The United States has one of the biggest populations of incarcerated individuals in the world. According to the Sentencing Project, the number of people sent to prisons and jails had already increased by over 500% over the last 4 decades.

And yet, a growing body of literature shows that as many as 20% of those incarcerated are wrongfully convicted. Worse, the country has a high recidivism rate. At least 65% are rearrested, while 50% go back to prisons and jails.

What causes this? One of the foremost answers is the focus of the justice system on punishment instead of rehabilitation.

This topic, however, is way beyond my scope. To better understand this point, I've invited one of the esteemed judges in New Jersey, Judge Victoria Pratt. She's the author of the Power of Dignity, a compelling book that champions her advocacy, which is criminal justice reformation.

In this episode, we'll talk about the disparities that exist within the US justice system and how they disproportionately impact people of color, how broken our country's system is, and what we can do to change it.

Topics Covered: 

• Identify what people of color should learn to defend themselves properly and avoid becoming part of the convoluted justice system of the United States
• Know the power of shutting up and listening in promoting dignity for the disadvantaged population and the defendants
• Learn how community solutions programs can play a huge role in preventing thousands of individuals from being placed into the justice system
• Find out how improving the lives of the disadvantaged makes other people's lives better
• Know the danger of the ego, which often leads to biases, and how to minimize it
  
  

Guest Bio:

Judge Victoria Pratt has gained national and international acclaim for her commitment to reforming the criminal justice system. During her tenure as the Chief Judge in Newark Municipal Court in Newark, New Jersey, she spent years gaining a deep understanding of how to deliver justice to court participants in a manner that increased their trust in the legal system and changed their behavior. While presiding over Newark Community Solutions, the Community Court, she used procedural justice and innovative problem solving to provide alternative sentences to low-level offenders including community service, counseling sessions, and her signature assignment of introspective essays. Her respectful approach has had a transformational impact on court participants, the community, and court practitioners. Her TED Talk, How Judges Can Show Respect, has been translated into 11 languages, has over one million views, and has a Facebook clip with over 30 million views. A globally recognized expert, she has worked with jurisdictions across the nation, and as far as Dubai, Ukraine, England, Scotland, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mexico facilitating workshops and presentations. She has also been featured in the Guardian, Forbes and The Tamron Hall Show, to name a few. She continues to champion criminal justice reform through her consulting firm Pratt Lucien Consultants, LLC, by sharing her skills and approach with others. She has worked with corporations such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Prudential, as well as other institutions and organizations about how to heighten and restore respect to their day-to-day operations so that their mission can be better achieved. She is currently a professor of Professional Practice and the Director of Strategic Planning and Program Development at Rutgers School of Criminal Justice in Newark, NJ. Previously she served as a Visiting Professor at Rutgers Law School in Newark where she taught Problem Solving Justice and Restorative Justice. She currently Chairs the Boards of the Center for Court Innovation and New Jersey’s Edna Mahan Women’s Correcti