JustUs Speaks Podcast

Stephanie Jeffcoat (Leading with Conviction™ 2024) was in and out of prison because of substance use and addiction, which led to a six-month period of incarceration where she permanently lost custody of her daughter.The trauma of losing her child has led her to found Families Inspiring Reentry and Reunification for Everyone (FIR4E). It also led her to earn five associate degrees, as well as her Bachelor’s at Cal State Fullerton and pursue a law degree through Trinity Law School.Beyond academia, Stephanie has shared her transformative journey from addiction, incarceration, and homelessness in a published memoir.

The In Their Hands documentary tells the powerful personal story of Ronnie Carrasquillo. Ronnie was only 18 years old when he committed the crime for which he was convicted. It was a shooting of a plainclothes police officer that occurred in 1976 during a gang-related incident in Chicago, resulting in a sentence of 200-600 years in prison. As you watch In Their Hands, Ronnie appears destined to die in prison. His life is in the hands of a parole board whose decision-making is swayed by shifting political sands and an ever-present police union. But we’re glad to tell you that Ronnie was finally released from prison in 2023 after serving 47 years. And we’re so grateful he is with us on the podcast today—along with the film’s director/producer Dan Protess—to talk about his story and this powerful documentary that JustLeadershipUSA is honored to be partnering on as it airs on PBS stations across the country during the month of April, Second Chance Month — what we’re also calling “Fair Chance Month.”

Paul Rothschild (Leading with Conviction™ 2024) talks about taking his skills from 25 years of experience in the corporate world—in technology, business, and healthcare—and transferring them to his current work in social justice, serving with the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments (ENDPP.ORG).Paul served a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence in federal prison, and his passion for criminal justice reform work is deeply rooted in witnessing the disproportionate impact of incarceration on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and his own experience of privilege in the reentry process.He also shares some Buddhist philosophy and wisdom that has guided him and his work in the criminal justice reform space.

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.

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.

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!