbean.com/e/david-windecher-founder-of-red-rehabilitation-enables-dreams-see-you-in-court/

Learn more:

#SeeYouInCourt #CivilJustice #JusticeForGeorgia

In this clip, David Windecher shares how “The Monument” became a defining guide in his life. After leaving the gang environment and searching for direction, he read the poem every day for a decade, shaping the faith that helped him become an attorney and advocate.

Listen to the full Podbean interview