Working on this show, we look for the law everywhere. We see it in the shape and structure of our lives, our thoughts, and our loves. Over the past year, we’ve found the law in places as different as comedy clubs, bedrooms, even in our own consciences.
As we looked back over this year’s stories, one idea came up again and again: redemption. What it means to turn your life around. How the law handles forgiveness. So we’d like to revisit three of this year’s redemption stories. They don’t all have endings that are neat and tidy. But each, in its own way, offers the promise that change can happen, and that the future can be different from the past. Click to listen to the original stories; we’ve also posted the latest updates below.
The Right to Beg
Listen to the original piece here.
Since this story aired, the ACLU has filed a petition with the US Supreme Court on behalf of two homeless Massachusetts residents who solicit donations on the street. The Court is considering whether to take the case.
In the Name of the Father
Listen to the original piece here.
Reporter Ashley Cleek recently contacted Clarence Norris Jr’s. attorney, George Hartline. He said the state is still silent on reparations. Meanwhile, a 14-year-old in South Carolina who was accused of murder in 1944 and executed was exonerated in mid-December 2014.
Release Day
Listen to the original piece here.
It’s been two years since voters passed Proposition 36, and under the new law, California courts have released nearly 2,000 prisoners and denied 166 petitions. Nearly 800 are still waiting to have their cases heard. Curtis is doing well. He’s working as a landscaper and has nearly completed his bachelor’s degree in social psychology at San Francisco State University.
