S4: E6 When Survival Is Punished: Dawn Jackson’s Journey from Prison to Clemency
Dawn Jackson survived years of sexual abuse and violence before being convicted in connection with the death of her abusive step-grandfather. Sentenced to 30 years, she spent more than 25 years at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women before receiving clemency from Governor Phil Murphy in December 2024..com In this powerful conversation, Dawn discusses […]
S4E5: Attorney Courtney Teasley on Legal Literacy and Championing Justice
After more than a decade as a criminal defense attorney, Courtney Teasley saw the same problem over and over again: too many people entered the criminal legal system without a practical understanding of their rights or the systems shaping their choices. In this episode, Courtney explains why she sees legal, financial, and civic literacy as […]
S4E4: Criminalized Survival: Justine van der Leun on Abuse, Imprisonment, and Unreasonable Women
What happens when a woman’s survival is treated as a crime? In this episode of Just Justice, Jessica Henry speaks with award-winning journalist Justine van der Leun about her new book, Unreasonable Women: Three Stories of Violence, Imprisonment, and Extraordinary Survival. Drawing on seven years of reporting and more than 1,000 accounts from incarcerated women, […]
S4E3: From Sing Sing to Columbia University: Prison Education, the Second Look Act, and Prison Conditions
After nearly 25 years in New York prisons, Mujahideen Muhammad, MPS came home in 2024 and went straight to work on criminal justice reform. In this episode of Just Justice, he talks with host Jessica Henry about the New York Second Look Act, how prison education transformed his life at Sing Sing, the book club […]
S4E2: Iris Eytan on Prosecutorial Misconduct, Wrongful Convictions, and Immunity
In this episode of Just Justice, Jessica Henry speaks with attorney, former public defender, and Protect Ethical Prosecutors (PEP) founder Iris Eytan about prosecutorial misconduct, wrongful convictions, and the broad legal immunity prosecutors receive even when serious ethical violations occur. Drawing on decades of experience in criminal defense, Eytan examines the extraordinary power prosecutors hold […]
The Big Reveal…
As many of you know, for the last two years I’ve been working on a book with the University of California Press about a question at the heart of American justice: should people forever be defined by the worst thing they have ever done? This book is intended to challenge a system built around permanent […]
S4E1: A Beautiful Pain: Accountability and Transformation with Damon “Sharuka” Venable
On this episode of Just Justice, Damon “Sharuka” Venable, Community Affairs and Policy Specialist with the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender, shares his journey from a Newark childhood marked by poverty and street violence to spending 35 years in prison before being granted parole on his first attempt. Drawing from his memoir, A Beautiful Pain, […]
Second Chance Month 2026: What’s New
Dear Friends, April is Second Chance Month, a time to celebrate redemption and the reality that people can and do change. It’s also a time to take stock of our criminal laws, how those laws are enforced, and our overly punitive punishment practices. One in 3 Americans has a criminal record, and together they navigate more than […]
Second Chance Month: A Time to Look Back
S3E13: Farming as Regenerative Justice, with Charles Rosen
In this episode of Just Justice, Jessica Henry speaks with Charles Rosen, founder of Ironbound Farm, about an unusual approach to reentry: combining regenerative farming with second-chance employment. Charles shares what he’s learned from hiring people returning from prison, why jobs alone often aren’t enough, and how systems like parole can still derail successful reentry. Drawing […]