A prosecutor raises his conviction rate so prosecutors typically have in the high 90 percentile conviction rates including those plea bargains. Because of course from a legal standpoint we know that nobody would ever plead guilty to something they didnt do and so we agree that i would plead guilty in exchange for a youth already sounds we went back into trial we entered the plea and i went down for a 90 day observation at the youth already in norwalk the challenge is if youre innocent and you plead guilty you better be a good liar you go down there you talk to psychologists and they ask you to do it or you have to say yes because it has to be consistent with everything well how do you do it i mean i didnt have adequate answers for these questions so they didnt they didnt buy it in a sense you know rightly so and they sent a report that was positive and negative report back to the judge. I didnt realize that you 3 would be able to help you and so will allow you to take back your guilty plea and go ahead with trial or will set you to state prison right now so that began another period of waiting. It would be well over a year before bruce would get another trial date 23 hours a day at a cell in isolation no contact with other juveniles only counselors one our own for recreation and while they might not be able to introduce an alternate suspect demanded his lawyer knock down every argument the prosecution could make. The prosecutor said bruce could not have seen his mothers body through the back window of the house the suns reflection in the glass and the furniture would have blocked his view his defense was the crime scene pictures were taken on a much sunnier day the prosecution claimed all the bloody footprints in the house matched his shoes defense says his fingerprints were not found anywhere in the time scene there was no evidence that he wiped anything down or made any attempt to cover his tracks because bruce had nothing to hide the prosecution called Robert Hughes who claimed confessed in the 7000 model of county jail and the defense compared Robert Hughes to a used car salesman who wasnt to be trusted. Then one day they wrap their keys on the door and they say listen here its a verdict and my dad was there he was there just every court day he was right there in the front row and. Just you know. I contact but you cant really talk because youre not allowed to its not a visit you know youre not allowed to visit with your. But he was he was there in the jury. And the judge speaks we reached a verdict yes we have in the matter of people versus bruce willis here. With the jury find the defendant. And they said guilty. And it was just. Read the bottom literally fell out of my world and said its over and. Its my life. One. When youve been falsely accused your only hope is for your attorney to directly challenge the veracity of the police my attorney seemed unwilling to go that far you never read said isnt it true that youre just lying about all of this heres the investigatory work that i did that proves that youre just a liar and he never did that. And this is part of a larger problem that david sirota calls the Authority BiasAuthority Bias meaning for the government an Institution Says somebody did something and they must have done it and whats strange about it is that this is a country that in one way we americans i go says i dont trust the government can do anything right Downtown Trust anything the government says and yet at another level at the very same time that thats the dominant rhetorical paradigm in our politics there is this Authority Bias where when the government accuses somebody of a crime or says somebody is a a wrongdoer were flexibly millions and millions of americans think it must be true to get here no youre not youre really not are secondary and youre now. Would you like to be placed under arrest youre not allowed to arrest me. And so if youre innocent and you find yourself in prison its hard to have any hope at all. A year later. Other woman in knifepoint and less sentenced to 6 years for Armed Robbery but other than those his father nobody had connected my client to the murder of other inmates like Jeff Deskovic another wrongfully convicted men trying to kill his innocence. Remember reading about. In the magazine justice a night they all out people who allege theyve been wrongfully convicted who have a plausible story to write about the hope that more public attention will come when i read about bruces case it was reaffirming to me that i was on the right path because even though he hadnt been exonerated he was still looking for help he had given up you cant give up no matter how long it takes. And it could take a long time one of the biggest factors in why the us has the largest prison population in the world is the length of our prison sentences. Babbage sentence for burglary in canada and in england is around 6 months. In the us its around a year and a half. In other developed countries a drug offense might land you a year a year and a half in jail in the us its 5 to 10 years or more if youre a black man in america your sentence will be 20 percent longer and if youre a white man for the exact same crime i met a woman that had a 1st offense nothing more than 5. 00 worth of crack cocaine and was sentenced to jail in 1079. And didnt come home until 2014 and she said to me i dont know how to use the phone. I dont know how to send a text. I dont know i have an email. Sorry. People particularly black people were defined as the enemy in the war on drugs they were defined that way politically but also through media imagery crack cocaine epidemic is taking a new and dangerous turn white people brown people black people all use drugs and sell drugs at the same rate but if we look at whos serving time in americas prisons the Law Enforcement apparatus is deployed disproportionately against people of color look at them in the war on drugs also bears a major responsibility for racial bias in our prison system as africanamericans are rested for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of whites and serve longer sentences although people of color make up only 30 percent of the laces the make up 60 percent of the prison by the most conservative estimates if we keep going the way one in 4 black man born today will go to jail at some point in their lifetime. 5. 3000000 americans of the rights of vote based on a felony conviction and that impacts man of color more than anyone else just has to change. You know with any. Damage and although white people may not have been the original target they may not have been the inspiration for the war. Many people particularly poor working class white folks have found themselves. As a u. S. Army veteran who served in the gulf war. 3 weeks. Or so that he was giving me for free if you want to call that trafficking trafficker. Personal use we were just frying play frisbee english and rock n roll during a visit are never major reason for americas overflowing prison population the u. S. Locks up more people for drugs than any other country on the planet there are over half a 1000000 americans locked up for drugs on any given day and paul was one of them he was facing a lot of time facing 10 year mandatory minimum but they offered him a deal for not forcing the government to go through the time expense of a trial all he had to do was plead guilty and after some painful consideration. And after all those years in prison one thing bothered paul the most you know here we are in this modern society where we are melting pot and nobodys getting along for the most part and then in prison you know its completely opposite you know suzy going there if you were a racist or you went and they require you to be one soon as you get in every single jail or prison or every one ive ever been to its all divided by race and everything segregated and there you have the white phone you have my skin phone you have the black phone you have the asian phone. Everybodys reaching for that you have described as a soucie and i mean its a russia and i think the resolution of this is this going to be a gnostic war thats going to go on for maybe months as john in an already rejects its. Own must because of its mediate because the fighting is too early on that people are now battling to see what territory they can get and i think when the fighting settles down and the lines are drawn and people realize that theyre not going to move forward or backwards then theyre going to send to the other. Nuclear and so become a battleground in the u. S. In vermont people of demanding the shut down of a local plant from my yankee is right now my. Focus because its a very dangerous oh no clare power plant the owner is attempting to run the reactor beyond its operational limit this case just sort of puts a magnifying glass on wheres the power in this country wheres it going is it moving more towards corporate interests or is it more in the idea of a traditional but just appearing to mark or caesar power lie with the people this case demonstrates that struggle in very real ways our struggle on auti. The world is driven by shaped by our own person. The day theres thinks. We dare to ask. It seems the racism that helped spark the explosion of americas prison system still burns like a raging fire with. Shamefully head from the public eye. It was a very strict code of running on your race this is what we do. Even the Prison Guards promote this. Some people theorize that its a way for the guards to keep control over us because if we all got along then who would really be running the prison. Us or the guards one guard for every 100 guys Prison Society is further divided from race into gangs so it helps to either be in one or be from the right neighborhood or ride to prison the guy that was next to me was just a regular dove lone beach he played basketball in pa the high school he was a regular dually had a flat top me know he was going to play the 4 he had took a deal for i believe it was like a spousal abuse images grow it was a terrorist threat in the United States a terrorist threat covers any statement it contains the threat of violence against another person in this case reggie is talking about an argument a man was having with his girlfriend where he threatened her he was going to beat her or whatever it was it was a terrorist threat it was no physical violence or anything but he took a deal for 18 months and he was only supposed to like take a deal for 18 months youre going to do it 5 or 10 or whatever so he failed. The 1st night we got the actual from South Central from South Central where you from explains when one of your homeboys over here said theyre going to direct you where youre supposed to go this guy he didnt have any what he was just from long beach no he just was a regular do no end that night. And im listening to was going on and on everest i thought they were playing because thats what it started off was this is the whole game it everything is that is that is. Way to leave something knows what id say you dont let anybody touch you in geo and he didnt know it is easy to understand it youre not supposed to rouse was somebody maceo because this is what theyre doing theyre trying to see if they didnt really want to position in this it right here moment both and im listening to him they get them and i dont how does do. I mean they did in that night in the say oh they were 18. According to the department of justice nearly one in 10 prisoners suffer sexual abuse while in american jails and prisons. So lets keep that in mind the next time a talk show host a Government Official or anybody makes a joke about prison rape the fact that we find these jokes acceptable shows just how far weve gone to normalizing rape as a just punishment for any offense as long as we keep imagining that people in prison are subhuman and theyre predatory and cordial and nothing like you and me why would we lose any sleep about what their lives are like whats happening to them there are now over 5000 jails and prisons in the United States more than we have colleges and universities in many parts of america particularly the south there are more people who are living in prisons there on College Campuses and they molds dollar business has occurred. Brace yourself this is going to sound too barbaric to be real like Medieval Times a Science Fiction horror film or a french a story comes across the 13th amendment of the constitution outlawed slavery but it still allows for forced labor if you are and president today there are roughly 1000000. 00 american prisoners working for corporations and Government Industries there is no minimum wage so you could make as little as a few cents an hour bruce worked in the kitchen for years then in clerical jobs making a maximum of 0. 32 an hour. It sounds like another time for a con brothers movie but its happening right now there are no benefits no organizing and no strikes this is big business for state and for profit prisons to sell inmate labor to fortune 500. 00 slike chevron bank of america 880. 00 and the us military nearly half the population in prison make military uniforms body armor helmets and provide labor as subcontractors for fortune 500. 00. They make Office Furniture man call centers take otel reservations were can slaughter houses for manufacture textiles shoes and clothing for pennies prison labor is part of why some state and private prisons old a multibillion dollar profit. Not only are prisoners used to make products prisoners themselves are sold as products since the 1980 s. The prison population is boom now 150 private prisons are paid billions by state governments to house prisoners private prisons do so well some of their biggest investors are banks like Wells Fargo Bank of america many private prisons demand 90 or even 100 percent occupancy meaning the taxpayer foots the bill for every bed even the empty. For profit prisons are incentivized to incarcerate more people and for longer periods of time to shoulder to make sure that happens they spend millions tough on crime. Today nearly 10 percent of americas prisoners are held in private prisons they also spend millions influencing immigration to detain immigrants are held in private prisons for indefinite periods of time often years exposed to brutal conditions because theyre not americans the government gives. No right to even the most basic legal representation or medical care 3 housing facilities were set on fire and apparently all started over inmate frustration over the quality of medical care perhaps needless to say being treated like cattle and used as forced labor for pennies an hour is not that popular on the inside but thats not the worst of it the socks if youre using the underwear that is for you is used you got to buy things like shaving and food and sweats and socks underwear t. Shirts the canteen or commissary is more expensive than any Convenience Store on the outside its definitely advisable to have money so that you can get started if you dont have 50 to 100 bucks coming into your books or your account every month then youre going to need to hustle. This is philip he was convicted of robbery is crook it is is we are out here course crooked inside there too whether its drugs whether its alcohol youve got people that they dont drink but to manufacture prune a wall d. Is saying quit in the in the in the boiler room they found a still friends that i knew had actually gotten so far as to likes the copper tubing tremendous tree is over and so we had copper tubing they were making motion and saying quit. Mainly they drank it today of us all. So drove through our business through a correctional officer is like a networking college for criminals of the month or any of the guys in prison are there trying to learn how to do crime better and this is just kind of a school for criminals to learn more criminals and thats not an exaggeration 2011 study from Ohio University showed that after spending time in prison those continuing to engage in crime scene their criminal earns increase on an average by a 1000. 00 a year jodie lou and is the executive director of the prison in. Diversity project there are thousands and thousands of people in the system all they want is the opportunity to get a good education and to be hired by somebody where they can have a job where they have a meaningful work and a livable wage in the late eightys early ninetys there were python 315 programs in the prison system nationwide took my dads advice been saying for a long time look for some computer training is there any computer training in there because he knows you know i finally when i got to san quentin i said do you have any any computer training so it was great because i mean those who know the least obey the best you know and theres this rebellious kind of spirit in there stand still a bit quiet for a cell wall right now so theres this rebelliousness you know i could actually size my brain they can stop you from doing that so we really got this cried about our education particularly enough for your program in class and it was an honor to be able to fight the system as you might say by educating each other and then see me graduate that 8 years later and i was really proud of me and our relationship just blossomed just became so deep and so so meaningful and dad was everything to me. And it was just 2 weeks after i graduated that he died. Move this. Day and sure. They will. And here soon. Again. Its true none of. Us when i sign this crime bill we together are taking a big step toward bringing the laws of our land back into line with the values of our people in 1904. Congress passed the Violent Crime control and Law Enforcement act which among many other things barred people in prison from receiving most of those programs folded almost overnight to be realistic everyone should have a College Education or its already been open too much. But if they have skills such as welding while theyre on the shore is to. Go through the wall and program and theyre making 3040. 00 on their own streets and theyre writing letters back to the instructor over here those are. These guys new jobs so there wont be a problem still going to turn into the dough you know during the drugs and that type of thing so thats what are the true critical reason number one why people are ending up in prison is for a lack of really quality Educational Opportunity the American Public in general has been so profoundly brainwashed into thinking that what were doing with our prison system is somehow normal or rational or. Just. I find that overwhelming and exhausting i mean because im the more you spend time in. Inside and the more content you have of people whove been directly affected the more deprived the. Appearance. Out of every inmates are physically attacked every 6. Lot of the violence you see in prison is not an expression of the character of the people in prison its people reacting to the situation and this is something so few people understand if you took a 1000 people off the street and put them. Here huge number of them would end up committing violence because of the situation that theyve been placed 5 years into as an older inmate whose nickname was the devil wanted ready to take the blame for a knife the guards found on the yard but reggie refused later would say. That the double was going to kill him or he had to kill the double. One about the situation any other way and no matter how many. This was the only thing that could have happened it dont sit right with me because i saw the never been in the 1st place. You turned me into. This whole time and you turned me into a murderer because i had to after that they put their jeans solitary confinement and he went from a life sentence without possibility of parole to facing the Death Penalty. So he gets put on trial for the in the Death Penalty case and his lawyer starts looking into his original case and gives me a call and says you know i think this guy is innocent of what he went to prison for the 1st books and the 2nd reason besides the prison was this miracle to happen to be a book. About the Homicide Division of the book documented right along with the detective. This homicide investigators 1st night that she was on the job that they. Every night she investigated the murder she would ultimately arrest reggie for and were flipping through the book and reading it and its all the stuff and i dont never disclose the defense thats all documented that all indicates pretty clearly. That it will still take the Innocence Project 10 years to get bad she out of prison. The us economy was booming growing numbers of people were made homeless. You can work 40 hours d in a week and still not have enough to get housing everybody believes america still is the way of opportunity the reality of the were not financially equality and the lack of Affordable Housing for a living minimum wage give many people no choice but to respin a problem with the city always turn to make sure to always stay away oh miss. Those words if there is no answer because yes the requires at least for the most vulnerable in abandoned on the streets to become invisible comes. Financial Survival Guide stacey lets learn a salad fill out lets say im not sure i get any. Of the fight hot thank you for something. On the story 6 thats true fell out if you looked at slavery. The whole so he had frozen conflicts no one is not going to look at it is not very hot we tell you what you need to know and its america in 2020 acting on similar events as the bolshevik revolution in 1000 some an. Os as american citizen and he didnt want to talk thats. Why we have a guy and. I would vote for a republican i would vote for anyone who is not and has half a brain defeat dont try. To feed. My 2nd wife. She can handle. She and i divorce because our trouble is what the president and i floated for him and she cant stand. The most important election. In our history list in the months to go before the next president ial election how is the atmosphere in the us now i. Want to the highest Priority Programs how will they vote should they do next not. Just some of the questions we put to be americans. A week of hostilities between armenia and azerbaijan brings devastation to not go to no kind of talk with relentless shelling of the local capital r t reports from the area. Massive explosions in the very center of the city 250 millimeter. It is a massive rocket. The fighting spills beyond of the disputed region as a border city and azerbaijan is hit by artillery fire also in the stories ahead that shaped the week. Im not here to call those lies Everybody Knows hes a liar and theres nothing smart about you joe what you should. Know your number 2. The 1st president ial debate before the u. S. Election descended into name calling in