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Covering Courts and the Law
2023
Fight the Power: The Evolution of Prosecutorial Discretion
The three-episode podcast reported and produced by students explores the history of prosecutorial power and discusses how it molded the nation's criminal justice system as it exists today. Episode 1 tracks the legal history of prosecution from the nation's founding up through the civil rights era. Episode 2 explores prosecutors' use of plea bargaining to exert their control over the criminal justice system. Episode 3 examines ideas that activists and others are considering as ways to hold prosecutors accountable in the future.
Fight the Power Episode 1
Fight the Power Episode 2
Fight the Power Episode 3
2022
Rural Justice: Small Towns, Big Problems
The three-episode podcast reported and produced by students explores how rural communities face challenges in their criminal justice system that are just as complex as the problems that big cities confront. Episode 1 examines efforts by federal authorities to dismantle an organization that sold drugs and young girls and women into prostitution. Episode 2 takes an in-depth look at the consequences of methamphetamine abuse and the long road to recovery for many addicts who wind up behind bars. Episode 3 reveals the scarcity and inequity of opportunities available to male and female inmates while they're locked up—and the barriers they face after they're released, return home, and try to rebuild their lives.
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
2020
Courtroom Conversations
The four-episode podcast was reported and produced by students who examined key issues that perplex the players inside and outside America's legal system. Episode 1 explores the debate over the quality of police training in the United States. Episode 2 discusses the role of judges and how it's changed over the past several decades. Episode 3 focuses on the controversy surrounding the death penalty. Episode 4 highlights overcrowding in jails and prisons.
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4