The Perpetual Loop of Injustice

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.

Special thanks to Motor City Woman Studios in Detroit, Michigan, for facilitating this recording.

ITT Staff Picks:

• “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