Tarari enters a diversion program which saves him from jail but puts his life — and the lives of other defendants like him — on a knife’s edge. We hear from social workers who run the program about the many ethical quandaries of trying to help their clients inside of a system built to punish them.

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Tarari faces a very long prison sentence before he’s offered the chance at mercy — with many strings attached. An episode from Eric’s past comes back to haunt him as he campaigns for D.A. and thinks through the consequences of extending mercy to people like Tarari.

Additional music for this episode by Lee Rosevere. 

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As his family and friends hustle to come up with his bail money, Tarari ends up at one of the most infamous jails in the country: Rikers Island. Eric runs for his own term as district attorney just as the demands to close Rikers heat up.

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This is a free preview of a Slate Plus bonus episode of Charged. Only Slate Plus members get an additional episode of Charged every week, diving deeper into the legal issues discussed on the show. To listen to the rest of the bonus episodes this season, join Slate Plus at slate.com/charged.

In this first bonus episode of Charged, host Emily Bazelon talks to producers Veralyn Williams and Alvin Melathe. Williams worked with Bazelon in the early stages of the podcast, and then Melathe took over a few months in. They discuss what it’s like being producers of color, and the racial nuances of making a podcast about crime and punishment in New York.

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The mayor of New York deals with a big political problem by creating a new court in Brooklyn. Two men, born 25 years and a few blocks apart in Brooklyn, take entirely different paths to meet at that court—one as a defendant and the other as the district attorney. 

This episode is sponsored by Audible. Start listening with a 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook plus two Audible Originals are free. Visit audible.com/CHARGED or text CHARGED to 500-500

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Season 1 of Slate Presents brought you the story of Ruby Ridge, and Season 2 brings you a fight to transform one big-city justice system.

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In the final episode of Standoff, our narrative miniseries on the story of Ruby Ridge, host Ruth Graham recaps the prosecution of Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris, and explores how the story of the standoff became legendary among the modern far right.

Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Standoff each week. Sign up for Slate Plus at slate.com/standoff.

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Host Ruth Graham describes what happens for the bulk of the 11-day siege on the Weaver family property. As the surviving Weavers stayed holed up inside their cabin, their story attracted droves of supporters and rabble-rousers to rural Idaho.

Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Standoff each week. Sign up for Slate Plus at slate.com/standoff.

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Sociologist James Aho offers more on the The Order, a white supremacist group that went on a violent crime spree in the 1980s, and historian Kathleen Belew describes the role women played within white power movements.

To join Slate Plus, sign up at slate.com/standoff.

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Ruth Graham breaks down what led to a shootout on the Weaver family property on Aug. 21, 1992, that left three people dead.

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