Maria and Julio are joined by Jullian Harris-Calvin, director of the Greater Justice New York program at the Vera Institute of Justice, and David Luis “Suave” Gonzalez, artist and a former juvenile lifer. They discuss systemic issues within the criminal legal system, the case of Melissa Lucio, and the humanitarian crisis at New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex.

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“The idea that my decision to take another person’s life was not based on complete and accurate information in a fair trial is horrifying,” writes Johnny Galvan Jr., a juror in Melissa Lucio’s case, in this opinion piece for the Houston Chronicle.
Sara Dorn and Kimberly Gonzalez lay out a timeline of the calls to close Rikers Island and the steps that have been taken so far, for City and State New York.
In a collaboration between ProPublica, The Marshall Project and NBC News, reporters investigated abuses at a new juvenile lockup in Louisiana, including 23-hour solitary confinement.


Photo credit: AP Photo/Jeenah Moon