Understanding jail reform
70 Million is an open-source podcast. That means giving you the tools to dig deeper into the issues uncovered in the episodes. Below you'll find articles and resources from our partners as well as syllabi, transcripts, and reform toolkits by episode. Our hope is that you'll feel compelled to work towards change at the local level, and that these resources can be the guide.
syllabus
Drawing from sources in the 70 Million podcast stories and other experts, we’ve assembled a companion reading list of articles, books, and papers that give context to the growing jail-reform movement in America.
OP-ED for The Marshall Project
"Three strikes didn’t work. It’s time to pay reparations. Black and brown men paid the price for supplying what the recreational drug market demanded: cocaine and weed." So writes Juleyka Lantigua for The Marshall Project to coincide with the launch of 70 Million.
Rudy Valdez, the director of "The Sentence." Photo: HBO.
Q&A WiTH RUDY VALDEZ, DIRECTOR OF HBO’s THE SENTENCE, FROM THE MARSHALL PROJECT
A powerful new HBO documentary looks at the trauma caused by mandatory minimum sentences. The Marshall Project’s Robin Washington interviews him about the film. You can hear the 3-minute interview here.
Diane Wilson’s letter - Texas Jail Project
Read the nine page letter that launched the Texas Jail Project - written in 2006 by Diane Wilson while she was in jail and discovered the mistreatment and neglect at the Victoria County Jail in Victoria, Texas:
Educational resources from Bitch Media
The editorial team at Bitch Media has curated a list for 70 Million of features, guides, and articles about mass incarceration, racial inequity, and prison reforms:
Resources from vera
We've partnered with The Vera Institute of Justice to bring you curated publications and resources based on the areas of reform we cover in the episodes of 70 Million, from diversion to public defense.
Community policing failed. That’s no accident.
A new video from The Institute for Humane Studies details how today, experts see community-based policing as a well-intentioned failure. But what if that's because it was never really tried? Few American departments have ever had true community-based policing. Understanding how this happened could show us the way forward.
trailer introduction
Juleyka Lantigua, creator and executive producer of 70 Million, wrote about the genesis of the podcast for our partner, the Vera Institute of Justice, on their blog:
Extended Foster Care efforts from Juvenile Law CEnter
Juvenile Law Center “advocates for policies that prioritize reuniting young people with their families or, when that fails, finding other types of permanent, supportive family-like connections for older youth.” Read more about their efforts and find resources here.
Mark Denny poses at his barbershop in Brooklyn. He was recently exonerated after being convicted at 17. Photo by Kunjo.
An Informal Guide to Centering Marginalized People in Your Podcast
The creator and executive producer of 70 Million offers insight from a career telling the stories of people on the outside.
all episode toolkits
S1E1:
Jail Reform Toolkit: Locals Divided Between Diversion and Border Security
S1E3:
Jail Reform Toolkit: Reform Activists and a New DA Find Common Ground
S1E5:
Jail Reform Toolkit: One State is Disrupting the Pipeline
from Foster Care to Jail
S1E7:
News Primer: Undocumented Immigrants are Tethered to ICE, and Private Companies, by Ankle Monitors
S1E9:
Jail Reform Toolkit: How New Orleans Could Set a New Course for Bail Reform
S2 E2:
Jail Reform Toolkit: When Disability Requires a Different Approach
S1E2:
Jail Reform Toolkit: Veterans Courts Give Soldiers a Way Back