Best of 2017
Across the country, judges, jurisdictions, police chiefs, public defenders, prosecutors, and allies took up the mantle of justice reform. Our interactive report, The State of Justice Reform, cites major trends and developments during the first year of a new administration, and informs reform in a critical election year. Below, we highlight some of our favorite justice-related podcasts, books, documentaries, and social media influencers from 2017:
Podcasts
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Ezra Klein ShowEzra Klein, founder and editor of Vox, meets with individuals for in-depth discussions. Standout episodes: Ta-Nehisi Coates on blackness, civil rights, and social justice in America; Angela Davis on the power of prosecutors in the criminal justice system.
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Pod Save the PeoplePodcast by activist DeRay McKesson, Brittany Packnett, Samuel Sinyangwe, and Clint Smith, and on racial justice, policing, arrests, and the criminal justice system. Produced and distributed by Crooked Media.
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Stay Tuned with Preet BhararaPodcast by former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York tackling issues like prosecutorial discretion and race within the criminal justice system.
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Wrongful Conviction with Jason FlomPodcast from Jason Flom featuring interviews with men and women who have spent decades in prison for crimes they did not commit.
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Criminal (In)justice with David A. HarrisPodcast exploring full range of criminal justice issues, from police body cameras and racial biases to use-of-force policies. Standout Episode: Attorney Whitney Tymas discusses how local elections can be used to reform prosecutors’ offices.
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The Good Talk: End the Drug War, Oregon Decriminalization, Addiction, Incarceration, & moreA social worker case manager and a filmmaker discuss Oregon law that would decriminalize drug possession, also exploring the inadequacies of the failed War on Drugs and sharing ideas on how society can intelligently progress from it.
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Indefensible Podcast SeriesA podcast aiming to show how deportation affects real people and their families, and how undocumented immigrants are dealing with uncertain and frightening times.
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JuvieJuvie is a podcast “exploring cases, legislation, experiences, and ramifications of children and youth in juvenile justice and adult criminal justice systems."
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The Weeds, Vox: How America Became Addicted to OpioidsVox’s German Lopez and Matt Yglesias zero in on the causes of America’s opioid crisis—which led to drug overdoses killing more Americans in 2016 than the Vietnam and Iraq wars combined.
Books
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Unwarranted: Policing Without PermissionExplores expansion of counter-terrorism procedures, police work, surveillance and crime protection and how they impact the Fourth and Fifth Amendment.
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We Were Eight Years In PowerCollection of essays on race and how mass incarceration, policing, and discriminatory arrests have resulted in a system of oppression for people of color.
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Not a Crime to Be Poor: The Criminalization of Poverty in AmericaBook on how fees, fines, cash bail and strictly enforced laws affect the poor.
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Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and How to Achieve Real ReformLaw professor examines data gathered over a decade, arguing that conventional wisdom on mass incarceration misses a number of key factors, such as the simple fact of rising crime through the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, as well as the unconstrained power of prosecutors.
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Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black AmericaA book seeking to understand the role played by African American leaders across the country in supporting the war on crime that began in the 1970s. Many of these policies were supported and even championed by black leaders of the time.
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Rights, Deportation, and Detention in the Age of Immigration ControlAddresses three of the most salient aspects of immigration control: the denial of rights to non-citizens, their physical removal and exclusion from the polity through deportation, and their deprivation of liberty and freedom of movement in immigration detention.
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The War on Kids: How American Juvenile Justice Lost Its WayIdentifies how America went from being a pioneer to an international pariah in its juvenile sentencing practices, chronicling shortcomings of juvenile justice and drawing upon social science, legal decisions, and first-hand correspondence.
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Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the FightDetails the life of Susan Burton—a woman who cycled in an out of prison for over 15 years due to an untreated crack cocaine addiction, but now operates five safe homes in Los Angeles for hundreds of formerly incarcerated women and their children.
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The Opioid Epidemic of America: What You Need To Know About The Opiate and Opioid Crisis…and How We Can Heal From ItWritten by a man recovering from opioid addiction, this book provides a brief overview and history of the epidemic and adds a personal angle on the crisis.
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Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of ColorA timely examination of how Black women, Indigenous women, and women of color experience racial profiling, police brutality, and immigration enforcement.
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Chokehold: Policing Black MenThis book powerfully demonstrates why current efforts to reform law enforcement will not create lasting change.
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Policing the Black ManExplores and critiques the many ways the criminal justice system impacts the lives of African American boys and men at every stage of the criminal process, from arrest through sentencing.
Films
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Heroin(e)A look at women battling addiction in Huntington, West Virginia, considered the epicenter of America's modern opioid epidemic, with an overdose rate 10 times the national average.
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The ForceThe Force goes inside the Oakland Police Department's struggles to confront federal demands for reform.
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They Call Us MonstersThis film follows three young men accused of committing violent crimes who are currently awaiting trial in the Compound, a high security facility in Los Angeles for juvenile detainees.
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Rikers: An American JailThis documentary from Bill Moyers brings you face to face with men and women who have endured incarceration at Rikers Island jail in New York City.
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Time: The Kalief Browder StoryThis series traces the tragic case of Kalief Browder, a Bronx teen who spent three horrific years in jail, despite never being convicted of a crime.
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Preet BhararaFormer U.S. attorney. Host of Stay Tuned with Preet Bharara.
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Josie Duffy RiceResearch Director at Fair Punishment Project. Covers criminal justice issues.
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Eli HagerStaff Writer for the Marshall Project. He covers criminal justice issues, including juvenile justice.
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Carrie JohnsonJustice Correspondent for NPR. Covers law enforcement and justice issues.
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Dara LindSenior Reporter for Vox. Covers national immigration policy and issues.
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Wesley LoweryNational Reporter for The Washington Post. Covers politics, law enforcement, justice, and race issues.
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Deray McKessonHost of Pod Save The People and civil rights activist. Focuses on law racial justice and criminal justice issues.
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Grace MengSenior Researcher at Human Rights Watch. Covers immigrant rights issues.
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Brittany PacknettVP of National Community Alliances at Teach for America. Focuses on social justice issues.
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Ryan J. ReillySenior Justice Reporter at HuffPost. Covers federal law enforcement and criminal justice issues.
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Samuel SinyangwePolicy analyst and activist. Focuses on racial justice and criminal justice reform.
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Clint SmithWriter and teacher. Focused on race, mass incarceration, and inequality issues.
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Jamil SmithIndependent journalist. Focuses on politics and criminal justice issues, including race and policing.
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Carimah TownesReporter for The Fair Punishment Project. Covers criminal justice issues.
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Jose Antonio VargasJournalist and CEO of Define American. Focuses on immigrant rights injustice issues.