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 punishment. It makes the case for sentencing reconsideration, redemption, and meaningful second chances. At a time when the United States continues to incarcerate people long after they no longer pose a threat to public safety, I believe we urgently need new policies that recognize growth, accountability, and the human capacity for change.
And now, I can finally share the title of my forthcoming book (coming March 2027):
The questions raised in Bending the Bars are timely and consequential. Across the country, courts and legislatures are actively reexamining some of the harshest sentencing practices in the American legal system. Bending the Bars argues we must create meaningful opportunities for people who no longer pose a danger to society, who have genuinely reformed and changed, to be released from life and other extreme prison sentences. Thousands of lives hang in the balance.
Criminal Justice News of Note
Felony Murder Reform Continues to Gain Momentum
The felony murder rule allows people to be convicted of murder and sentenced to the harshest punishments — even when they did not kill or intend to kill. Research demonstrates that felony murder laws disproportionately impact young people, women, and people of color, often under circumstances where they had far less culpability than the person who actually committed the killing. And increasingly, these laws are facing scrutiny around the country.
In Pennsylvania, the state supreme court ruled last month in Commonwealth v. Lee that imposing mandatory life-without-parole sentences on people convicted under the felony murder rule, regardless of their individual role or intent, violates the state constitution’s prohibition against cruel punishment. Meanwhile, California, Minnesota, and Colorado have all enacted reforms narrowing felony murder liability and limiting the doctrine’s reach. Lawmakers in Massachusetts and New York are considering reforms to their felony murder rules.
These are sentencing shifts away from severe punishment that are worth noticing.
The National Conversation Around Extreme Sentences Continues
Momentum for second chances and sentencing reconsideration continues to grow nationwide. Legislatures, courts, prosecutors, and advocates are increasingly questioning policies rooted in permanent punishment, particularly for people who committed crimes decades ago and have since demonstrated transformation and rehabilitation.
While meaningful reform remains uneven and incomplete, the conversation itself has changed dramatically. Ideas once seen as politically impossible such as second look sentencing, expanded parole eligibility, and resentencing opportunities, are now happening in states, both red and blue, around the country.
Junk Science Isn’t Magic
I also wanted to make mention of a recent editorial in the New York Times, highlighting a legal brief filed with the United States Supreme Court by none other than the magicians Penn and Teller (pictured below).
No, they are not lawyers. But they sure have something to say about the unreliability of testimony obtained by “investigative hypnosis.” This may prove critical for Charles Don Flores, who is facing execution in Texas for a conviction based on junk science.
Nearly 30% of all exonerations involve misleading or false forensic science. Flores’ life rests on whether the courts are willing see through the illusions that sometimes pass as science.
Just Justice Returns for Season 4
After a brief hiatus, Just Justice is back with Season 4. I’m excited to continue the conversations that are at the heart of the podcast: justice, accountability, incarceration, redemption, and the people most directly impacted by the criminal legal system.
This season once again features powerful conversations with advocates, formerly incarcerated leaders, policymakers, lawyers, and people working to reimagine what justice can look like in practice.
Season Four opens with Damon “Sharuka” Venable discussing his extraordinary journey from a childhood marked by poverty and violence to spending 35 years in prison before ultimately earning release and dedicating his life to public service and advocacy.
If you’ve been listening to Just Justice, I would be deeply grateful if you would consider subscribing, sharing episodes, and leaving a rating. Ratings genuinely help more people discover the podcast and expand these conversations to wider audiences.