JustUs Speaks Podcast
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The JustUs Speaks Podcast, presented by JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA), amplifies the voices of formerly incarcerated individuals in the U.S. Hosted by JLUSA Policy Analyst Zach Ruppel and JLUSA Leadership Admin Coordinator Lana Mendis, the JustUs Speaks Podcast features interviews with directly impacted people sharing their experience with the criminal justice system, and life upon reentering society.
To learn more about JustLeadershipUSA and its mission to amplify the power of people who have been directly impacted by the criminal legal system, visit www.JLUSA.org
To learn more about JustLeadershipUSA and its mission to amplify the power of people who have been directly impacted by the criminal legal system, visit www.JLUSA.org
35 Episodes
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Crystal Voight (Leading with Conviction™ 2024) grew up in a household of domestic violence, which led her to running away and spending time on the streets, getting involved with drugs, gangs, and crime at a young age.After spending time in prison, a judge gave her another chance, and she took it and ran with it. Starting out with no experience as an entry-level flagger while on house arrest, Crystal now serves in a management position with a large construction company.She shares her powerful personal story and her vision for helping others with reentry, navigating the system, finding jobs, and more.
After spending multiple stretches in solitary confinement as a result of standing for human rights, Marcus Kelley (Leading with Conviction™ 2024) was diagnosed with PTSD and, once freed after nine long years in prison, he had a hard time adjusting to society. He learned that he suffered from Post Incarceration Syndrome (PICS) as a result of his prison experience.He talks about his work with The Change Up to end the legal slavery exception clause in the 13th Amendment, and his goal to restore voting rights for federal elections to anyone in prison.
Melissa Ludin (Leading with Conviction™ 2024) talks about balancing her work with the ACLU of Wisconsin and being a partner and mother of four boys—especially during the challenging political landscape we are living in right now.She shares about entering prison at age 19, and how she was transformed by her experience of incarceration.
Kyle Giddings (Leading with Conviction™ 2024) says it was a conversation with another person while incarcerated that helped him realize how many people believed they were ineligible to vote in Colorado because of a felony conviction—when it fact they could still vote after reentry.Currently serving as Deputy Director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition (CCJRC), Kyle hopes to work toward developing programs and implementing policies that help justice-involved people have a voice in their communities.
Tamara Cotman Springs (Leading with Conviction™ 2024), author of Sordid Injustice, discusses her journey through 16 months spent mostly in a maximum security prison following her conviction on RICO charges in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal, which is widely regarded as the largest public school cheating scandal in U.S. history.Today Tamara is using her 25 years of education experience as she serves as a Training Manager for the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO).
Ronald Simpson-Bey, Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA), and Zach Ruppel, Policy Analyst for JLUSA, sat down recently with Stanford Professor Keith Humphreys to discuss his groundbreaking research published in The Atlantic magazine earlier this year entitled “America’s Incarceration Rate Is About to Fall Off a Cliff.” They ask him about what he’s seeing now in terms of trends and whether he predicts this decline will continue or if recent increases in immigration detention are reversing the trend. He also speaks about his work in addiction policy and drug policy reform and the intersections with mass incarceration and what his top priority would be for the current administration.Professor Humphreys is is currently the Esther Ting Memorial Professor at Stanford University, a Senior Research Career Scientist in the Veterans Health Administration, and an Honorary Professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, at King's College, London.He also founded and currently co-directs the Stanford Network on Addiction Policy. He has advised multiple international administrations on addiction policy, and won awards for his educational public policy and health books regarding addiction. He is the Deputy Editor in Chief for the journal entitled Addiction, and he’s also the author of the book Addiction: A Very Short Introduction from Oxford University Press.Thank you to Professor Humphreys for joining us on the JustUs Speaks Podcast!
Ruby Welch (Leading with Conviction™ 2023) works with Sheriff Eric Higgins in the Pulaski County, Arkansas, jail system. They sat down with us to discuss the Unlocked: A Jail Experiment docuseries now streaming on Netflix!
She spent five years in prison and says she was angry at how women were treated behind the walls. She’s now a fierce advocate for reentry and prison reform in Louisiana. She’s also the author of the best-selling book Perfectly Flawed: Uncovering Your Greatest Purpose. Kristy Laschober (Leading with Conviction™ 2023) joins the JustUs Speaks Podcast!
He was sentenced to life without parole as a juvenile and spent 40 years behind bars. She stood by him and fought for his release for all four decades. Now they are a powerhouse husband-wife team working for criminal justice reform in Michigan. Ronnie Waters and Felecia Tyson-Waters (Leading with Conviction™ 2023) join the JustUs Speaks Podcast!
As a teacher, she allowed boundaries to become blurred, which led to her incarceration. She lost her career, her home, and was forced to start all over again. Today, she is using those educator skills again by helping families of incarcerated loved ones with reentry. Jessica Snow (Leading with Conviction™ 2023) joins the JustUs Speaks Podcast!
He went to federal prison for financial fraud charges, and it changed his life forever. He has since received a presidential pardon and committed himself to criminal justice reform. He now hosts the Redemption Radio faith-based podcast. Thad Bereday joins the JustUs Speaks Podcast!
She was always interested and engaged in politics and fundraising, but her personal experience with the criminal justice system is what put her on the path that she is on now, helping others like her participate in advocacy around reform. Simone Price joins the JustUs Speaks Podcast!
For 35 years, she has provided housing and other direct and supportive services to those reintegrating into society upon release from incarceration. Well before criminal justice was a “sexy” topic, she spoke up against injustices in the depths of South Mississippi. Pauline Rogers joins the JustUs Speaks Podcast!
After 23 years incarcerated, he took the skill he learned while in prison and started a Braille transcription business as an entrepreneur. He is also a pioneer as the first justice-impacted Forensic Peer Mentor Trainer and Liaison in the state of Georgia. Ladji Ruffin joins the JustUs Speaks Podcast!
After four times in prison, she went to the sober living facility for women that she is currently the director of now. As a directly impacted speaker for the Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign is where she found her voice. Emilee Shell (Leading with Conviction™ 2023) joins the JustUs Speaks Podcast!
He spent 22 years in prison, living every year like it might be his last. He got released when he was 47, and he’s found a new purpose as a criminal justice reformer in Muskegan, Michigan. Terry Johnson joins the JustUs Speaks Podcast!
She was facing 48 years, and miraculously only served three years behind bars. She now serves as a triple state commissioner in Colorado, working on criminal justice reform. Candice Bailey (Leading with Conviction™ 2023) joins the JustUs Speaks Podcast!
He went to prison for the first time at age 18. Beto O’Rourke gave him his first chance to do communications work, and he’s gone on to work in D.C., on drug policy, and now as director of communications for the nation’s largest reentry employment provider. Matt Sutton joins the JustUs Speaks Podcast!
She’s been recognized by the Little Rock NAACP for her community service, and now she’s setting her sights on a network of transitional “safe houses” across Arkansas for women returning home after incarceration. Ruby Welch (Leading with Conviction™ 2023) joins the JustUs Speaks Podcast!
He’s been recognized as a grassroots leader in the Louisville, Kentucky, community, and he’s making a huge impact statewide. Savvy Shabazz (Leading with Conviction™ 2023) joins the JustUs Speaks Podcast!
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