the JustPod

Our guest is Professor Lucian Dervan, the founding Director of the Plea Bargaining Institute and a Professor of Law and Director of Criminal Justice Studies at Belmont University College of Law in Nashville, TN.  Professor Dervan is co-chair of the ABA's Criminal Justice Section Plea Bargaining Taskforce and co-author of the forthcoming book, "The Cost of Bargains: Reflections and Recommendations" from the Section's Plea Bargaining Task Force.Read the Fourteen Principles and a Path Forward for Plea Bargaining Reform, by Lucian E. Dervan hereRead the ABA CJS Plea Bargaining Task Force Report here

Larry Krasner is a former criminal defense and civil rights lawyer who has become one of the most high profile inner city District Attorneys to lead the city prosecutor’s office of any major city. He has made waves for his controversial—and some would say progressive—policy positions on hot button issues like mass incarceration, decriminalization of minor drug possession, police misconduct, and wrongful convictions. He was first elected as District Attorney for Philadelphia in 2017 and re-elected in 2021, after running his own criminal defense firm, where he brought over 75 civil suits against law enforcement for misconduct. Even earlier in his career he worked as a public defender.

It takes about 3 hours to drive from Greenwich, Connecticut to the Federal Correctional Institution,  Allenwood Low in Pennsylvania. Jeffery D. Grant knows this because he took that drive on an Easter Sunday in 2006. A lawyer whose life has taken a wrong turn on  the road to addiction, Jeff Grant left the upscale life he had cultivated in Connecticut to enter what would be his new home for the duration of his 18-month Federal criminal sentence. The story of his rise, fall, and redemption is recounted in an article by Evan Osnos in The New Yorker. Jeff Grant has also been featured in Forbes, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Greenwich Magazine, and Business Insider. Jeff was released from custody in 2007 and was able to recover from addiction, obtain a divinity degree, start a law firm, and start a number of non-profit support groups focused on reentry to society in support of defendants and their families. Read The New Yorker article hereRead Jeff's CJS Magazine article, "A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats: Progressive Diversion and Reentry, 'Problem-to-Pardon' Case Management" here

Our guests have spent their careers advocating for some of the most vulnerable citizens in our country's legal system-our nation's children. Kristin Henning is the Blume Professor of Law and Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic Initiative at Georgetown Law School and the author of "The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth". Marsha Levick is the co-founder and Chief Legal Officer of the Juvenile Law Center, which has been advocating for young people's rights for nearly 50 years. 

Gurbir Grewal has been the Director of the Enforcement Division at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission since 2001.  Prior to that, he had the distinction of being the first Sikh American to be Attorney General in any of the fifty states, and only the second South Asian to hold such an office after the former Attorney General of California, Kamala Harris.  Gurbir was the Chief Prosecutor of Bergen County in New Jersey, and before that the Head of the Economic Crimes Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey.  Justin and Gurbir sat down for a “fireside chat” at the annual White Collar Conference of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL).  The episode was recorded in front of a live audience, with PACDL’s permission.

T. Markus Funk, a Partner at Perkins Coie in Denver, Colorado, was a Section Chief with the U.S. State Department in the Balkans, following the war in Kosovo, where he represented the United States in diplomatic negotiations and participated in the restructuring of Kosovo's post-war justice system.  Markus graduated from Northwestern School of Law, and later received a doctorate in law from the University of Oxford, where he taught as a law professor.  Markus was also a federal prosecutor in Chicago, where he prosecuted members of the Chicago mafia, most notably in a case called Operation Family Secrets, the subject of our discussion today. 

Representing criminal defendants with mental disabilities comes with a range of challenges that make these representations different from the usual criminal representation in important ways.  Elizabeth Kelley is an expert in the field, and the Editor of Representing People with Dementia:  A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers, recently published by the American Bar Association.  The book is a collection of 16 essays by lawyers, psychiatrists, and psychologists. You can purchase the book here.  

Our guest is Richard Saenz, who is a senior attorney in the criminal justice and police misconduct strategist at Lambda Legal. He focuses his work on the criminal legal system, coordinating litigation and policy work on behalf of incarcerated people and against the criminalization of LGBTQ+ people. Richard has been featured in the Washington Post, NBC News, USA Today, Newsweek, and The Advocate. 

The Atlantic Center for Capital Representation was founded in 2010, in Philadelphia.  The Center provides advice and counsel in death penalty cases around the country, as well as in federal death cases, and represents the Government of Mexico in death penalty cases involving Mexican nationals here in the United States. Justin and Geonard interviewed the Center’s co-founder and Executive Director, Marc Bookman, and the President of its Board of Directors, Patrick Egan. Marc and Pat are long-time members of the Philadelphia criminal defense bar, and have, themselves, litigated numerous death penalty cases.  Marc is also the author of the recently published book by The New Press, called a Descending Spiral: Exposing the Death Penalty in 12 Essays.  Marc has also published in The Atlantic, and Slate, among other publications.  

For three decades, since its founding in 1992 at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law, the Innocence Project has led a national effort to exonerate wrongly convicted defendants through scientific advances in DNA technology. That work has led to the exoneration of hundreds of wrongly convicted defendants, some of them on death row. Justin and Geonard interviewed the founders of the Innocence Project, Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld. 

Featuring: Faraz Mohammadi, Assistant United States Attorney, Orange County, CALinda Britton ABA CJS Standards DirectorKyo Suh ABA CJS Technology and Publications ManagerEmily Johnson Senior Public Relations SpecialistJoin us to learn more about how you can take part in the many opportunities available to members of the Section, from publishing, to creating policy, fellowships, media opportunities and more.Also, this will be our last episode before a hiatus. The JustPod will return at a later date.

Featuring: Kristin Henning is the Blume Professor of Law and Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic and Initiative at Georgetown Law Kristin joins us to discuss her recently published book “The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth.” Kristin shares some highlights with our listeners as well as sharing her method for gathering the perspectives and conclusions put forward in this work. Want to get involved with the Criminal Justice Section? Join us! https://www.americanbar.org/membership/join-now

Featuring: Melba Pearson, Policy Director for the Center for the Administration of Justice with the Florida International University.Is that assault? Melba joins us to answer one of the questions that filled Twitter following the Oscars. Yes, we are talking about "the slap"  but as one of many examples as we try to discern the obligations of law enforcement and prosecutors when a victim decides not to press charges.Want to get involved with the Criminal Justice Section? Join us! https://www.americanbar.org/membership/join-now

Featuring: Prof. David M. Crane, Distinguished Scholar in Residence Syracuse University College of Law; Founding Chief Prosecutor UN Special Court for Sierra Leone; Founder, Global Accountability Network; Board of Advisors for the International Criminal Court Project (ABA’s Criminal Justice Section & Center for Human Rights) David joins us to highlight the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russian during its current invasion of Ukraine. Learn more about the actors, the means and the current state of prosecuting Vladimir Putin and Russian Commanders for these atrocities. Also, please note what needs to happen to move the prosecution forward.International Criminal Court Project (ABA’s Criminal Justice Section & Center for Human Rights) Want to get involved with the Criminal Justice Section? Join us! https://www.americanbar.org/membership/join-now 

Featuring: Michael J. Leotta Partner Wilmer Hale, Co-Chair of the ABA CJS White Collar Crime CommitteeMichael joins us on the podcast because President Biden signed an executive order on government oversight of cryptocurrency. Michael will help walk us through this order on a high level to discuss what the order includes, what the potential impact is and what practitioners need to know now.Want to join a CJS committee?Want to get involved with the Criminal Justice Section? Join us! https://www.americanbar.org/membership/join-now 

Featuring:Honorable Ernestine Gray, recently retired Judge of the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court, Co-Chair of the ABACJS Juvenile Justice Committee and member of the Juvenile Justice Standards Task Force and Chair-Elect of the Judicial Division.Honorable Denise Langford Morris, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge, Secretary of the National State Trial Judges Conference of the Judicial Division, CJS Council Member, CJS Women's Task Force Member and Co-Executive Director of the ABACJS Equal Justice Division. Judge Gray and Langford Morris are joining us today to discuss the historic appointment of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court, the first Black woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court. Want to join a CJS committee?Want to get involved with the Criminal Justice Section? Join us! https://www.americanbar.org/membership/join-now 

Featuring: Stephen Saltzburg, Wallace and Beverley Woodbury University Professor of Law. Co-director of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Program at George Washington University School of Law. Former CJS Chair.The ABA policymaking body convened virtually Feb. 14 as part of the 2022 Midyear Meeting to debate and vote on a wide range of policy issues. CJS Delegate, Steve Saltzburg joins us to talk about the CJS resolutions that were cosponsored by CJS. Join us as we discuss new ABA policy around youth representation at court, youth homelessness, election law and more.Here is the previous lactation room policy mentioned in this episode:RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association encourages federal, state, and territorial legislatures and court systems, in conjunction with state and local bar associations, to support and assist with the establishment and maintenance of a lactation area in every appropriate courthouse, provided a lactation area is defined to mean a room in a courthouse for members of the public, including lawyers, jurors, litigants, witnesses, and observers, to express breast milk that:Is shielded from view and free from intrusion from the public;Has a door that can be locked;Includes a place to sit, a table or other flat surface, and an electrical outlet; Is readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities; andIs not located in a restroom.  Want to join a CJS committee?Want to get involved with the Criminal Justice Section? Join us! https://www.americanbar.org/membership/join-now 

Featuring: Dr. Jonathan Wender Co-Founder, President and CEO of POLIS SolutionsJonathan joins us to examine rising crime and a potential relationship to recent police reforms. We discuss the need to focus on replicating successful practices and not just removal of police practices. We discuss the impact of recent reforms that were adopted in jurisdictions across the U.S.POLIS SolutionsLegal Education Police Practices ConsortiumWant to get involved with the Criminal Justice Section? Join us! https://www.americanbar.org/membership/join-now

Featuring: Cynthia Nakao Professional Responsibility Advisor Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.Ghislaine Maxwell was recently convicted of sex trafficking a minor, but her attorneys have formally requested a retrial stating that a juror did not disclose that they are a sexual abuse survivor. Cynthia highlights the applicable standards and potential problems that can arise in jury trials that can lead to a mistrial or retrial. Want to get involved with the Criminal Justice Section? Join us! https://www.americanbar.org/membership/join-now

Featuring: Mark Beardsworth partner in Cadwalader’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Group, resident in the London office.Saverio Lembo heads Bär & Karrer’s White Collar Crime practice group. Frances McLeod is a founding partner of FRA and head of its US offices.Mark, Saverio and Frances are editors and contributors to the new CJS book, “An International Guide to Corporate Internal Investigations”. They join us to provide us with an introduction and sampling of the valuable best practice tips and guidance readers can expect to find in this book.You can purchase the book here: https://www.americanbar.org/products/inv/book/416759862/.Want to get involved with the Criminal Justice Section? Join us! https://www.americanbar.org/membership/join-now