In Episode 55, we brought you a conversation with Kevin Sharp: a former federal judge who gave it up because he had to sentence young men like Chris Young to cruel and unjust mandatory sentences. Several years later, we have an update: we talk with Kevin Sharp, and this time with Chris Young too.
Read MoreA happy ending to the story of Chris Young, as told by former federal judge Kevin Sharp back in episode #55.
Read MoreMandatory minimum sentences helped fill prisons in the U.S., and they played a substantial role in the mass incarceration we see now. What were these sentences supposed to do, and where did they go wrong? Most importantly, how do we get rid of them?
Read MoreWe try to solve the problem of mass incarceration by eliminating mandatory sentences, or by getting rid of cash bail. But what about a better method of providing criminal defense services? Could this cut prison and jail populations, AND secure public safety? There’s a way to do this: use a holistic model for criminal defense services.
Read MoreBeing a federal judge is a lawyer’s dream job – lifetime tenure, sophisticated cases and a good salary, too. So why did a well-respected federal trial judge in Tennessee give it all up just six years in?
Analysis of Attorney General Jeff Sessions's May 10 memo directing federal prosecutors to pursue the strictest charges and the harshest sentences that "the evidence supports."
Read MoreSince the mid 1980s, mandatory minimum drug sentences have served as the driving force behind the explosion in the federal prison population, and also the vast racial disproportionality in that population.
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