Decarceration Nation (with Josh and Joel) Episode 3 "Power of Prosecutors"

The Decarceration Nation Podcast (with Josh and Joel)

Welcome to the new podcast "Decarceration Nation" which I am co-hosting with my friend Joel.

We will be focusing on the need for serious reform of our systems of criminal justice and incarceration in the United States with an emphasis on bringing people back from prison ready to succeed.

Decarceration Nation is now available on iTunes, we would love for you to subscribe from the iTunes store. We are also available on Stitcher.com.

Notes From Episode Three "Power of Prosecutors"

My book "Writing Your Own Best Story: Addiction & Living Hope" is available as an ebook or in paperback on Amazon.com.

My recaps and writing about the television series "Orange Is the New Black" is covered thoroughly in this guide.

The story of Tarra's Oregon Supreme Court case was retold recently by the New York Times with, in my opinion, a very indelicate and inappropriate headline (we who are formerly incarcerated do not believe we should be reduced in language to ONLY our worst moments).

This is the John Pfaff study where he explained the importance of prosecutors in the rise of Mass Incarceration. He is also the author of the book "Locked In" which has had a huge influence on my thinking about criminal justice and incarceration.

My claim about prosecutors running unopposed came from this ACLU study.

My claims about racism have been documented in the notes for previous episodes but it can probably be tied back to this factoid.

Many of my claims about prosecutors came from this article about prosecutors working together against criminal justice reform and this article defining the scope of the prosecutor problem. There is also this article about the inertia that continues to favor reelecting the same prosecutors over and over.

Here is the article about innocence denial that Joel referred to.

The evidence suggesting that 60% of prison budgets go to facilities and staff was from this Vera Institute 2017 study.

The differential between prosecutors and indigent defense can be quite substantial, here is some evidence of that.

Here is a link to Michelle Alexander's book "The New Jim Crow."

Okay, that is my list for Episode 3. If I find more resources to share, I will come back and post them when I get a chance.

Next week, hopefully, will be an interview with Lauren Brooke Eisen of the Brennan Center.