Accountability.

Watch Rebecca Brown (Director of Policy, Innocence Project), Kevann Gardner (Supervising Attorney, Trial Division, Public Defender Service for D.C.), Lisa Wayne (criminal defense lawyer / Past President, NACDL), and Clause 40 Foundation Board Member Blair Brown (Zuckerman Spaeder / former PDS) discuss transforming how prosecutors provide important information to the defense, and how to increase accountability and transparency regarding prosecutorial and police misconduct.

Recap of Philly D.A. Episode 2 (for context):  Larry Krasner and his team battle the police for access to the complete misconduct files. Meanwhile, tensions over the District Attorney’s office culture boil over between new Assistant District Attorneys and the remaining hold-outs in the juvenile unit.  

Watch Sajid A. Khan (San Jose Public Defender, host of the Aider & Abettor podcast), Kate Brubacher Murphy (Assistant Prosecuting Attorney and Director of the Innovative Prosecution Solutions Grant, Jackson County), Marc Levin (Chief Policy Counsel, Council on Criminal Justice), and Kobie Flowers (civil rights attorney/criminal defense lawyer, Brown Goldstein & Levy) discuss reconciling criminal legal reforms with victim, survivor, and community restoration as well as public safety concerns.  

Recap of Philly D.A. Episode 3 (for context): Larry Krasner campaigned on a historic pledge to end capital  punishment in Philadelphia. His promise is put to the test when a police sergeant is murdered. Krasner faces pressure from the police union, the slain officer’s family, and his own District Attorneys to pursue the death penalty. 

Watch Prof. Kristin Henning (Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic and Initiative at Georgetown Law), Nila Bala (Associate Director, Criminal Justice & Civil Liberties at R Street Institute), Michael McNeely (Executive, Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice), and DC attorney Brandi Harden (Harden & Pinckney) discuss transforming our juvenile legal system.

Recap of Philly D.A. Episode 5 (for context): Larry Krasner reviews the case of Joseph Chamberlain, who was sentenced to life without parole as a juvenile for murdering another teenager in 1992. Joseph’s family hopes for his release, while the parents of the victim of his crime grapple with forgiveness. Meanwhile, Krasner is blamed for the city’s spiking homicide rate. He struggles to persuade people of systemic solutions to public safety.  

Watch Jason Pye (Director, Rule of Law Initiatives, Due Process Institute), Inimai Chettiar (Federal Director, Justice Action Network), Aamra Ahmad (Senior Policy Counsel, Justice Division, ACLU), and Kevin Ring (President, FAMM) discuss transforming our federal criminal legal system to be more effective, more efficient, and more fair. 

Recap of Philly D.A. Episode 6 (for context):  By the summer of 2019, crime continues to rise. Some police and community members blame Larry Krasner’s policies. Councilmember Maria Quiñones-Sánchez guides Krasner through the politics of Kensington, the neighborhood at the center of the heroin and violence epidemics. But Krasner’s attempts to assuage the public backfire and risk alienating his allies.  

Watch Patrice Sulton (Founder + Executive Director of DC Justice Lab), Akhi Johnson (Deputy Director, Reshaping Prosecution Program, Vera Institute of Justice), Jonathan M. Smith (Executive Director, Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs /  former Chief, Special Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division, DOJ ), and Jonathan Blanks (Contributing Editor, Clause 40 Foundation) discuss transforming our responses to police misconduct and brutality.

Recap of Philly D.A.  Episode 7 (for context):  Larry Krasner’s team makes history: they charge an on-duty police officer with murder for shooting a Black man in the back. The family of the victim hopes for justice. Yet Krasner’s prosecution faces an uphill battle because of the police union and state laws that protect police.  

 Join C40 Board Member and former Chief of the Special Litigation Section of the Public Defender Service for D.C. Tim O'Toole as he moderates an intimate discussion between D.A. Larry Krasner (Philadelphia, PA), D.A. Rachel Rollins (Suffolk County, MA), D.A. Jose Garza (Travis County, TX), and Commonwealth's Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti (Arlington County + City of Falls Church, VA) regarding these new prosecutors' triumphs and their ongoing challenges. 

Recap of Philly D.A. episode (for context): Larry Krasner recruits law students to become the next generation of "progressive prosecutors." The activists who campaigned for Krasner’s election are frustrated with the slowing pace of change. After the police murder of George Floyd in 2020, Philadelphians take to the streets, reflecting on the potential and pitfalls of systemic change emanating from their District Attorney’s office.