<description>This week on Everyday Injustice, we talk with Alissa Skog, who was lead author on the October report that found that nearly 2.5 million Californians are eligible to have their convictions automatically relieved under a little know law that allows for automatic expungement.

“A criminal record can have profound and lasting impacts on people, affecting key areas of their life such as employment, parental rights, stable housing, access to safety-net benefits, and voting,” California Policy Lab noted.

To address these “follow-on” punishments, the California legislature has enacted the most comprehensive automatic record relief laws in the country. 

Under these laws, all non-convictions (arrests that do not lead to a conviction), most misdemeanor convictions, and many low-level felony convictions are eligible for automatic relief after people complete their sentences and specified waiting periods.

On Everyday Injustice, Alissa Skog discussed the upside of the law allowing people to get out from under collateral consequences of past convictions, but also some of the drawbacks including the lack of notifications.

The report estimates the number of people likely to maintain a clean slate over the following five years.</description>

This week on Everyday Injustice, we talk with Ali…

This week on Everyday Injustice, we talk with Alissa Skog, who was lead author on the October report that found that nearly 2.5 million Californians are eligible to have their convictions automatically relieved under a little know law that allows for automatic expungement.

“A criminal record can have profound and lasting impacts on people, affecting key areas of their life such as employment, parental rights, stable housing, access to safety-net benefits, and voting,” California Policy Lab noted.

To address these “follow-on” punishments, the California legislature has enacted the most comprehensive automatic record relief laws in the country. 

Under these laws, all non-convictions (arrests that do not lead to a conviction), most misdemeanor convictions, and many low-level felony convictions are eligible for automatic relief after people complete their sentences and specified waiting periods.

On Everyday Injustice, Alissa Skog discussed the upside of the law allowing people to get out from under collateral consequences of past convictions, but also some of the drawbacks including the lack of notifications.

The report estimates the number of people likely to maintain a clean slate over the following five years.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 266 - Who Benefits from Automatic Record Relief in California?

<description>In 2015, Jill Leovy wrote a book: Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America.”  

 “Ghettoside,” a blend of street reporting and scholarship, introduced and elaborated the idea that high-crime communities are simultaneously under-policed and over-policed. It further broke ground by locating the causes of urban violence in problems of law, not in family structure, culture, psychological differences or other familiar scapegoats. “

Listen as Jill Leovy talks about her book nearly a decade later, talks about crime reporting and the problems of policing urban violence.</description>

In 2015, Jill Leovy wrote a book: Ghettoside: A T…

In 2015, Jill Leovy wrote a book: Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America.”  

 “Ghettoside,” a blend of street reporting and scholarship, introduced and elaborated the idea that high-crime communities are simultaneously under-policed and over-policed. It further broke ground by locating the causes of urban violence in problems of law, not in family structure, culture, psychological differences or other familiar scapegoats. “

Listen as Jill Leovy talks about her book nearly a decade later, talks about crime reporting and the problems of policing urban violence.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 265: Author Jill Leovy Discusses Ghettoside

<description>This week on Everyday Injustice we talked once again with Amika Mota of the Sister Warriors.  This past election saw the defeat of Prop 6 which would have ended forced labor in carceral institutions.  We also talked about the passage of Prop 36 which rolled back some of the criminal justice reforms under Prop 47.

What went wrong from Amika’s perspective?  What needs to be done differently in the future.

On key point we agreed on – the need to uplift the stories of those impacted by the system to humanize them.  

Listen as Everyday Injustice and Amika Mota engage in a critical conversation about how to move forward.</description>

This week on Everyday Injustice we talked once ag…

This week on Everyday Injustice we talked once again with Amika Mota of the Sister Warriors.  This past election saw the defeat of Prop 6 which would have ended forced labor in carceral institutions.  We also talked about the passage of Prop 36 which rolled back some of the criminal justice reforms under Prop 47.

What went wrong from Amika’s perspective?  What needs to be done differently in the future.

On key point we agreed on – the need to uplift the stories of those impacted by the system to humanize them.  

Listen as Everyday Injustice and Amika Mota engage in a critical conversation about how to move forward.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 264: A Sister Warrior Talks About What Next For CJR

<description>In October, Jose Olivares, a 39-year-old man wrongfully incarcerated for 13 years in the death of his girlfriend’s son was released after a Los Angeles County judge vacated his conviction. Lawyers from two Innocence Projects and a unit of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office had filed together to overturn his conviction.

Olivares was arrested in 2011 following the tragic death of his girlfriend's almost four-year-old son from an accidental short fall.

Dr. Judy Melinek, a renowned forensic pathologist, authored a report in 2023 after a thorough review at NCIP’s request, and stated that an accidental short fall was the “reasonable and likely explanation” for the decedent’s injuries.

Everyday Injustice talks with Lauryn Barbosa Findley of the Northern California Innocence Project who worked to free Olivares.

“Mr. Olivares’ case is both extraordinarily unique and tragically common because faulty medical testimony has been used for too long to convict far too many loving parents and caretakers,” said NCIP Clinical Supervising Attorney Lauryn Barbosa Findley. “The facts always showed that Mr. Olivares was innocent but the medicine needed time to catch up and prove it. We strongly urge the DA’s office to heed the medical evidence and not try him erroneously a second time.”</description>

In October, Jose Olivares, a 39-year-old man wron…

In October, Jose Olivares, a 39-year-old man wrongfully incarcerated for 13 years in the death of his girlfriend’s son was released after a Los Angeles County judge vacated his conviction. Lawyers from two Innocence Projects and a unit of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office had filed together to overturn his conviction.

Olivares was arrested in 2011 following the tragic death of his girlfriend's almost four-year-old son from an accidental short fall.

Dr. Judy Melinek, a renowned forensic pathologist, authored a report in 2023 after a thorough review at NCIP’s request, and stated that an accidental short fall was the “reasonable and likely explanation” for the decedent’s injuries.

Everyday Injustice talks with Lauryn Barbosa Findley of the Northern California Innocence Project who worked to free Olivares.

“Mr. Olivares’ case is both extraordinarily unique and tragically common because faulty medical testimony has been used for too long to convict far too many loving parents and caretakers,” said NCIP Clinical Supervising Attorney Lauryn Barbosa Findley. “The facts always showed that Mr. Olivares was innocent but the medicine needed time to catch up and prove it. We strongly urge the DA’s office to heed the medical evidence and not try him erroneously a second time.”

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 263: Innocence Project Frees Man in Shaken Baby Case

<description>On October 10 and 11, San Quentin held its first ever Film Festival.  150 people from the outside, including Everyday Injustice, got to go inside San Quentin and hang out with around 100 or so incarcerated people, many of them intimately involved in the production of various films.

Incarcerated Films competed with films submitted from the outside.  One of the big winners was The Strike, which was a documentary about the hunger strike held over a decade ago against solitary confinement at Pelican Bay.
A few days after the film, Everyday Injustice walked with the production team.

Lucas Guilkey – Director/Producer of the The Strike
JoeBill Muñoz – Director/Producer of The Strike
Dolores Canales – Film protagonist, founder of CA Families Against Solitary Confinement, organizer on behalf of her son who was in solitary confinement during the hunger strikes
Jack Morris – Film protagonist, spent over 30 years in solitary confinement, participated in the hunger strikes

Article: https://davisvanguard.org/2024/10/the-strike-wins-first-san-quentin-film-festival-award-highlights-horrors-of-solitary-confinement-at-pelican-bay/

Listen as the production team walks us through the horrors of Pelican Bay’s SHUe during the hunger strike from 2014.</description>

On October 10 and 11, San Quentin held its first …

On October 10 and 11, San Quentin held its first ever Film Festival.  150 people from the outside, including Everyday Injustice, got to go inside San Quentin and hang out with around 100 or so incarcerated people, many of them intimately involved in the production of various films.

Incarcerated Films competed with films submitted from the outside.  One of the big winners was The Strike, which was a documentary about the hunger strike held over a decade ago against solitary confinement at Pelican Bay.
A few days after the film, Everyday Injustice walked with the production team.

Lucas Guilkey – Director/Producer of the The Strike
JoeBill Muñoz – Director/Producer of The Strike
Dolores Canales – Film protagonist, founder of CA Families Against Solitary Confinement, organizer on behalf of her son who was in solitary confinement during the hunger strikes
Jack Morris – Film protagonist, spent over 30 years in solitary confinement, participated in the hunger strikes

Article: https://davisvanguard.org/2024/10/the-strike-wins-first-san-quentin-film-festival-award-highlights-horrors-of-solitary-confinement-at-pelican-bay/

Listen as the production team walks us through the horrors of Pelican Bay’s SHUe during the hunger strike from 2014.

Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 262: The Strike - Film Captures Horrors of Solitary Confinement

Davis Vanguard Podcast will be covering criminal justice reform, mass incarceration, wrongful convictions, and more.

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