Critical Condition America at a Crossroads

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and have an attorney present during any questioning.

Ever wondered where that statement came from? Tune in and listen to the story of Ernesto Miranda.

DaQuawn Bruce, the Executive Director of Concerned Communities for America, joins the show to discuss crime and its impact on the black community. He stresses the importance of economic empowerment, public safety, free and fair elections, and quality education in creating positive change.  DaQuawn led grassroots efforts mobilizing youth for congressional races throughout the country and has worked with US Senator Tim Scott, and the House Select Committee on Modernization of Congress.  In addition to being a scholar, earning a master's degree in design and innovation, DaQuawn frequently is featured on national media outlets, including Fox News, News Nation, Newsweek, and USA Today.  He is from Chicago and grew up in some of the worst neighborhoods where it was very common to hear about people getting shot. Despite this, he worked hard and made something of himself.  DaQuawn grew up on the south side of Chicago, in a neighborhood that was plagued by violence. Despite this, he never felt like it could happen to him. In 2018, he was shot in front of his house, and his cousin was killed three months later. DaQuawn is now dedicated to preventing violence in Chicago.  Criminal justice reform is a movement that is designed to improve the criminal justice system in America. The goal is to make the system more fair and to reduce crime. However, many people believe that the reform efforts should focus on the source of crime, rather than on the end result of it. This means that instead of working to change the way that prisons operate, for example, they should focus on changing the way that police operate in order to prevent crime from happening in the first place. So a lot of the work that we're doing, we're highlighting narratives of individuals who are either in the community doing the work to solve these issues as it relates to economic empowerment and development of minority communities, as it relates to education and promoting quality and value education and school choice reducing crime and violence in our communities and then promoting the values of faith and family. DaQuawn states that time and time again the rhetoric was perpetuated by BLM and the postures that have been adopted by prosecutors and by judges of being soft on crime as a means of criminal justice reform having disastrous consequences, especially in the black and brown communities across the country.

Action

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Summary/Abstract

The conversation focuses on crime and the various aspects of it, including prevention, law enforcement, prosecution, adjudication, incarceration, and rehabilitation. The host asks for input from listeners on social media or via email.  Topo Padilla, President of the Professional Bail Agents of the United States (PBUS), discusses the work of bail agents in the criminal justice system and the importance of bail reform. He describes the bail process, how bail agents help those accused of crimes, and the challenges of the bail system. He talks about the need for bail reform and the efforts of PBUS to improve the bail system.  The speaker argues that the rise in crime over the past few years is due to criminal justice reform that makes it easier for people to avoid going to prison. They believe that this is a problem because it means that people are not being held accountable for their actions.  The discussion is about how bail reform has come to the forefront of the criminal justice reform process. The goal of bail reform is to eliminate the bail industry, which serves the purpose of allowing people to exercise their constitutional right to bail themselves out of jail. The problem with this is that it would lead to an increase in crime.

Timestamps

0:00:10

Crime in America: A Crossroads Conversation

0:02:56

The Bail System: A Conversation with Topo Padilla

0:04:22

The Rise in Violent Crime: A Conversation with an Expert

0:06:06

Criminal Justice Reform and the Bail Industry

0:07:42

Bail Industry Professionals Weigh In on Recent Criticism

0:09:30

Bail Bondsman: How the Bail Process Works

0:11:14

Bail Bonding: The Process and Its Importance

0:14:54

The Impact of Bail Reform in California

0:19:13

The Impact of Soft on Crime Policies on Minority Communities

0:21:28

The Impact of Criminal Justice Reform on Crime Rates

0:24:35

The Dangers of the New York Bail Reform Act

0:25:59

The Impact of Eliminating Bail Bonds on the Criminal Justice System

0:30:05

Bail Reform in the United States

0:31:46

The Dangers of Unintended Consequences: A Conversation with Jeff Crouere

0:33:11

The Impact of Dummy Down Laws on Crime in America

Highlights

That is not the fault of law enforcement. That is not the fault of the district attorneys. It's not the fault of the judge or the courts or anybody like her.

And so we're making policy decisions right now without considering the unintended consequences of those decisions. And we're clearly not collecting and sharing data on crime in a meaningful way.

There's a strong bail association in the state of Louisiana, and so many of the people that I work with that are part of that system feel like they're an integral part of the criminal justice system.

And thank the good Lord, in this country, across a majority of the states that we have the ability to bail, people have the ability to bail themselves out of jail.

Depending on what happens in the next seven to ten days, they'll have potentially the highest murder rate in history in the city of New Orleans. 

Summary/Abstract

The host, David Tatman, begins by discussing the importance of researching and presenting issues without the noise and bias that is often found in the mainstream media. He talks about how the show will work to find and highlight the most important issues facing America today. Tatman then asks listeners to follow the show on social media and to join the conversation by liking, following, and commenting on the show's posts. The first deep dive of the season will be into crime, and Tatman promises to give the subject the attention it deserves over the course of a few episodes. The discussion of crime generally includes crime prevention, law enforcement, prosecution, adjudication, incarceration, and rehabilitation. The increase in crime is pervasive and chilling, and the causes are not fully known. However, former Chief of Police Greg Farris believes that some causes may include the defunding of police departments, the release of prisoners due to the pandemic, and the general feeling of unrest in the country. Farris also believes that more community involvement and investment in programs that help at-risk youth could help to reduce crime. Greg discusses the fear of crime that many Americans feel and how it affects their quality of life. He notes that crime is a problem both nationally and in Baton Rouge, and that it is often difficult to avoid. He cites the example of a recent murder in Covington, Louisiana, which occurred in what is generally considered to be a safe area. In the criminal justice system, there is a focus on rehabbing the criminal, rather than on the victim. This can lead to vigilante law. To effectively deal with this, law enforcement must interpose itself between the criminal and the victim, and ensure that justice is done.

Join us for a conversation about the causes of the explosion in violent crime in America. Chief Phares shares his thoughts and advice on what we need to do address the escalating crime problem in our community. Listen to hear from a life long public servant and law enforcement official.

In this episode, we take a look at the crime statistics and take a deep dive into some of the reasons we are seeing this surge. We will review the numbers and the policy changes that have resulted in the explosion in crime across our country.