Violence Begets Violence
Why do we so often respond to violence with calls for more violence? In this short solo episode, host Jessica Henry reflects on trauma, accountability, and what it means to hold people responsible for their actions without denying their humanity.
S4E9: The Case for Holistic Defense with NJ Public Defender Jennifer Sellitti
Jennifer Sellitti, the Public Defender for the State of New Jersey, joins Just Justice to talk about holistic defense, client-centered representation, and the future of public defense. She explains how addressing needs such as treatment, mental health care, employment, and benefits can improve outcomes for clients and communities. We also discuss second chances, resentencing and […]
S4E8: The Price of Mercy, with Emily Galvin Almanza on Public Defense, Justice, and Andromeda Diaz
Emily Galvin Almanza has spent her career reimagining what justice can look like. A former public defender and co-founder and executive director of Partners for Justice, she joins Just Justice to talk about her acclaimed book, The Price of Mercy: Unfair Trials, a Violent System, and a Public Defender’s Search for Justice in America, and […]
S4E7: Pink Crime: Criminalizing Motherhood, Abortion, Pregnancy and Queer Identity, with Valena Beety
In this episode of Just Justice, Jessica Henry speaks with law professor, innocence attorney, and former federal prosecutor Valena Beety about her new book, Pink Crime: Fighting the Criminalization of Motherhood, Pregnancy, and Queer Identity. The conversation explores how the criminal legal system judges mothers against impossible standards of “good motherhood,” how pregnancy outcomes and substance use can […]
S4E6: 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 […]
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, […]