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Subtitles by explosiveskull

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Welcome to
the United States of America.

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We call this
the land of the free,

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but this country is home

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to the largest prison population
in the world.

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2.2 million Americans.

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We put more people in cages
here than China,

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Russia, than anywhere.

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We have more people in prisons.

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More than we have colleges
and universities.

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1/3 of all incarcerated
females globally

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are locked up here
in the United States.

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13 million Americans
are arrested every year.

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- Get your hands off the truck!
- I'm not doing anything.

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Put that in perspective...
imagine all of Los Angeles

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and all of New York combined
arrested every year.

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There are countless heroes
in law enforcement

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saving lives every day.

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[female reporter]
Able to pull her limp bo...

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But not a single state
in our union

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- has use-of-force laws...
- I can't breathe!

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that meet even the most basic
international standards...

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[woman screams]

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With record poverty,
drug use,

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and countless nonviolent
social issues

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left to our police officers
to solve with only three tools,

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we have a national crisis
on our hands.

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Of course,
we need dangerous people

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removed from our communities.

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But how many Americans
are really so dangerous...

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He's arresting me.

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that they need to be locked
in a cage?

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I enrolled my girls
in my father's school district.

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- They sent me to jail.
- [wailing]

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They sent my father
to jail, too.

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My father never came home.

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The law enforcement apparatus

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is deployed disproportionately
against people of color.

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If you're a black man,
your crack is gonna get

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300 times more than your...

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We know reform
is desperately needed,

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- but how do we reform...
- Can't record inside.

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when prisons don't just
lock people up inside?

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You don't want to tape me
with your telephone!

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- Get it all!
- I'm a member of the press.

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- They lock us out.
- Pack up and go.

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Citizens, the media,
independent journalists

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are all routinely barred
from recording or documenting

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anything that's going on inside
our criminal justice system.

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You're a chicken shit
motherfu...

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We have to get all our
information and impressions

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from corporate
commercially funded television.

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[man] If you can't do the time,
don't do the cr...

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These shows are filmed
and edited

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under tight supervision.

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They're not going
to prepare you

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for the inhuman conditions,
the violence

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and brutality
you're going to have to face.

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You think because
you obey the law,

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you have nothing
to worry about.

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[Matthew] But recently,

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the Wall Street Journal
suggests

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we now have so many laws
on the books,

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the average American
commits three felonies a day

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- without even knowing it.
- He didn't do anything!

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As an American, you're more
likely to go to prison here

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than anywhere else in the world.

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You need to know how
to handle

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an out-of-control
police officer.

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Yes, why am I gonna...
[grunts]

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[Matthew] How to survive
an interrogation,

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how to survive County jail
and an extreme prison sentence.

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[woman wailing]

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To take us through the steps...

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we're going to follow
the stories of two Americans...

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Bruce Lisker, an innocent man
convicted of murder,

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and Reggie Cole,
another innocent man

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who endured
an even more horrific nightmare.

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We're going to get perspectives
from investigative journalists,

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analysts, academics,
prison staff,

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lawyers, cops, inmates.

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[Danny]
So in the unfortunate case

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that this may happen to you,

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this is the survivor's guide
to prison.

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♪ They controlling you?
They got a hold on you ♪

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♪ You need a man in a suit
to tell you what to do? ♪

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♪ I'll grab the podium mic
and open the knife ♪

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♪ We don't read
between the lines ♪

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♪ Let alone the stripes
and the stars ♪

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♪ Presidents get popped
in their cars ♪

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♪ I ain't coppin' the drop,
real talk ♪

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[door clangs]

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[Susan] As an American citizen,
you don't have to be

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a murderer or a rapist
or a thief to be arrested.

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You can call the police
in an emergency

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and find yourself arrested
just because

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the officer doesn't like you.

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[man] My strongest memory
of my mom

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is she was very into teaching
and sharing.

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We loved each other.

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I would've put my own life
on the line

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to try to save my mom's
had I known

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anything like this
was going to happen.

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And it was a day just
like any other day.

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I went over
to my parents' house.

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Normally, when I went over,
my mom would come out

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on the front porch to greet me.

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And that day,
she didn't come to the door.

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I was able to see her
on the floor,

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and she had been stabbed
and beaten and left for dead.

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- [woman screams]
- And I was just freaking out.

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[voices over telephone]

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I was hysterical,
and I was yelling and screaming

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at the paramedics to hurry up
and get her to the hospital

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so that the doctors could
do something to save her life.

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And the police choke-holded me
and handcuffed me

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and put me in the car
for my own safety, ostensibly.

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You call the authorities
when something goes wrong.

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I mean, you call for help,

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and you put
your full faith in them.

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I was telling the police,
"I want to go to the hospital

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to be with my mom,"
screaming, crying, you know?

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And he said, "No, we have to go
to Van Nuys Police Department."

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[Susan] The detective
interrogated Bruce for two hours.

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[Bruce] By the time he was done
interrogating me, she had died.

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[softly] Fuck.

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[sniffles, chuckles]

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[Matthew]
So what would you do?

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Tell the cops whatever
they want to know?

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- Demand they release you.
- Scream?

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- Argue.
- Maybe even fight.

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There are a number
of citizen watchdog groups...

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Who observe and record
police misconduct.

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Their advice
is to always be polite.

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Never engage with an aggravated
or confrontational officer.

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First of all,
you disrespected me,

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this badge, and my department,
you understand me?!

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When I'm talking to you,
you shut your mouth!

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Ask, "Am I being detained,
or am I free to go?"

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It's just it's unusual behavior,
is what we're getting at.

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[man] I'm assuming
I'm being detained.

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Am I being the detained
or not?

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- You can go, sir.
- Thank you.

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If you're not being detained,
leave immediately.

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If you are being detained,

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the police can legally lie
to you.

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So, don't get into
any conversation

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or start answering questions,
just ask for an attorney.

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If you're arrested,
never talk to anybody

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without an attorney there.

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[Matthew] Susan Mellon
was 42 years old

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in Gardena California
when she was accused

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of a murder she didn't commit.

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The detective
assigned to the case

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was relying on the testimony
of one witness.

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The whole case hinged
on the word of one person,

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June Patty,
and everything June Patty said

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was inconsistent
with every other lead.

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Every single lead
put three gang members

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in the house...
and no women.

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[Susan] I was pleading
that I was innocent.

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[woman's voice]

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When I left my daughter there,
I just remember telling her

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that, "Don't worry, baby,
I'll be back for dinner."

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[Matthew]
Susan's daughter, Jessica.

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She said to me that she
was gonna be home for dinner,

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and she was home
17 years later.

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[Susan] Not seeing my children,
that was very hard on me.

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For all those years,
I'm still broken.

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My heart's still broken
from everything I went through.

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It's... I don't know,
it's just so scary.

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It was the worst nightmare
of my whole life.

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The bottom line is you have
a right to be silent.

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Keep your mouth shut

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because those words
will be used against you.

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To survive and interrogation,

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you've got to be ready
to stand your ground...

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against bullying, aggression,
and intimidation.

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No matter how intimidating
they get,

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just say,
"I want to speak to a lawyer."

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And I hope you can afford
a good one.

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I didn't have
an adequate attorney.

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It was a drive-by shooting that
took place in East Los Angeles.

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I looked like
the actual shooter.

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I "resembled"
was the correct word.

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I served approximately
nine years

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and eight months in prison.

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[Matthew] If you don't have
an adequate attorney,

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your entire future
rests in the hands

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of a detective assigned
to your case.

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The words of Bruce Lisker
were used against him.

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And you're dealing
with a 17-year-old kid,

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and they were able to manipulate
him and twist things.

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My case was assigned
to a homicide detective

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who...
it was one of his first cases.

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He hadn't even gone to homicide
school yet with the LAPD.

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And he jumped the gun
and basically decided

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that 'cause
I was a long-haired kid

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who looked like he smoked pot,
which I did,

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that I was the person
who had attacked my mother.

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He must have had
all of his colleagues

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scrutinizing him,
looking at him.

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"How long is it gonna take you
to solve this one, Andy?"

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And, well, he did it in minutes,
didn't he?

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[Matthew] In 1994, Reggie Cole
was 18 years old

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living in South Central LA
with no criminal record

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when he was arrested for
the murder of Felipe Angeles.

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The only eyewitness
was a man named John Jones,

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the owner of a brothel
across the street

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known as Johnny's
House of Prostitution.

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How long has this place
been in operation?

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- About 17 years.
- About 17 years?

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The police were willing
to overlook

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what John Jones was doing.

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Then John Jones
would be willing to play along

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with whatever the cops
wanted him to do.

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16 years later,
a new theory would emerge

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that the actual shooter was
more likely John Jones himself

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firing from the rooftop
of his own building.

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But the arresting officer
on the case

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was sure the murderer
was Reggie Cole.

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It was her first...
her first case,

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and she needed to close
the case

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in order for her to get
her shield, her homicide shield.

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To be a doctor,

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you have to go to school
for many years.

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To be a lawyer, you have to go
to school for many years.

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I don't understand how somebody
with just a high school diploma

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or a GED can have
that type of power,

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to be an officer of the law
with a pistol

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that can take
someone's life, literally,

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or with the charges
they put on you.

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People, they don't...
they don't feel the need

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to speak up because
it doesn't happen to them.

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"Oh, that's... that's messed up,
you know what I mean?

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But it can never happen to me."
Yes, it could.

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It could happen to you
just like that.

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[Bruce] Every staff member,
everybody that I encountered

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I was saying,
"A mistake has been made.

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I didn't do anything,"

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Begging for phone calls
to talk to my dad.

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You know, from moment to moment,
the reality

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that my mother's dead...

244
00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:45,770
would just bring an icy chill.

245
00:11:52,543 --> 00:11:54,643
First thing the next morning,
I was taken up front

246
00:11:54,645 --> 00:11:56,646
to talk to a psychologist
or psychiatrist,

247
00:11:56,648 --> 00:11:58,714
and in this cheery
kind of a voice,

248
00:11:58,716 --> 00:12:01,517
he says, "So, how do you feel
about being here at Sylmar?"

249
00:12:01,519 --> 00:12:05,787
And I said, you know,
"Are you kidding?"

250
00:12:05,789 --> 00:12:08,291
[Susan] Since the LAPD
report stated

251
00:12:08,293 --> 00:12:10,593
that Bruce stabbed his mother
to death,

252
00:12:10,595 --> 00:12:13,632
the doctor determined
that Bruce must be psychotic.

253
00:12:16,366 --> 00:12:18,700
Prison healthcare
is a disgrace.

254
00:12:18,702 --> 00:12:21,639
I mean,
it's more like a horror show.

255
00:12:25,710 --> 00:12:28,944
The medical conditions
inside of prisons in California

256
00:12:28,946 --> 00:12:30,646
have been so bad for so long.

257
00:12:30,648 --> 00:12:32,013
You're talking about
misdiagnosis,

258
00:12:32,015 --> 00:12:34,816
just barbaric conditions.

259
00:12:34,818 --> 00:12:37,953
So a district court in 2002
said that an outside agency

260
00:12:37,955 --> 00:12:40,089
had to come in
and take over

261
00:12:40,091 --> 00:12:43,626
the entire medical system
in the prisons.

262
00:12:43,628 --> 00:12:45,895
[Matthew] Today, after spending
billions of dollars,

263
00:12:45,897 --> 00:12:48,430
some California prisons
still fail to meet even

264
00:12:48,432 --> 00:12:51,700
the most basic constitutional
standards for healthcare.

265
00:12:51,702 --> 00:12:53,636
If you have a serious
mental illness,

266
00:12:53,638 --> 00:12:55,503
the United States of America

267
00:12:55,505 --> 00:12:57,506
is probably the worst place
you want to be.

268
00:12:57,508 --> 00:13:01,377
If you don't have the money
to pay for constant care,

269
00:13:01,379 --> 00:13:03,945
you in danger
of facing law enforcement.

270
00:13:03,947 --> 00:13:06,717
[voices over telephone]

271
00:13:12,456 --> 00:13:15,023
If you're a schizophrenic
or a bipolar,

272
00:13:15,025 --> 00:13:17,493
you are 16 times
more likely to die

273
00:13:17,495 --> 00:13:19,561
when encountering
law enforcement.

274
00:13:19,563 --> 00:13:21,930
[male reporter] A 5-foot-3,
100-pound teen fell

275
00:13:21,932 --> 00:13:23,799
when he was stunned.

276
00:13:23,801 --> 00:13:25,800
Two officers
then jumped on top of him,

277
00:13:25,802 --> 00:13:28,738
and while they held him down,
the third officer,

278
00:13:28,740 --> 00:13:30,739
who ordered the stun guns

279
00:13:30,741 --> 00:13:33,608
then shot Keith in the chest
and killed him.

280
00:13:33,610 --> 00:13:36,011
And if you don't die,

281
00:13:36,013 --> 00:13:39,751
you're ten times more likely to
land in prison than a hospital.

282
00:13:42,653 --> 00:13:44,520
The national
sheriff's association

283
00:13:44,522 --> 00:13:46,689
got together with a treatment
advocacy center.

284
00:13:46,691 --> 00:13:47,890
They looked into it.

285
00:13:47,892 --> 00:13:50,425
It turns out, 50%...

286
00:13:50,427 --> 00:13:52,895
50% of the people
who are locked up

287
00:13:52,897 --> 00:13:55,567
have some kind
of mental health issue.

288
00:13:57,902 --> 00:14:02,070
[man] We will not negotiate
with terrorists!

289
00:14:02,072 --> 00:14:05,407
[Matthew] In the 1960s,
state psychiatric hospitals

290
00:14:05,409 --> 00:14:08,511
began closing
and the nation's mentally ill

291
00:14:08,513 --> 00:14:10,112
found themselves
on the streets,

292
00:14:10,114 --> 00:14:12,515
often winding up in prison.

293
00:14:12,517 --> 00:14:14,883
If you're mentally ill
and you're in prison,

294
00:14:14,885 --> 00:14:16,685
you're more likely
to get worse,

295
00:14:16,687 --> 00:14:18,954
experience increased
behavioral problems,

296
00:14:18,956 --> 00:14:21,156
and you're going to be
disproportionately abused,

297
00:14:21,158 --> 00:14:23,092
beaten, and raped.

298
00:14:23,094 --> 00:14:25,460
You're more likely
to commit suicide.

299
00:14:25,462 --> 00:14:27,430
And if you're released,
you're more likely

300
00:14:27,432 --> 00:14:29,431
to reoffend
and come right back.

301
00:14:29,433 --> 00:14:32,935
Most prison staff
are poorly equipped to diagnose,

302
00:14:32,937 --> 00:14:35,137
manage,
or treat your condition.

303
00:14:35,139 --> 00:14:38,073
And if you add that all up,
you know,

304
00:14:38,075 --> 00:14:42,114
it makes me ask the question,
who are the crazy ones?

305
00:14:44,849 --> 00:14:47,451
[coughing]

306
00:14:50,922 --> 00:14:55,156
[man] I can't breathe!
I can't breathe!

307
00:14:55,158 --> 00:14:57,660
[Bruce]
And then I was medicated.

308
00:14:57,662 --> 00:15:00,028
I was given Mellaril,
which is like Thorazine.

309
00:15:00,030 --> 00:15:01,796
Numbed my brain.

310
00:15:01,798 --> 00:15:04,867
I was a very docile inmate
at that point.

311
00:15:04,869 --> 00:15:07,469
[Matthew] Warning,
side effects of Thorazine

312
00:15:07,471 --> 00:15:10,138
may include sedation,
slurred speech,

313
00:15:10,140 --> 00:15:12,541
dizziness, memory loss.

314
00:15:12,543 --> 00:15:14,910
So the odds of fighting
your case may be difficult.

315
00:15:14,912 --> 00:15:16,911
Hopefully, you have someone
on the outside

316
00:15:16,913 --> 00:15:18,714
working on your behalf.

317
00:15:18,716 --> 00:15:20,483
[Susan] Bruce was kept
in a single cell

318
00:15:20,485 --> 00:15:24,085
23 hours a day
for the next 19 days.

319
00:15:24,087 --> 00:15:26,121
[Matthew] Over their
two visits together,

320
00:15:26,123 --> 00:15:27,989
Bruce and his father
were confident

321
00:15:27,991 --> 00:15:29,992
they'd solve the murder.

322
00:15:29,994 --> 00:15:33,628
[Bruce] I met Mike Ryan in
a 12-step program that I was in.

323
00:15:33,630 --> 00:15:35,263
He didn't have a place to stay,

324
00:15:35,265 --> 00:15:37,666
and I let him stay on the couch
in my apartment.

325
00:15:37,668 --> 00:15:40,736
And he basically
stopped paying any rent.

326
00:15:40,738 --> 00:15:43,772
You know, worked up my courage
and said, "You have to go.

327
00:15:43,774 --> 00:15:45,773
You know, I have to
kick you out, man, sorry."

328
00:15:45,775 --> 00:15:48,142
So, I started like taking
some of his stuff

329
00:15:48,144 --> 00:15:50,212
off the shelves
and putting them into boxes.

330
00:15:50,214 --> 00:15:54,116
And he grabbed me and put me
against the bathroom door jam

331
00:15:54,118 --> 00:15:56,819
and held a knife to my throat
and said,

332
00:15:56,821 --> 00:15:59,021
"If you ever touch
my shit again, I'll kill you."

333
00:15:59,023 --> 00:16:02,958
And he was gone, and I thought,
whew, thank God, he's gone.

334
00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:05,127
My mom told my dad
the day before the murder

335
00:16:05,129 --> 00:16:07,530
that Mike Ryan had been there
that day looking for money,

336
00:16:07,532 --> 00:16:09,297
looking for food,
looking for... you know.

337
00:16:09,299 --> 00:16:11,867
We know it in our hearts,
my dad and I,

338
00:16:11,869 --> 00:16:13,801
Mike Ryan killed my mom.

339
00:16:13,803 --> 00:16:17,873
This is... this is the letter
Lisker writes to Monsue

340
00:16:17,875 --> 00:16:19,608
after he's arrested.

341
00:16:19,610 --> 00:16:21,676
He's behind bars,
and he goes, "Dear sir,

342
00:16:21,678 --> 00:16:24,579
I'm sure that by this point,
it has become apparent to you

343
00:16:24,581 --> 00:16:26,180
that I am not the murderer."

344
00:16:26,182 --> 00:16:29,084
And this is where
he turns him on to Ryan

345
00:16:29,086 --> 00:16:30,986
as a potential suspect.

346
00:16:30,988 --> 00:16:35,858
When Monsue went to find Ryan
to interview him,

347
00:16:35,860 --> 00:16:40,228
he tracks him down in a jail
in Mississippi

348
00:16:40,230 --> 00:16:42,330
where I think he was arrested

349
00:16:42,332 --> 00:16:45,133
for breaking
into a woman's house.

350
00:16:45,135 --> 00:16:47,335
His story was so full of holes,
I mean,

351
00:16:47,337 --> 00:16:49,103
you could have driven
a truck through it.

352
00:16:49,105 --> 00:16:50,973
He said that he was sleeping
on the streets.

353
00:16:50,975 --> 00:16:55,310
He was sleeping in carports
until March 10th,

354
00:16:55,312 --> 00:16:57,579
when he checked
into a Hollywood motel,

355
00:16:57,581 --> 00:17:00,851
which is 12 miles away from
our house at around 11:00 AM.

356
00:17:12,262 --> 00:17:15,163
Suddenly,
at 3:00 PM on March 10th,

357
00:17:15,165 --> 00:17:17,231
four hours after my mom
was killed and robbed,

358
00:17:17,233 --> 00:17:22,071
he has money to check
into a motel.

359
00:17:22,073 --> 00:17:25,807
I don't think that Monsue
was out to get Lisker.

360
00:17:25,809 --> 00:17:28,844
I think that he developed what
detectives call tunnel vision.

361
00:17:28,846 --> 00:17:32,981
I had heard a lot of things
about him being narrow-minded.

362
00:17:32,983 --> 00:17:35,017
Once he made his mind up,

363
00:17:35,019 --> 00:17:38,319
there was no way of...
of making him change his mind.

364
00:17:38,321 --> 00:17:42,624
And so, that... that leads
to some serious problems

365
00:17:42,626 --> 00:17:44,793
when you're dealing
with a homicide investigation.

366
00:17:44,795 --> 00:17:46,961
[Matthew] Detective Monsue
did a search

367
00:17:46,963 --> 00:17:49,230
on Mike Ryan's criminal record,

368
00:17:49,232 --> 00:17:51,299
apparently using
the wrong birth date.

369
00:17:51,301 --> 00:17:52,901
He had the wrong date
of birth for him,

370
00:17:52,903 --> 00:17:54,902
and if he had the right date
of birth

371
00:17:54,904 --> 00:17:56,738
and he checked
criminal records back then,

372
00:17:56,740 --> 00:17:58,841
he would've found
that just a few months prior

373
00:17:58,843 --> 00:18:00,976
to the Dorka Lisker slaying,

374
00:18:00,978 --> 00:18:05,180
Ryan had allegedly held a knife
to a friend's throat over $12,

375
00:18:05,182 --> 00:18:07,749
which you would think
would cause, you know,

376
00:18:07,751 --> 00:18:10,419
a detective to consider him
a little more seriously,

377
00:18:10,421 --> 00:18:12,321
you know, for the offense
he was investigating.

378
00:18:12,323 --> 00:18:14,055
Eventually, like Bruce,

379
00:18:14,057 --> 00:18:16,057
you're gonna have
a detention hearing.

380
00:18:16,059 --> 00:18:18,427
During which time a judge
is going to make a determination

381
00:18:18,429 --> 00:18:20,429
as to whether you're going to
stay in jail

382
00:18:20,431 --> 00:18:22,765
or you can be released
while you await your trial.

383
00:18:22,767 --> 00:18:26,101
Well, unless you have
a lot of money for attorneys,

384
00:18:26,103 --> 00:18:27,835
you're not going anywhere.

385
00:18:27,837 --> 00:18:29,438
Basically, you go in there
with your hands

386
00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:31,340
tied behind your back
because of the power

387
00:18:31,342 --> 00:18:35,443
that we give to police officers
in this nation.

388
00:18:35,445 --> 00:18:37,211
His word carried the day.

389
00:18:37,213 --> 00:18:39,213
The Constitution is supposed
to guarantee

390
00:18:39,215 --> 00:18:42,084
a speedy trial
and prohibit the use

391
00:18:42,086 --> 00:18:44,420
of cruel and unusual punishment.

392
00:18:44,422 --> 00:18:47,922
Myself, I spent 15 months
before trial

393
00:18:47,924 --> 00:18:51,360
in the county jail
in deplorable conditions.

394
00:18:51,362 --> 00:18:54,430
I was in numerous riots,

395
00:18:54,432 --> 00:18:56,965
various situations
where I had to defend myself.

396
00:18:56,967 --> 00:19:00,268
I made a new word.
It's called I was petrinoid.

397
00:19:00,270 --> 00:19:03,838
I was petrified
and paranoid at the same time.

398
00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:06,010
Surviving County jail.

399
00:19:10,980 --> 00:19:14,449
The first thing that you're
going to want to do is get out.

400
00:19:14,451 --> 00:19:19,787
So whatever you have to do
to get the money, it's worth it.

401
00:19:19,789 --> 00:19:22,024
You definitely don't want
to be going to trial

402
00:19:22,026 --> 00:19:24,192
in a jumpsuit or in cuffs.

403
00:19:24,194 --> 00:19:26,128
[Matthew] A study of defendants
in Kentucky found

404
00:19:26,130 --> 00:19:28,330
that individuals in jail
were over three times

405
00:19:28,332 --> 00:19:30,466
more likely to be sentenced
to prison

406
00:19:30,468 --> 00:19:32,066
than those who were released
and showed up for court

407
00:19:32,068 --> 00:19:33,267
in regular clothes.

408
00:19:33,269 --> 00:19:35,269
If you're stuck in jail,

409
00:19:35,271 --> 00:19:38,873
be prepared to be completely
humiliated and violated.

410
00:19:38,875 --> 00:19:42,210
You are going to be stripped
of all your personal possessions

411
00:19:42,212 --> 00:19:43,946
and your clothing.

412
00:19:43,948 --> 00:19:47,482
Your integrity,
your respect, everything.

413
00:19:47,484 --> 00:19:50,486
Keep to yourself.
Be polite and ask permission...

414
00:19:50,488 --> 00:19:52,421
- To use the water fountain.
- The bathroom.

415
00:19:52,423 --> 00:19:53,488
- The lights.
- The sink.

416
00:19:53,490 --> 00:19:55,257
That's it right there.

417
00:19:55,259 --> 00:19:56,391
Mind your own business
and be respectful.

418
00:19:56,393 --> 00:19:57,992
Never call the guards

419
00:19:57,994 --> 00:19:59,094
if you got a problem
with somebody.

420
00:19:59,096 --> 00:20:00,996
Just talk to the person

421
00:20:00,998 --> 00:20:03,164
that you have a problem with
directly or let it go.

422
00:20:03,166 --> 00:20:06,034
You're gonna want to make a lot
of phone calls to your family.

423
00:20:06,036 --> 00:20:07,936
- To get advice.
- Find a lawyer.

424
00:20:07,938 --> 00:20:10,171
- To talk to a friend.
- To find out how to get out.

425
00:20:10,173 --> 00:20:12,143
As quickly as possible.

426
00:20:14,478 --> 00:20:16,944
They can charge
over a dollar a minute.

427
00:20:16,946 --> 00:20:19,180
Calls to and from your lawyer,

428
00:20:19,182 --> 00:20:22,049
your son, daughter,
your mom, or your dad.

429
00:20:22,051 --> 00:20:24,553
I wouldn't want to do any time
in the county jail at all.

430
00:20:24,555 --> 00:20:26,154
It's not bearable
because they don't treat you

431
00:20:26,156 --> 00:20:28,222
with any type of respect.

432
00:20:28,224 --> 00:20:30,526
Like, you're supposed to be
innocent until proven guilty.

433
00:20:30,528 --> 00:20:32,931
Okay, well, this is a place
where it should show that.

434
00:20:38,803 --> 00:20:42,107
"Innocent until proven guilty"
originally meant...

435
00:20:43,574 --> 00:20:45,274
[Matthew] Nobody should
ever be denied a trial.

436
00:20:45,276 --> 00:20:47,074
And it was created
as a protection...

437
00:20:47,076 --> 00:20:49,344
Against torturing people
into confessions.

438
00:20:49,346 --> 00:20:51,113
It was established
as a shield...

439
00:20:51,115 --> 00:20:55,083
Against mob mentality
and witch hunts.

440
00:20:55,085 --> 00:20:58,519
And this presumption of
innocence until proven guilty

441
00:20:58,521 --> 00:21:01,824
is a foundational notion
of civil justice.

442
00:21:01,826 --> 00:21:03,392
The problem is,
is that it's

443
00:21:03,394 --> 00:21:06,027
a difficult principle
to preserve.

444
00:21:06,029 --> 00:21:08,363
You have to be vigilant
about preserving it.

445
00:21:08,365 --> 00:21:10,465
[Matthew] David Sirota's an
investigative journalist who's done

446
00:21:10,467 --> 00:21:12,834
extensive work in America's
criminal justice system.

447
00:21:12,836 --> 00:21:16,470
Our media culture,
where the camera is on,

448
00:21:16,472 --> 00:21:18,239
you've got Court TV...

449
00:21:18,241 --> 00:21:21,209
On the murder count,
he is going to walk.

450
00:21:21,211 --> 00:21:23,144
[crowd] No justice!
No peace!

451
00:21:23,146 --> 00:21:24,613
People want to see retribution.

452
00:21:24,615 --> 00:21:26,215
They want to see
somebody punished.

453
00:21:26,217 --> 00:21:28,917
Who in the heck
is in that jury room?

454
00:21:28,919 --> 00:21:30,184
You've got politicians
running around.

455
00:21:30,186 --> 00:21:32,086
Just stoking the flames.

456
00:21:32,088 --> 00:21:35,324
When folks mess with Americans,
we go after them.

457
00:21:35,326 --> 00:21:38,227
- People want revenge.
- And it's reminiscent

458
00:21:38,229 --> 00:21:41,095
of medieval times,
people screaming for blood.

459
00:21:41,097 --> 00:21:43,164
And our present culture
doesn't seem to value

460
00:21:43,166 --> 00:21:46,034
the concept of innocent
until proven guilty.

461
00:21:46,036 --> 00:21:49,571
And so, unless you're vigilant
about preserving

462
00:21:49,573 --> 00:21:51,573
a presumption of innocence,

463
00:21:51,575 --> 00:21:53,609
then you're going to lose
that presumption of innocence.

464
00:21:53,611 --> 00:21:55,443
Kalief Browder was a teenager.

465
00:21:55,445 --> 00:21:57,511
He was walking home
from school

466
00:21:57,513 --> 00:21:59,413
when someone accused him
of stealing a backpack.

467
00:21:59,415 --> 00:22:01,016
The police didn't do
any investigating.

468
00:22:01,018 --> 00:22:02,950
They just arrested him.

469
00:22:02,952 --> 00:22:04,186
And the next thing you know,
they putting the cuffs.

470
00:22:04,188 --> 00:22:06,153
I don't even know this dude.

471
00:22:06,155 --> 00:22:08,289
His family couldn't afford
the $10,000 bail.

472
00:22:08,291 --> 00:22:10,892
Kalief was subjected
to officer assaults,

473
00:22:10,894 --> 00:22:12,393
which you can see here,

474
00:22:12,395 --> 00:22:14,563
and groups of inmates
attacking him.

475
00:22:14,565 --> 00:22:16,632
They was just all bawling
on my head to the point

476
00:22:16,634 --> 00:22:20,235
where I just had to just grab
my head, like, I can't take it.

477
00:22:20,237 --> 00:22:22,304
[female reporter]
He missed his sister's wedding,

478
00:22:22,306 --> 00:22:24,672
the birth of his nephew,
and so many family events.

479
00:22:24,674 --> 00:22:28,142
[Matthew] After nearly three
years of unimaginable torture,

480
00:22:28,144 --> 00:22:31,680
incarcerated without a trial,
he was finally offered a deal.

481
00:22:31,682 --> 00:22:34,048
If he would plead guilty,
they'd let him go.

482
00:22:34,050 --> 00:22:37,018
She told me if I lose trial,
I could get 15 years.

483
00:22:37,020 --> 00:22:38,519
Take the time served,

484
00:22:38,521 --> 00:22:40,188
and you go home today
if you say you did it.

485
00:22:40,190 --> 00:22:41,923
I didn't do it.
I'm not saying I did that.

486
00:22:41,925 --> 00:22:43,959
[reporter]
He went back to jail.

487
00:22:43,961 --> 00:22:47,496
In June, he was suddenly freed
with no explanation.

488
00:22:47,498 --> 00:22:49,264
No apology, no nothing.

489
00:22:49,266 --> 00:22:51,600
They just said,
"Oh, case dismissed.

490
00:22:51,602 --> 00:22:54,169
Don't worry about nothing."
What do you mean?

491
00:22:54,171 --> 00:22:56,438
Y'all just took over
three years of my life.

492
00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:59,040
[Matthew] The New Yorker
reported that Kalief's relatives

493
00:22:59,042 --> 00:23:02,177
said he was inflicted
by paranoia, suspecting cops

494
00:23:02,179 --> 00:23:04,546
or other authority figures
were after him.

495
00:23:04,548 --> 00:23:07,181
Two years after he was released
from Riker's Island,

496
00:23:07,183 --> 00:23:09,988
Kalief Browder
took his own life.

497
00:23:12,623 --> 00:23:15,556
The eighth amendment
to the US Constitution

498
00:23:15,558 --> 00:23:17,659
is also supposed to guarantee
us the right

499
00:23:17,661 --> 00:23:19,596
to be free
from excessive bail.

500
00:23:21,965 --> 00:23:24,199
Bail is money
that you temporarily loan

501
00:23:24,201 --> 00:23:26,000
or give the courts
as collateral to guarantee

502
00:23:26,002 --> 00:23:27,602
that you're going to show up
for your trial.

503
00:23:27,604 --> 00:23:29,571
But like the rest
of the eighth amendment,

504
00:23:29,573 --> 00:23:32,007
this idea that you're supposed
to be free from excessive bail

505
00:23:32,009 --> 00:23:33,475
is a right
that's regularly violated

506
00:23:33,477 --> 00:23:35,276
by our criminal justice system.

507
00:23:35,278 --> 00:23:37,478
Meanwhile,
the bail bond industry

508
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:41,251
is making profits
of $2 billion a year.

509
00:23:47,423 --> 00:23:49,690
What we would need
is at least for you

510
00:23:49,692 --> 00:23:52,193
to be employed two years
on the job.

511
00:23:52,195 --> 00:23:55,699
What you do need to pay
is going to be 10%.

512
00:23:58,434 --> 00:24:01,236
[Susan]
After 30 days in custody,

513
00:24:01,238 --> 00:24:04,305
Bruce finally had
the opportunity to post bail.

514
00:24:04,307 --> 00:24:07,742
Bail was set at $250,000.

515
00:24:07,744 --> 00:24:10,444
Neither Bruce
or his father had the money.

516
00:24:10,446 --> 00:24:13,481
I was scared shitless.
I was so frightened.

517
00:24:13,483 --> 00:24:15,650
The whole way down,
I just thought, this is...

518
00:24:15,652 --> 00:24:18,085
you know, I keep using the word
"nightmare,"

519
00:24:18,087 --> 00:24:21,655
but I mean, this could be
the end of my life.

520
00:24:21,657 --> 00:24:23,691
I don't know.
I don't know.

521
00:24:23,693 --> 00:24:25,760
The most important thing
that I can tell you

522
00:24:25,762 --> 00:24:27,328
is to protect yourself.

523
00:24:27,330 --> 00:24:29,030
Don't talk to people.

524
00:24:29,032 --> 00:24:31,033
If you're running off
at the mouth,

525
00:24:31,035 --> 00:24:32,667
you're usually going to dig
yourself a hole.

526
00:24:32,669 --> 00:24:35,670
If you want to survive
in jail or prison,

527
00:24:35,672 --> 00:24:37,738
take the advice of old-timers.

528
00:24:37,740 --> 00:24:39,574
[Matthew] This is Tim.

529
00:24:39,576 --> 00:24:41,308
He's going to elaborate

530
00:24:41,310 --> 00:24:43,411
on the most important
rule of all.

531
00:24:43,413 --> 00:24:47,149
[man] I want you
to pay attention!

532
00:24:47,151 --> 00:24:50,719
In 1986,
Tim was 19 years old.

533
00:24:50,721 --> 00:24:52,720
He got involved with a girl
who was in some trouble.

534
00:24:52,722 --> 00:24:54,756
[Tim]
She's living with this guy.

535
00:24:54,758 --> 00:24:58,626
She starts insinuating that
she's being sexually abused.

536
00:24:58,628 --> 00:25:00,362
But like a dummy,

537
00:25:00,364 --> 00:25:02,596
I'm contemplating going
and getting her stuff.

538
00:25:02,598 --> 00:25:05,834
She says that he's got a gun so,
you know, we got to be careful.

539
00:25:05,836 --> 00:25:08,069
The guy that we're going with,
he's like, "Well, that's cool.

540
00:25:08,071 --> 00:25:09,470
We'll just take our own guns."

541
00:25:09,472 --> 00:25:11,440
They start wrestling
over this gun.

542
00:25:11,442 --> 00:25:15,012
I step out of the bathroom.
Fight or flight.

543
00:25:16,712 --> 00:25:18,479
No excuses.
Just dumb.

544
00:25:18,481 --> 00:25:20,315
This is... there's no excuse
for what I did.

545
00:25:20,317 --> 00:25:22,417
There's no excuse.
Pulled out my gun.

546
00:25:22,419 --> 00:25:25,754
I start shooting.
He falls behind the door.

547
00:25:25,756 --> 00:25:28,657
I pull Rob out of the door,
kick the door,

548
00:25:28,659 --> 00:25:30,725
and I shoot him again
in the head

549
00:25:30,727 --> 00:25:32,760
and was sentenced
to 25 years to life

550
00:25:32,762 --> 00:25:34,595
in the California prison system.

551
00:25:34,597 --> 00:25:37,399
Tim's first advice
to new fish is simple.

552
00:25:37,401 --> 00:25:41,769
Start with, you got two eyes
and two ears and one mouth.

553
00:25:41,771 --> 00:25:43,471
So you should be seeing
and hearing

554
00:25:43,473 --> 00:25:44,672
a whole lot more
than you're saying.

555
00:25:44,674 --> 00:25:46,440
If you don't take that advice,

556
00:25:46,442 --> 00:25:48,776
you're usually going to dig
yourself a hole

557
00:25:48,778 --> 00:25:51,113
because while you're talking,

558
00:25:51,115 --> 00:25:53,448
how many other people
are listening and watching?

559
00:25:53,450 --> 00:25:56,351
Keep it zipped up,
and don't think

560
00:25:56,353 --> 00:25:58,385
that any of those dudes
are your friends.

561
00:25:58,387 --> 00:26:01,523
[Bruce]
I was put in a cell alone

562
00:26:01,525 --> 00:26:03,792
when I started hearing
this scraping sound.

563
00:26:03,794 --> 00:26:08,497
It gets louder and louder,
and it persists and finally,

564
00:26:08,499 --> 00:26:10,164
there's a hole in the wall now.

565
00:26:10,166 --> 00:26:11,699
And I'm like,
"Leave me alone."

566
00:26:11,701 --> 00:26:13,535
"Hey, youngster,
you know, what's up?

567
00:26:13,537 --> 00:26:16,304
My name's Bobby."
He said, "I'm a Christian.

568
00:26:16,306 --> 00:26:18,507
You don't have
to worry about me, I'm okay.

569
00:26:18,509 --> 00:26:20,475
Want a cigarette?
Do you smoke?"

570
00:26:20,477 --> 00:26:22,611
And he wants
to Bible study with me.

571
00:26:22,613 --> 00:26:24,746
And he was, you know,
reading the Bible

572
00:26:24,748 --> 00:26:27,649
about hope and about,
you know, truth.

573
00:26:27,651 --> 00:26:29,316
Basically,
I had told him

574
00:26:29,318 --> 00:26:30,919
everything
that I was arrested for.

575
00:26:30,921 --> 00:26:32,520
"What's your attorney
doing for you?"

576
00:26:32,522 --> 00:26:33,921
I said, "Well, not much.

577
00:26:33,923 --> 00:26:35,690
I'm sitting here still,
you know?"

578
00:26:35,692 --> 00:26:37,625
He goes well,
"I'll help you with your case.

579
00:26:37,627 --> 00:26:40,261
Anything that I can do,"
and, you know, by the way,

580
00:26:40,263 --> 00:26:41,930
do you have any money
that I could...

581
00:26:41,932 --> 00:26:43,632
you know, I don't have
any money and, you know,

582
00:26:43,634 --> 00:26:45,366
if you can help me out
with some money."

583
00:26:45,368 --> 00:26:47,469
My dad put money
on his books for him,

584
00:26:47,471 --> 00:26:51,338
and my attorney comes down
and has a tape recorder

585
00:26:51,340 --> 00:26:55,343
and pushes play,
and it's Robert Hughes

586
00:26:55,345 --> 00:26:59,180
on the tape saying I met Lisker
in the 7000 module

587
00:26:59,182 --> 00:27:02,217
of the county jail and,
you know,

588
00:27:02,219 --> 00:27:04,585
he ran down
how he killed his mom.

589
00:27:04,587 --> 00:27:09,658
My jaw is just on the table.
I can't believe it.

590
00:27:09,660 --> 00:27:11,860
This was my friend,
this Robert Hughes,

591
00:27:11,862 --> 00:27:13,795
this Christian,
this good guy.

592
00:27:13,797 --> 00:27:17,599
My case was the fourth case,
fourth defendant

593
00:27:17,601 --> 00:27:20,201
against whom Robert Hughes
had come forward and claimed

594
00:27:20,203 --> 00:27:23,238
a confession in the span
of about a year and a half.

595
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:25,306
[Matt] I think for about
a decade,

596
00:27:25,308 --> 00:27:27,609
prosecutors had
this corrupt alliance

597
00:27:27,611 --> 00:27:31,313
with jailhouse informants
who would either make up

598
00:27:31,315 --> 00:27:34,548
or try to solicit confessions
from fellow inmates

599
00:27:34,550 --> 00:27:37,686
and then use that information
to try to get

600
00:27:37,688 --> 00:27:40,622
some leniency on their own case,
their own sentence.

601
00:27:40,624 --> 00:27:44,825
There was a shift in my attorney
with the tape of Robert Hughes.

602
00:27:44,827 --> 00:27:48,896
He gave up on me.
I saw it in his eyes.

603
00:27:48,898 --> 00:27:50,899
I saw it in his eyes.

604
00:27:50,901 --> 00:27:54,902
[Susan] Bruce had been
incarcerated now for a year.

605
00:27:54,904 --> 00:27:58,273
As long as it's been,
which was incomprehensible to me

606
00:27:58,275 --> 00:28:02,244
that anybody could spend a day,
let alone close to a year

607
00:28:02,246 --> 00:28:04,613
behind bars for something
they didn't do,

608
00:28:04,615 --> 00:28:08,516
now I have another year to wait
potentially until my trial.

609
00:28:08,518 --> 00:28:10,852
One of the times that I came
back up front, juvenile hall,

610
00:28:10,854 --> 00:28:12,953
when they were receiving me,
said, wait a minute,

611
00:28:12,955 --> 00:28:15,356
the date of birth here,
this guy's over 18.

612
00:28:15,358 --> 00:28:17,792
He can't associate
with other minors.

613
00:28:17,794 --> 00:28:22,363
Because Bruce is now an adult,
they put Bruce in the box,

614
00:28:22,365 --> 00:28:24,669
which means
solitary confinement.

615
00:28:29,405 --> 00:28:32,873
The statewide prisoner
hunger strike began 11 days ago

616
00:28:32,875 --> 00:28:35,809
as a protest over solitary
confinement conditions.

617
00:28:35,811 --> 00:28:39,581
And now more than 2,300 inmates
are refusing to eat.

618
00:28:39,583 --> 00:28:43,718
Solitary confinement
is a prison within a prison.

619
00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:45,987
You're locked in a 6-by-9 cell.

620
00:28:45,989 --> 00:28:49,290
Everything is made of concrete,
even the bed.

621
00:28:49,292 --> 00:28:51,625
You're locked in there
23 hours a day,

622
00:28:51,627 --> 00:28:53,597
one hour out for recreation.

623
00:28:55,932 --> 00:28:59,066
You can be put into solitary
confinement for anything.

624
00:28:59,068 --> 00:29:02,569
You know, prison guard might
just get pissed off at you.

625
00:29:02,571 --> 00:29:05,006
[Matthew] Shane Bauer
is an American who was arrested

626
00:29:05,008 --> 00:29:08,043
in Iran for accidentally
hiking across their border.

627
00:29:08,045 --> 00:29:09,878
They put him
in solitary confinement.

628
00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:11,712
I would definitely say
that the situation

629
00:29:11,714 --> 00:29:13,347
in California is more extreme.

630
00:29:13,349 --> 00:29:14,882
The cells in California
are smaller

631
00:29:14,884 --> 00:29:16,918
than the cell
I was in in Iran.

632
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:19,386
There's no windows
in the cells in California.

633
00:29:19,388 --> 00:29:22,023
The hole is considered torture

634
00:29:22,025 --> 00:29:25,927
by Amnesty International
and the United Nations.

635
00:29:25,929 --> 00:29:27,961
This is Anthony Graves.

636
00:29:27,963 --> 00:29:29,930
He's an innocent man
who was wrongfully convicted

637
00:29:29,932 --> 00:29:33,000
and spent 16 years in solitary.

638
00:29:33,002 --> 00:29:36,837
No one can begin to imagine
the psychological effects

639
00:29:36,839 --> 00:29:38,773
isolation has
on another human being.

640
00:29:38,775 --> 00:29:42,811
95% of Americans
who spent time in solitary

641
00:29:42,813 --> 00:29:45,513
report developing
a serious psychiatric condition.

642
00:29:45,515 --> 00:29:48,615
Guys become paranoid,
schizophrenic,

643
00:29:48,617 --> 00:29:50,818
and can't sleep because
they're hearing voices.

644
00:29:50,820 --> 00:29:55,556
You're more than five times
more likely to commit suicide.

645
00:29:55,558 --> 00:29:58,058
I was there when guys
were attempting suicide

646
00:29:58,060 --> 00:30:01,363
by cutting themselves,
trying to tie a sheet

647
00:30:01,365 --> 00:30:04,099
around their necks,
overdosing on their medication.

648
00:30:04,101 --> 00:30:07,469
In Iran I know of nobody
being in solitary confinement

649
00:30:07,471 --> 00:30:09,003
for more than two years,

650
00:30:09,005 --> 00:30:11,439
which is an extremely long
period of time.

651
00:30:11,441 --> 00:30:13,641
But in California
and Pelican Bay State prison,

652
00:30:13,643 --> 00:30:15,779
the average time
is seven and a half years.

653
00:30:21,718 --> 00:30:24,853
[Susan] For two years, Bruce had
been waiting for his trial.

654
00:30:24,855 --> 00:30:27,087
He'd gone over it in his head
day after day

655
00:30:27,089 --> 00:30:29,990
what the judge would say,
what a jury would think.

656
00:30:29,992 --> 00:30:32,026
When they heard
the transcript

657
00:30:32,028 --> 00:30:34,562
of Detective Monsue's
interrogation of Mike Ryan,

658
00:30:34,564 --> 00:30:36,334
that's all they'd need to hear.

659
00:30:38,434 --> 00:30:41,001
All the lies,
all the inconsistencies,

660
00:30:41,003 --> 00:30:44,538
there would be no way
he wouldn't be found innocent.

661
00:30:44,540 --> 00:30:48,676
Except the prosecutor
filed a motion to deny Bruce

662
00:30:48,678 --> 00:30:50,411
the right to make any mention

663
00:30:50,413 --> 00:30:52,646
of Mike Ryan's name
at the trial.

664
00:30:52,648 --> 00:30:55,949
[Bruce] On the grounds that we
couldn't tie Mike Ryan to the crime.

665
00:30:55,951 --> 00:30:57,951
The judge turns to my attorney,

666
00:30:57,953 --> 00:30:59,921
"What evidence do you have
that Mike Ryan is tied to this?"

667
00:30:59,923 --> 00:31:02,157
He says, "He was in the county.
He could have done it."

668
00:31:02,159 --> 00:31:04,092
And the judge goes,
"Is that all you have?"

669
00:31:04,094 --> 00:31:06,494
Because he didn't take the time
to read the transcript.

670
00:31:06,496 --> 00:31:08,162
He was just on autopilot.

671
00:31:08,164 --> 00:31:10,498
He was not paying attention.
He wasn't engaged.

672
00:31:10,500 --> 00:31:12,633
He says, "Yeah,
that's it, that's all I have."

673
00:31:12,635 --> 00:31:15,469
We couldn't tie Mike Ryan
to the crime.

674
00:31:15,471 --> 00:31:17,138
That was the framework
for my trial.

675
00:31:17,140 --> 00:31:20,107
It is an absolute joke
the resources

676
00:31:20,109 --> 00:31:22,009
prosecutors have
versus defense attorneys.

677
00:31:22,011 --> 00:31:23,978
[Matthew] Justin Brooks
is the director

678
00:31:23,980 --> 00:31:26,046
of the California Innocence
Project,

679
00:31:26,048 --> 00:31:28,216
a nonprofit group dedicated
to helping

680
00:31:28,218 --> 00:31:30,919
wrongfully convicted Americans
get out of prison.

681
00:31:30,921 --> 00:31:34,788
Prosecutors have a police force
at their disposal

682
00:31:34,790 --> 00:31:36,724
as their investigators.

683
00:31:36,726 --> 00:31:40,027
They're... they get the case
from the first moment

684
00:31:40,029 --> 00:31:41,728
it's being investigated.

685
00:31:41,730 --> 00:31:42,963
They have access
to all the people

686
00:31:42,965 --> 00:31:44,998
who are involved in that.

687
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:48,536
Defense comes late to the date.
We are at a total disadvantage.

688
00:31:48,538 --> 00:31:50,939
The sixth amendment
to the U.S. Constitution

689
00:31:50,941 --> 00:31:54,508
is supposed to guarantee
the right to effective counsel.

690
00:31:54,510 --> 00:31:57,578
But as we're seeing in America,
you have to buy your rights.

691
00:31:57,580 --> 00:32:00,914
You're more likely to walk free
if you're rich and guilty

692
00:32:00,916 --> 00:32:03,051
then you are if you're poor
and innocent.

693
00:32:03,053 --> 00:32:06,821
[Bruce] The evidence is Detective
Monsue telling his lies,

694
00:32:06,823 --> 00:32:11,258
Robert Hughes telling his lies,
and no alternate suspect.

695
00:32:11,260 --> 00:32:14,496
And so I'm screwed.

696
00:32:14,498 --> 00:32:16,698
They're charging me
with first-degree murder,

697
00:32:16,700 --> 00:32:19,267
which carries 26 years to life
in state prison.

698
00:32:19,269 --> 00:32:21,969
It's longer
than I'd been alive.

699
00:32:21,971 --> 00:32:24,572
A day and a half in,
my attorney comes to me

700
00:32:24,574 --> 00:32:26,274
in the holding tank and says,

701
00:32:26,276 --> 00:32:29,643
"The judge is willing
to entertain a guilty plea

702
00:32:29,645 --> 00:32:31,712
in exchange for
a youth authority sentence."

703
00:32:31,714 --> 00:32:34,114
I talk with my dad, I said,
"Guilty plea, what...

704
00:32:34,116 --> 00:32:35,984
you know, I'm not going to take
a guilty plea."

705
00:32:35,986 --> 00:32:37,951
And he said, "I... I hear you."

706
00:32:37,953 --> 00:32:40,555
And a close friend of my...
of the family,

707
00:32:40,557 --> 00:32:43,658
my father's best friend,
comes to the juvenile hall

708
00:32:43,660 --> 00:32:46,026
and says, "You have to...
you have to accept this plea."

709
00:32:46,028 --> 00:32:47,929
I said, "No, I'm not going to
accept anything.

710
00:32:47,931 --> 00:32:49,863
I didn't do anything.
I'm not gonna you know..."

711
00:32:49,865 --> 00:32:51,833
And he says, "Look,"
and he pounds his hand down

712
00:32:51,835 --> 00:32:54,067
on the bench
that we're sitting on,

713
00:32:54,069 --> 00:32:56,270
and he goes, "They are going
to convict you

714
00:32:56,272 --> 00:32:59,873
of first fucking degree murder
unless you plead guilty."

715
00:32:59,875 --> 00:33:03,777
And he's practically crying,
as am I right now.

716
00:33:03,779 --> 00:33:06,280
He goes, "Look, do whatever
you have to do to get home."

717
00:33:06,282 --> 00:33:09,083
You are the law.

718
00:33:09,085 --> 00:33:11,719
The defendant is not guilty.

719
00:33:11,721 --> 00:33:14,154
No man is above the law.

720
00:33:14,156 --> 00:33:17,725
What we see on most TV shows
is not reality.

721
00:33:17,727 --> 00:33:20,161
Our justice system
isn't what you think it is.

722
00:33:20,163 --> 00:33:21,863
[Matthew]
Rolling Stone magazine

723
00:33:21,865 --> 00:33:23,998
considers Wayne Kramer
of The MC5

724
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:26,968
one of the top 100 greatest
guitarists of all time.

725
00:33:26,970 --> 00:33:30,037
He battled drug addiction
and in 1975,

726
00:33:30,039 --> 00:33:32,940
went to prison for two years
for selling cocaine.

727
00:33:32,942 --> 00:33:35,576
He's since provided guitars
and taught music

728
00:33:35,578 --> 00:33:38,211
to inmates at over 50
correctional institutions

729
00:33:38,213 --> 00:33:39,780
throughout the United States.

730
00:33:39,782 --> 00:33:41,815
People think that,
you know,

731
00:33:41,817 --> 00:33:44,052
you have a right to a trial
and everybody goes to trial

732
00:33:44,054 --> 00:33:47,121
and there's the good prosecutor
and the defense attorney,

733
00:33:47,123 --> 00:33:48,355
and they battle it out.

734
00:33:48,357 --> 00:33:50,057
That ain't the way it works.

735
00:33:50,059 --> 00:33:52,125
The way it works
is the prosecutors

736
00:33:52,127 --> 00:33:55,729
stack up the charges on you
and force you to plead guilty

737
00:33:55,731 --> 00:33:58,833
to a lesser charge to keep
from doing life

738
00:33:58,835 --> 00:34:00,735
or double life or triple life.

739
00:34:00,737 --> 00:34:04,305
People don't get trials.
What they get is a deal.

740
00:34:04,307 --> 00:34:07,642
People suggest that anywhere
between, you know,

741
00:34:07,644 --> 00:34:11,646
three or 10 and 15%
of people behind bars

742
00:34:11,648 --> 00:34:15,282
could be innocent of the crimes
of which they were charged.

743
00:34:15,284 --> 00:34:18,353
Michelle Alexander
is a civil rights lawyer,

744
00:34:18,355 --> 00:34:22,090
Stanford law professor and
the author of The New Jim Crow,

745
00:34:22,092 --> 00:34:24,291
one of the most highly
acclaimed studies

746
00:34:24,293 --> 00:34:26,059
of America's
criminal justice system.

747
00:34:26,061 --> 00:34:28,996
The reality is, is that
thousands of people

748
00:34:28,998 --> 00:34:32,032
every year
in the United States

749
00:34:32,034 --> 00:34:35,702
wind up pleading guilty
to crimes

750
00:34:35,704 --> 00:34:37,170
they may not have committed

751
00:34:37,172 --> 00:34:41,175
because they are
either railroaded

752
00:34:41,177 --> 00:34:44,112
by police officers who give them
false information

753
00:34:44,114 --> 00:34:47,981
or coerce confessions
or because they were afraid

754
00:34:47,983 --> 00:34:52,119
of facing, you know, harsh
mandatory minimum sentences

755
00:34:52,121 --> 00:34:55,789
and believe that, you know,
their best chance

756
00:34:55,791 --> 00:34:57,224
is to just take a plea.

757
00:34:57,226 --> 00:34:58,793
You're an average Joe.

758
00:34:58,795 --> 00:35:00,360
You don't know anything about,

759
00:35:00,362 --> 00:35:01,996
the prison,
the politics in county jail.

760
00:35:01,998 --> 00:35:03,764
You don't know anything.

761
00:35:03,766 --> 00:35:05,700
So they put you there
with these people,

762
00:35:05,702 --> 00:35:08,235
and this is how they force you
to take deals, you know.

763
00:35:08,237 --> 00:35:10,371
You're around people that you
see on the news that are,

764
00:35:10,373 --> 00:35:12,407
"Oh, those are horrible people,
and the same guy

765
00:35:12,409 --> 00:35:14,307
you just saw on the news
is your bunkie.

766
00:35:14,309 --> 00:35:16,177
Of course
you're gonna take a deal.

767
00:35:16,179 --> 00:35:18,045
Get me away from these people.
This is the system.

768
00:35:18,047 --> 00:35:19,947
This is what they do to you.

769
00:35:19,949 --> 00:35:22,016
They understand that
if we put this guy in here,

770
00:35:22,018 --> 00:35:23,851
if you did it or not,
it doesn't even matter

771
00:35:23,853 --> 00:35:25,987
because you're looking
at the end result.

772
00:35:25,989 --> 00:35:28,789
I can't take another fucking day
in this place.

773
00:35:28,791 --> 00:35:31,793
Whatever you say, I'll do.
So just let me out.

774
00:35:31,795 --> 00:35:34,195
Once you're arrested
and charged with a crime,

775
00:35:34,197 --> 00:35:36,798
understand you will be taking
a plea bargain

776
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:38,365
nine out of 10 times.

777
00:35:38,367 --> 00:35:41,068
You have to.
The system is against you.

778
00:35:41,070 --> 00:35:43,204
The US justice system isn't
like any justice system

779
00:35:43,206 --> 00:35:46,907
in the world,
a system where 95% of the cases

780
00:35:46,909 --> 00:35:48,409
are resolved by plea bargain.

781
00:35:48,411 --> 00:35:50,278
You know,
it's no longer a trial system.

782
00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:52,045
It's a plea bargain system.

783
00:35:52,047 --> 00:35:55,950
If the enormous percentage
of defendants

784
00:35:55,952 --> 00:35:59,854
who plead guilty
suddenly one day said,

785
00:35:59,856 --> 00:36:03,124
"We're not pleading guilty,"

786
00:36:03,126 --> 00:36:05,860
the system
would grind to a halt.

787
00:36:05,862 --> 00:36:08,396
The court system
does not have the capacity

788
00:36:08,398 --> 00:36:10,097
for the current number
of defendants

789
00:36:10,099 --> 00:36:11,766
that are passing through it.

790
00:36:11,768 --> 00:36:13,200
The whole purpose
of plea bargains

791
00:36:13,202 --> 00:36:15,470
from the perspective
of a prosecutor

792
00:36:15,472 --> 00:36:16,903
raises his conviction rate.

793
00:36:16,905 --> 00:36:18,905
So prosecutors
typically have

794
00:36:18,907 --> 00:36:21,409
in the high-90 percentile
conviction rates,

795
00:36:21,411 --> 00:36:26,213
including those plea bargains
because of course,

796
00:36:26,215 --> 00:36:29,150
from a legal standpoint,
we know that nobody

797
00:36:29,152 --> 00:36:32,119
would ever plead guilty
to something they didn't do.

798
00:36:32,121 --> 00:36:34,822
And so, we agreed
that I would plead guilty

799
00:36:34,824 --> 00:36:37,224
in exchange for
a youth authority sentence.

800
00:36:37,226 --> 00:36:40,161
We went back into trial,
we entered the plea,

801
00:36:40,163 --> 00:36:42,295
and I went down
for a 90-day observation

802
00:36:42,297 --> 00:36:44,432
at the youth authority
in Norwalk.

803
00:36:44,434 --> 00:36:47,300
The challenge is
if you're innocent

804
00:36:47,302 --> 00:36:50,237
and you plead guilty,
you better be a good liar.

805
00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:52,206
You go down there,
you talk to psychologists,

806
00:36:52,208 --> 00:36:53,840
and they ask you,
"So, did you do it?"

807
00:36:53,842 --> 00:36:55,543
Well, you have to say yes

808
00:36:55,545 --> 00:36:56,911
because it has to be
consistent with everything.

809
00:36:56,913 --> 00:36:58,780
"Well, how'd you do it?"

810
00:36:58,782 --> 00:37:01,449
I didn't have adequate answers
for these questions.

811
00:37:01,451 --> 00:37:04,519
So, they didn't buy it,
in a sense.

812
00:37:04,521 --> 00:37:06,287
And, you know, rightly so.

813
00:37:06,289 --> 00:37:08,923
And they sent a report
that was dispositive,

814
00:37:08,925 --> 00:37:11,191
a negative report
back to the judge.

815
00:37:11,193 --> 00:37:13,394
And he said, "I didn't realize
that youth authority

816
00:37:13,396 --> 00:37:16,396
wouldn't be able to help you,
and so I'll allow you

817
00:37:16,398 --> 00:37:19,099
to take back your guilty plea
and go ahead with trial.

818
00:37:19,101 --> 00:37:21,334
Or I'll sentence you
to state prison right now."

819
00:37:21,336 --> 00:37:25,139
So that began
another period of waiting.

820
00:37:25,141 --> 00:37:27,307
[Susan] It would be well
over a year

821
00:37:27,309 --> 00:37:29,911
before Bruce would get
another trial date.

822
00:37:29,913 --> 00:37:32,512
23 hours a day in a cell
in isolation,

823
00:37:32,514 --> 00:37:35,182
no contact with other juveniles,
only counselors,

824
00:37:35,184 --> 00:37:38,985
one hour out for recreation.

825
00:37:38,987 --> 00:37:40,954
And while they might not be
able to introduce

826
00:37:40,956 --> 00:37:43,590
an alternate suspect,
Bruce demanded his lawyer

827
00:37:43,592 --> 00:37:48,429
knock down every argument
the prosecution could make.

828
00:37:48,431 --> 00:37:51,999
The prosecutor said Bruce could
not have seen his mother's body

829
00:37:52,001 --> 00:37:53,934
through the back window
of the house.

830
00:37:53,936 --> 00:37:55,903
The sun's reflection
in the glass

831
00:37:55,905 --> 00:37:58,072
and the furniture
would've blocked his view.

832
00:37:58,074 --> 00:38:00,374
His defense
was the crime scene pictures

833
00:38:00,376 --> 00:38:02,943
were taken
on a much sunnier day.

834
00:38:02,945 --> 00:38:05,579
The prosecution claimed
all the bloody footprints

835
00:38:05,581 --> 00:38:08,316
in the house
matched Bruce's shoes.

836
00:38:08,318 --> 00:38:10,284
Bruce's defense said
his fingerprints

837
00:38:10,286 --> 00:38:12,452
were not found anywhere
in the crime scene.

838
00:38:12,454 --> 00:38:15,222
There was no evidence
that he wiped anything down

839
00:38:15,224 --> 00:38:17,325
or made any attempt
to cover his tracks

840
00:38:17,327 --> 00:38:19,994
because Bruce
had nothing to hide.

841
00:38:19,996 --> 00:38:22,162
The prosecution
called Robert Hughes,

842
00:38:22,164 --> 00:38:25,132
who claimed Bruce confessed
in the 7000 module

843
00:38:25,134 --> 00:38:28,034
of county jail,
and the defense compared

844
00:38:28,036 --> 00:38:30,637
Robert Hughes
to a used car salesman

845
00:38:30,639 --> 00:38:32,572
who wasn't to be trusted.

846
00:38:32,574 --> 00:38:35,943
Then, one day, they rapped
their keys on the door

847
00:38:35,945 --> 00:38:38,345
and they said,
"Lisker, it's a verdict."

848
00:38:38,347 --> 00:38:40,014
And my dad was there.

849
00:38:40,016 --> 00:38:41,514
He was there
just every court day,

850
00:38:41,516 --> 00:38:43,284
and he was right there
in the front row,

851
00:38:43,286 --> 00:38:46,354
and we were just, you know...
eye contact,

852
00:38:46,356 --> 00:38:48,588
but you can't really talk
because you're not allowed to...

853
00:38:48,590 --> 00:38:50,358
it's not a visit, you know,

854
00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:53,461
you're not allowed to visit
with your...

855
00:38:53,463 --> 00:38:58,231
But he was... he was there,
and the jury comes in

856
00:38:58,233 --> 00:39:01,369
one by one, you know,
excruciatingly slow,

857
00:39:01,371 --> 00:39:05,273
sits down,
and the judge speaks.

858
00:39:05,275 --> 00:39:07,575
"Have you reached a verdict?"
"Yes, we have.

859
00:39:07,577 --> 00:39:11,311
In the matter of
People vs. Bruce Lisker,

860
00:39:11,313 --> 00:39:14,014
we the jury find
the defendant..."

861
00:39:14,016 --> 00:39:17,584
and they said "guilty."

862
00:39:17,586 --> 00:39:19,121
And it was just...

863
00:39:21,990 --> 00:39:24,358
the bottom literally fell out
of my world.

864
00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:27,094
That's it.
It's over, isn't it?

865
00:39:27,096 --> 00:39:28,398
It's my life.

866
00:39:35,170 --> 00:39:36,704
When you've been
falsely accused,

867
00:39:36,706 --> 00:39:40,340
your only hope
is for your attorney

868
00:39:40,342 --> 00:39:43,978
to directly challenge
the veracity of the police.

869
00:39:43,980 --> 00:39:46,479
My attorney seemed unwilling
to go that far.

870
00:39:46,481 --> 00:39:48,416
He never outright said,
"Isn't it true

871
00:39:48,418 --> 00:39:50,184
that you're just lying
about all of this?

872
00:39:50,186 --> 00:39:52,219
Here's the investigatory work
that I did

873
00:39:52,221 --> 00:39:54,088
that proves
that you're just a liar."

874
00:39:54,090 --> 00:39:56,222
And he never did that.

875
00:39:56,224 --> 00:39:58,992
[Matthew] And this
is part of a larger problem

876
00:39:58,994 --> 00:40:01,595
that David Sirota
calls the authority bias.

877
00:40:01,597 --> 00:40:04,498
Authority bias meaning
the government, an institution

878
00:40:04,500 --> 00:40:07,068
says somebody did something,
and they must've done it.

879
00:40:07,070 --> 00:40:09,704
And what's strange about it
is that this is a country

880
00:40:09,706 --> 00:40:11,671
that in one way
the American zeitgeist is,

881
00:40:11,673 --> 00:40:13,441
"I don't trust... the government
can't do anything right.

882
00:40:13,443 --> 00:40:15,508
I don't trust anything
the government says."

883
00:40:15,510 --> 00:40:18,179
And yet at another level,
at the very same time

884
00:40:18,181 --> 00:40:20,613
that that's the dominant
rhetorical paradigm

885
00:40:20,615 --> 00:40:24,684
in our politics,
there is this authority bias

886
00:40:24,686 --> 00:40:28,054
where, when the government
accuses somebody of a crime

887
00:40:28,056 --> 00:40:31,425
or says somebody's a wrongdoer,
reflexively, millions

888
00:40:31,427 --> 00:40:33,561
and millions of Americans
think it must be true.

889
00:40:33,563 --> 00:40:35,329
- Am I free to go?
- No, you're not.

890
00:40:35,331 --> 00:40:36,731
Your freedom is secondary.

891
00:40:36,733 --> 00:40:38,532
You're not allowed
to be holding me.

892
00:40:38,534 --> 00:40:40,266
Would you like to be placed
under arrest?

893
00:40:40,268 --> 00:40:42,338
You're not allowed
to arrest me.

894
00:40:47,643 --> 00:40:51,746
In the 1960s, Yale University
psychologist Stanley Milgram

895
00:40:51,748 --> 00:40:54,481
ran an experiment to see how
often human beings

896
00:40:54,483 --> 00:40:57,117
would obey an authority figure
and follow orders,

897
00:40:57,119 --> 00:40:59,487
even if doing so
ran completely against

898
00:40:59,489 --> 00:41:01,389
their personal code
of morality.

899
00:41:01,391 --> 00:41:03,324
How is it possible,
I asked myself,

900
00:41:03,326 --> 00:41:06,159
that ordinary people
who are courteous and decent

901
00:41:06,161 --> 00:41:10,264
in everyday life
can act callously, inhumanely,

902
00:41:10,266 --> 00:41:12,266
without any limitations
of conscious?

903
00:41:12,268 --> 00:41:14,367
450 volts.

904
00:41:14,369 --> 00:41:16,804
In Milgram's experiment,
participants were told

905
00:41:16,806 --> 00:41:20,173
by a scientist in uniform
to electrocute a subject

906
00:41:20,175 --> 00:41:24,110
for each wrong answer on a test
at ever increasing voltages.

907
00:41:24,112 --> 00:41:26,146
Are you all right?

908
00:41:26,148 --> 00:41:28,516
[man]
Please continue, teacher.

909
00:41:28,518 --> 00:41:31,251
- Do I keep giving him shocks?
- Continue.

910
00:41:31,253 --> 00:41:33,354
- I'm up to 390.
- Continue, please.

911
00:41:33,356 --> 00:41:35,488
[buzzer buzzes]

912
00:41:35,490 --> 00:41:39,360
The participants had no idea
the subjects were just actors.

913
00:41:39,362 --> 00:41:41,128
And although many protested,

914
00:41:41,130 --> 00:41:43,296
Milgram
found a strong majority,

915
00:41:43,298 --> 00:41:47,168
over 65% of participants
would shock the subject

916
00:41:47,170 --> 00:41:48,769
to the point of killing them

917
00:41:48,771 --> 00:41:51,572
if instructed
by an authority figure.

918
00:41:51,574 --> 00:41:54,240
- 330 volts.
- [lever clicks]

919
00:41:54,242 --> 00:41:56,744
[man screams]

920
00:41:56,746 --> 00:41:59,612
Let me out of here!
Let me out of here!

921
00:41:59,614 --> 00:42:02,416
My heart's bothering me!
Let me out, I tell you!

922
00:42:02,418 --> 00:42:04,084
Let me out of here!

923
00:42:04,086 --> 00:42:05,519
You have no right
to hold me here!

924
00:42:05,521 --> 00:42:08,188
Let me out! Let me out!
Let me out!

925
00:42:08,190 --> 00:42:10,458
Milgram concluded
that very few people

926
00:42:10,460 --> 00:42:13,293
have the psychological capacity
to resist authority.

927
00:42:13,295 --> 00:42:15,496
[man] The way we have
the system set up,

928
00:42:15,498 --> 00:42:18,833
the policeman's uniform,
gun at their side, the badge,

929
00:42:18,835 --> 00:42:22,536
they're treated with the same
deference as our military.

930
00:42:22,538 --> 00:42:25,338
It's like they're infallible.

931
00:42:25,340 --> 00:42:28,641
With judges, we drape them
in robes like priests

932
00:42:28,643 --> 00:42:31,211
and literally put them up
on a pedestal.

933
00:42:31,213 --> 00:42:33,213
The system hierarchy,
which has almost

934
00:42:33,215 --> 00:42:36,249
no real checks and balances,
no accountability...

935
00:42:36,251 --> 00:42:39,353
Or transparency, is so deeply
entrenched in our culture...

936
00:42:39,355 --> 00:42:41,655
Most people would never
even think to question it.

937
00:42:41,657 --> 00:42:43,626
We never see how flawed it is.

938
00:42:52,235 --> 00:42:55,568
How do we resist
the natural instinct to obey?

939
00:42:55,570 --> 00:42:58,139
Don't blindly trust
authority figures.

940
00:42:58,141 --> 00:43:00,608
If you're given an order
that feels questionable,

941
00:43:00,610 --> 00:43:02,376
check your conscience.

942
00:43:02,378 --> 00:43:04,612
The time to argue
with a police officer

943
00:43:04,614 --> 00:43:06,546
is not the side of the road.

944
00:43:06,548 --> 00:43:08,682
Pick your battles wisely.

945
00:43:08,684 --> 00:43:11,485
If you can challenge authority

946
00:43:11,487 --> 00:43:14,155
without risking more
than you're willing to lose

947
00:43:14,157 --> 00:43:16,724
and something feels wrong,
don't obey.

948
00:43:16,726 --> 00:43:18,592
Don't obey
even the smallest commands

949
00:43:18,594 --> 00:43:20,494
if you feel that they're wrong.

950
00:43:20,496 --> 00:43:22,362
The more that we accept
and obey, the more we become

951
00:43:22,364 --> 00:43:25,166
- blind followers.
- And now you're under control.

952
00:43:25,168 --> 00:43:27,534
[Matthew] In a world
which is absolutely insane.

953
00:43:27,536 --> 00:43:29,769
To free ourselves
from this authoritarian system

954
00:43:29,771 --> 00:43:31,604
in which
we've now found ourselves

955
00:43:31,606 --> 00:43:33,407
is going to take
a massive effort.

956
00:43:33,409 --> 00:43:37,244
And if you're afraid, I get it.
Find an ally.

957
00:43:37,246 --> 00:43:38,878
Milgram's experiment told us

958
00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:41,215
there's is great
psychological power

959
00:43:41,217 --> 00:43:44,287
against authoritarianism
in groups.

960
00:43:48,291 --> 00:43:51,595
Unfortunately, these techniques
are not taught in school.

961
00:43:54,230 --> 00:43:56,463
[Bruce] And so if you're innocent
and you find yourself in prison,

962
00:43:56,465 --> 00:43:58,768
it's hard to have
any hope at all.

963
00:44:01,804 --> 00:44:04,537
[Susan] A year later,
Mike Ryan robbed

964
00:44:04,539 --> 00:44:06,539
another woman at knife point

965
00:44:06,541 --> 00:44:09,342
and was sentenced
to six years for armed robbery.

966
00:44:09,344 --> 00:44:11,311
But other than Bruce
and his father,

967
00:44:11,313 --> 00:44:13,847
nobody had connected Mike Ryan
to the murder

968
00:44:13,849 --> 00:44:16,717
besides other inmates
like Jeff Deskovic,

969
00:44:16,719 --> 00:44:19,586
another wrongfully convicted
man trying to prove

970
00:44:19,588 --> 00:44:21,822
his innocence and losing hope.

971
00:44:21,824 --> 00:44:24,825
I remember reading
about Bruce Lisker's case

972
00:44:24,827 --> 00:44:27,695
in the magazine
Justice Denied.

973
00:44:27,697 --> 00:44:29,496
They allow people who allege

974
00:44:29,498 --> 00:44:31,465
that they've been
wrongfully convicted

975
00:44:31,467 --> 00:44:35,235
who have a plausible story
to write about their case

976
00:44:35,237 --> 00:44:37,637
with the hope that more
public attention will come.

977
00:44:37,639 --> 00:44:41,342
When I read about Bruce's case,
it was reaffirming to me

978
00:44:41,344 --> 00:44:43,978
that I was on the right path

979
00:44:43,980 --> 00:44:47,581
because even though
he hadn't been exonerated,

980
00:44:47,583 --> 00:44:51,251
he was still looking for help,
he hadn't given up.

981
00:44:51,253 --> 00:44:54,854
[Matthew] You can't give up,
no matter how long it takes.

982
00:44:54,856 --> 00:44:57,590
And it could take a long time.

983
00:44:57,592 --> 00:44:59,392
One of the biggest factors
in why the US

984
00:44:59,394 --> 00:45:01,961
has the largest prison
population in the world

985
00:45:01,963 --> 00:45:04,597
is the length
of our prison sentences.

986
00:45:04,599 --> 00:45:08,034
The average sentence
for burglary in Canada

987
00:45:08,036 --> 00:45:10,403
and in England
is around six months.

988
00:45:10,405 --> 00:45:14,474
In the US,
it's around a year and a half.

989
00:45:14,476 --> 00:45:17,543
In other developed countries,
a drug offense might land you

990
00:45:17,545 --> 00:45:19,947
a year,
year and a half in jail.

991
00:45:19,949 --> 00:45:23,349
In the US,
it's five to ten years or more.

992
00:45:23,351 --> 00:45:24,985
If you're a black man
in America,

993
00:45:24,987 --> 00:45:27,920
your sentence
will be 20% longer

994
00:45:27,922 --> 00:45:31,525
than if you're a white man
for the exact same crime.

995
00:45:31,527 --> 00:45:34,862
The federal law still
holds marijuana

996
00:45:34,864 --> 00:45:39,066
as equal to heroin,
which is unfathomable.

997
00:45:39,068 --> 00:45:41,601
These bullshit laws
that are old

998
00:45:41,603 --> 00:45:45,371
and prehistoric
needs to be changed.

999
00:45:45,373 --> 00:45:47,974
I met a woman that
had a first offense,

1000
00:45:47,976 --> 00:45:52,545
nothing more than $5 worth
of crack cocaine

1001
00:45:52,547 --> 00:45:55,481
and was sentenced to jail
in 1979

1002
00:45:55,483 --> 00:45:59,320
and didn't come home
until 2014.

1003
00:45:59,322 --> 00:46:01,354
And she said to me,

1004
00:46:01,356 --> 00:46:03,692
"I don't know how
to use no phone.

1005
00:46:08,797 --> 00:46:13,335
I don't know how to send a text.
I don't know how to email."

1006
00:46:18,673 --> 00:46:20,409
I'm sorry.

1007
00:46:23,878 --> 00:46:25,845
High incarceration rates

1008
00:46:25,847 --> 00:46:28,715
and longer than necessary
prison terms

1009
00:46:28,717 --> 00:46:30,918
have not played
a significant role

1010
00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:33,686
in materially improving
public safety,

1011
00:46:33,688 --> 00:46:36,757
reducing crime,
or strengthening communities.

1012
00:46:36,759 --> 00:46:39,525
In fact,
the opposite is often true.

1013
00:46:39,527 --> 00:46:41,128
And as it turns out,

1014
00:46:41,130 --> 00:46:43,429
we've known this
for a long time.

1015
00:46:43,431 --> 00:46:46,499
In the 1970s,
criminologists had developed

1016
00:46:46,501 --> 00:46:50,003
this consensus that, you know,
prisons just didn't work.

1017
00:46:50,005 --> 00:46:53,639
But this consensus
was interrupted

1018
00:46:53,641 --> 00:46:57,443
by a political movement,
racial anxiety,

1019
00:46:57,445 --> 00:47:00,813
racial resentment, and also
to capitalize on, you know,

1020
00:47:00,815 --> 00:47:03,784
growing public fear as crime
rates were beginning to rise.

1021
00:47:03,786 --> 00:47:05,818
And, you know,
as politicians found

1022
00:47:05,820 --> 00:47:08,488
that this get-tough rhetoric,
you know, sold well

1023
00:47:08,490 --> 00:47:10,724
to the public,
all of the research and studies

1024
00:47:10,726 --> 00:47:12,726
that suggested that prisons
didn't work

1025
00:47:12,728 --> 00:47:14,927
were shoved lightly
to the side,

1026
00:47:14,929 --> 00:47:16,896
and we went on
a prison-building boom

1027
00:47:16,898 --> 00:47:19,633
unlike anything the world
had ever seen before.

1028
00:47:19,635 --> 00:47:22,168
And this was compounded
by the war on drugs.

1029
00:47:22,170 --> 00:47:24,438
The drug war was born

1030
00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:27,874
with a particular group
of people in mind as the enemy.

1031
00:47:27,876 --> 00:47:30,510
We must wage what I have called
total war

1032
00:47:30,512 --> 00:47:34,014
against public enemy number one,
the problem of dangerous drugs.

1033
00:47:34,016 --> 00:47:37,150
Poor people, particularly,
black people

1034
00:47:37,152 --> 00:47:39,987
were defined as the enemy
in the war on drugs.

1035
00:47:39,989 --> 00:47:42,021
They were defined
that way politically

1036
00:47:42,023 --> 00:47:44,023
but also through media imagery.

1037
00:47:44,025 --> 00:47:46,193
[male reporter] The nation's
crack cocaine epidemic

1038
00:47:46,195 --> 00:47:48,095
is taking
a new and dangerous turn.

1039
00:47:48,097 --> 00:47:50,898
[Wayne] White people,
brown people, and black people

1040
00:47:50,900 --> 00:47:55,536
all use drugs
and sell drugs at the same rate.

1041
00:47:55,538 --> 00:47:58,805
But if we look at who's serving
time in America's prisons...

1042
00:47:58,807 --> 00:48:00,874
[Matthew] The law enforcement
apparatus

1043
00:48:00,876 --> 00:48:03,811
is deployed disproportionately
against people of color.

1044
00:48:03,813 --> 00:48:05,679
Oh, look at that.

1045
00:48:05,681 --> 00:48:08,782
And the war on drugs also bears
a major responsibility

1046
00:48:08,784 --> 00:48:11,184
for racial bias
in our prison system

1047
00:48:11,186 --> 00:48:13,987
as African-Americans
are arrested for drug offenses

1048
00:48:13,989 --> 00:48:17,891
at 10 times the rate of whites
and serve longer sentences.

1049
00:48:17,893 --> 00:48:21,628
Although people of color make
up only 30% of our populations,

1050
00:48:21,630 --> 00:48:23,963
they make up 60% of our prisons.

1051
00:48:23,965 --> 00:48:25,999
By the most
conservative estimates,

1052
00:48:26,001 --> 00:48:28,568
if we keep going
the way we're going,

1053
00:48:28,570 --> 00:48:30,871
one in four black men born today
will go to jail

1054
00:48:30,873 --> 00:48:32,738
at some point in their lifetime.

1055
00:48:32,740 --> 00:48:36,175
An estimated 5.3
million Americans are denied

1056
00:48:36,177 --> 00:48:39,813
the right to vote based
on a past felony conviction.

1057
00:48:39,815 --> 00:48:43,050
And that impacts men of color
more than anyone else.

1058
00:48:43,052 --> 00:48:45,751
This has got to change.

1059
00:48:45,753 --> 00:48:49,555
You know, with any war,
there is some collateral damage,

1060
00:48:49,557 --> 00:48:51,992
and although white people
may not have been

1061
00:48:51,994 --> 00:48:55,061
the original targets,
they may not have been

1062
00:48:55,063 --> 00:48:58,565
the inspiration for the war,

1063
00:48:58,567 --> 00:49:01,969
many white people,
particularly poor

1064
00:49:01,971 --> 00:49:06,206
and working-class white folks,
have found themselves swept in.

1065
00:49:06,208 --> 00:49:09,041
I'm very patriotic.
Love my country.

1066
00:49:09,043 --> 00:49:10,644
Not real happy
with my government,

1067
00:49:10,646 --> 00:49:12,211
but I love my country.

1068
00:49:12,213 --> 00:49:14,180
Paul Rickett
is a US Army veteran

1069
00:49:14,182 --> 00:49:16,182
who served in the Gulf War.

1070
00:49:16,184 --> 00:49:20,954
I was out like about three weeks
when I got busted for LSD.

1071
00:49:20,956 --> 00:49:23,257
I never sold acid.
I never made a dime off of acid.

1072
00:49:23,259 --> 00:49:25,525
I took acid on the weekends.

1073
00:49:25,527 --> 00:49:27,860
I reimbursed my buddy
for what he paid for it

1074
00:49:27,862 --> 00:49:30,130
so that he wasn't giving it
to me for free.

1075
00:49:30,132 --> 00:49:32,099
If you want to call
that trafficking,

1076
00:49:32,101 --> 00:49:35,168
then I guess I'm a trafficker,
But it was personal use.

1077
00:49:35,170 --> 00:49:36,903
We would just fry
and play Frisbee

1078
00:49:36,905 --> 00:49:38,639
and listen to rock 'n' roll.

1079
00:49:38,641 --> 00:49:40,773
Drug offenses
are another major reason

1080
00:49:40,775 --> 00:49:43,776
for America's overflowing
prison population.

1081
00:49:43,778 --> 00:49:46,045
The US locks up more people
for drugs

1082
00:49:46,047 --> 00:49:48,148
than any other country
on the planet.

1083
00:49:48,150 --> 00:49:51,017
There are over
half a million Americans

1084
00:49:51,019 --> 00:49:53,320
locked up for drugs
on any given day,

1085
00:49:53,322 --> 00:49:55,188
and Paul was one of them.

1086
00:49:55,190 --> 00:49:56,990
He was facing a lot of time.

1087
00:49:56,992 --> 00:49:58,758
[Paul] Facing 10-year
mandatory minimum.

1088
00:49:58,760 --> 00:50:00,327
Then they offered him a deal.

1089
00:50:00,329 --> 00:50:01,929
For not forcing the government
to go through

1090
00:50:01,931 --> 00:50:03,729
the time and expense of trial.

1091
00:50:03,731 --> 00:50:06,099
All he had to do
was plead guilty.

1092
00:50:06,101 --> 00:50:09,769
And after some painful
consideration, I took it.

1093
00:50:09,771 --> 00:50:12,072
And after all those years
in prison,

1094
00:50:12,074 --> 00:50:13,941
one thing bothered Paul
the most.

1095
00:50:13,943 --> 00:50:15,708
You know, here we are
in this modern society

1096
00:50:15,710 --> 00:50:17,276
where we're a melting pot

1097
00:50:17,278 --> 00:50:19,713
and everybody's
getting along for the most part.

1098
00:50:19,715 --> 00:50:21,280
And then in prison,
you know,

1099
00:50:21,282 --> 00:50:22,715
it's completely the opposite,
you know.

1100
00:50:22,717 --> 00:50:24,251
As soon as you get in there,

1101
00:50:24,253 --> 00:50:26,153
if you weren't a racist
when you went in,

1102
00:50:26,155 --> 00:50:28,188
they require you to be one
as soon as you get in.

1103
00:50:28,190 --> 00:50:30,324
Every single jail
and prison in America,

1104
00:50:30,326 --> 00:50:33,793
every one I've ever been to,
it's all divided up by race.

1105
00:50:33,795 --> 00:50:35,795
Everything's segregated
in there.

1106
00:50:35,797 --> 00:50:38,632
You have the white phone,
and you have the Mexican phone,

1107
00:50:38,634 --> 00:50:41,068
and you have the black phone,
and you have the Asian phone.

1108
00:50:41,070 --> 00:50:43,804
It seems the racism that
helped spark the explosion

1109
00:50:43,806 --> 00:50:45,972
of America's prison system

1110
00:50:45,974 --> 00:50:48,742
still burns like a raging fire
within its walls

1111
00:50:48,744 --> 00:50:51,144
shamefully hidden
from the public eye.

1112
00:50:51,146 --> 00:50:54,081
[Bruce] It was a very strict
code of,

1113
00:50:54,083 --> 00:50:56,617
depending on your race,
this is what we do.

1114
00:50:56,619 --> 00:51:01,220
Even the prison guards
promote this.

1115
00:51:01,222 --> 00:51:04,758
Some people theorize
that it's a way for the guards

1116
00:51:04,760 --> 00:51:08,362
to keep control over us
because if we all got along,

1117
00:51:08,364 --> 00:51:11,764
then who would really
be running the prison?

1118
00:51:11,766 --> 00:51:13,300
Us or the guards?

1119
00:51:13,302 --> 00:51:15,001
There's one guard
for every 100 guys.

1120
00:51:15,003 --> 00:51:17,104
Prison society
is further divided

1121
00:51:17,106 --> 00:51:19,106
from race into gangs.

1122
00:51:19,108 --> 00:51:21,240
So it helps
to either be in one

1123
00:51:21,242 --> 00:51:23,175
or be from
the right neighborhood.

1124
00:51:23,177 --> 00:51:25,646
On my ride to prison,
the guy that was next to me,

1125
00:51:25,648 --> 00:51:27,813
he was just a regular dude
from Long Beach.

1126
00:51:27,815 --> 00:51:29,650
He played basketball
at Poly high school.

1127
00:51:29,652 --> 00:51:31,117
He was a regular dude.
He had a flat top.

1128
00:51:31,119 --> 00:51:33,086
You know what I mean,
and, you know,

1129
00:51:33,088 --> 00:51:36,757
he was going to prison for...
he had took a deal for...

1130
00:51:36,759 --> 00:51:39,191
I believe
it was like spousal abuse.

1131
00:51:39,193 --> 00:51:41,094
Him and his girl...
it was a terrorist threat.

1132
00:51:41,096 --> 00:51:43,796
In the United States,
a terrorist threat

1133
00:51:43,798 --> 00:51:46,032
covers any statement
that contains

1134
00:51:46,034 --> 00:51:48,334
the threat of violence
against another person.

1135
00:51:48,336 --> 00:51:51,170
In this case, Reggie is talking
about an argument a man

1136
00:51:51,172 --> 00:51:53,373
was having with his girlfriend
where he threatened her.

1137
00:51:53,375 --> 00:51:55,242
He told her he was gonna
beat her ass

1138
00:51:55,244 --> 00:51:56,976
or whatever it was,
it was a terrorist threat.

1139
00:51:56,978 --> 00:51:58,445
There was no physical violence
or anything,

1140
00:51:58,447 --> 00:52:00,347
but he took a deal
for 18 months,

1141
00:52:00,349 --> 00:52:02,349
and he was only supposed
to do like eight months.

1142
00:52:02,351 --> 00:52:04,985
You take a deal for 18 months,
you're gonna do five or 10.

1143
00:52:04,987 --> 00:52:06,720
So he fell for the bullshit.

1144
00:52:06,722 --> 00:52:08,155
The first night we got there,

1145
00:52:08,157 --> 00:52:09,822
they ask who's
from South Central.

1146
00:52:09,824 --> 00:52:11,858
I'm from South Central.
Where you from?

1147
00:52:11,860 --> 00:52:14,026
Explain to them where I'm from.
Your homeboys are over here.

1148
00:52:14,028 --> 00:52:16,195
They're gonna direct you
where you're supposed to go.

1149
00:52:16,197 --> 00:52:18,097
This guy,
he didn't have anybody.

1150
00:52:18,099 --> 00:52:19,932
He was just from Long Beach,
you know?

1151
00:52:19,934 --> 00:52:22,269
He just was a regular dude,
you know?

1152
00:52:22,271 --> 00:52:24,804
And that night I'm on my bunk,

1153
00:52:24,806 --> 00:52:26,972
and I'm listening
to what's going on and I'm...

1154
00:52:26,974 --> 00:52:28,742
at first,
I thought they were playing

1155
00:52:28,744 --> 00:52:29,976
because that's what
it started off

1156
00:52:29,978 --> 00:52:31,845
was this is the whole gimmick.

1157
00:52:31,847 --> 00:52:34,815
Everything is a ploy
to lead to something else.

1158
00:52:34,817 --> 00:52:36,849
That's why they
tell you don't let anybody

1159
00:52:36,851 --> 00:52:38,485
touch you in jail,
and he didn't know this.

1160
00:52:38,487 --> 00:52:40,186
He didn't understand
that you're not supposed

1161
00:52:40,188 --> 00:52:41,787
to wrestle with somebody
in the cell

1162
00:52:41,789 --> 00:52:43,856
because this is what
they're doing,

1163
00:52:43,858 --> 00:52:46,193
trying to see if they can get
you in a vulnerable position

1164
00:52:46,195 --> 00:52:48,028
I'm on my bunk,
and I'm listening to it,

1165
00:52:48,030 --> 00:52:49,963
and I'm thinking, damn,
ain't somebody

1166
00:52:49,965 --> 00:52:52,298
gonna come help this dude?

1167
00:52:52,300 --> 00:52:54,101
I mean, and they didn't.

1168
00:52:54,103 --> 00:52:57,771
That night in his cell,
they raped him.

1169
00:52:57,773 --> 00:53:00,440
[Matthew] According
to the Department of Justice,

1170
00:53:00,442 --> 00:53:03,744
nearly one in 10 prisoners
suffer sexual abuse

1171
00:53:03,746 --> 00:53:06,045
while in American jails
and prisons.

1172
00:53:06,047 --> 00:53:08,782
A quarter of those
also reported serious injury

1173
00:53:08,784 --> 00:53:12,251
like chipped or lost teeth,
being knocked unconscious,

1174
00:53:12,253 --> 00:53:14,820
broken bones, or worse.

1175
00:53:14,822 --> 00:53:17,858
So let's keep that in mind
the next time a talk show host,

1176
00:53:17,860 --> 00:53:20,193
a government official,
or anybody

1177
00:53:20,195 --> 00:53:22,461
makes a joke about prison rape.

1178
00:53:22,463 --> 00:53:24,898
The fact that we find
these jokes acceptable

1179
00:53:24,900 --> 00:53:28,001
shows just how far we've gone
in normalizing rape

1180
00:53:28,003 --> 00:53:30,503
as a just punishment
for any offense.

1181
00:53:30,505 --> 00:53:33,240
As long as we keep imagining
that people in prison

1182
00:53:33,242 --> 00:53:35,508
are subhuman,
that they're predatory

1183
00:53:35,510 --> 00:53:37,543
and incorrigible
and nothing like you and me,

1184
00:53:37,545 --> 00:53:40,479
why would we lose any sleep
about what their lives are like

1185
00:53:40,481 --> 00:53:42,081
or what's happening to them?

1186
00:53:42,083 --> 00:53:45,017
There are now over 5,000 jails

1187
00:53:45,019 --> 00:53:46,887
and prisons
in the United States,

1188
00:53:46,889 --> 00:53:50,389
more than we have colleges
and universities.

1189
00:53:50,391 --> 00:53:53,092
In many parts of America,
particularly the South,

1190
00:53:53,094 --> 00:53:55,427
there are more people
living in prisons

1191
00:53:55,429 --> 00:53:57,363
then on college campuses

1192
00:53:57,365 --> 00:54:00,869
and a multi-billion-dollar
business has emerged.

1193
00:54:02,538 --> 00:54:04,503
Brace yourself.

1194
00:54:04,505 --> 00:54:07,541
This is going to sound
too barbaric to be real,

1195
00:54:07,543 --> 00:54:11,945
like medieval times,
a science-fiction horror film,

1196
00:54:11,947 --> 00:54:14,213
or a French
historical musical.

1197
00:54:14,215 --> 00:54:16,550
The 13th amendment
of the Constitution

1198
00:54:16,552 --> 00:54:19,519
outlawed slavery,
but it still allows

1199
00:54:19,521 --> 00:54:23,055
for forced labor
if you're in prison.

1200
00:54:23,057 --> 00:54:26,425
Today, there are roughly
1 million American prisoners

1201
00:54:26,427 --> 00:54:30,095
working for corporations
and in government industries.

1202
00:54:30,097 --> 00:54:32,199
There is no minimum wage,

1203
00:54:32,201 --> 00:54:34,934
so you could make as little
as a few cents an hour.

1204
00:54:34,936 --> 00:54:37,304
Bruce worked
in the kitchen for years

1205
00:54:37,306 --> 00:54:40,941
then in clerical jobs making
a maximum of 32 cents an hour.

1206
00:54:40,943 --> 00:54:44,845
It sounds like another time
or a Coen Brothers movie

1207
00:54:44,847 --> 00:54:46,612
but it's happening right now.

1208
00:54:46,614 --> 00:54:50,016
There are no benefits,
no organizing, and no strikes.

1209
00:54:50,018 --> 00:54:53,523
And if you refuse to work,
you can get put in the hole.

1210
00:54:56,458 --> 00:55:00,193
This is big business for state
and for-profit prisons

1211
00:55:00,195 --> 00:55:04,530
who sell inmate labor
to Fortune 500's like Chevron,

1212
00:55:04,532 --> 00:55:08,869
Bank of America, AT&T,
and the US military.

1213
00:55:08,871 --> 00:55:11,403
Nearly half the population
in prison

1214
00:55:11,405 --> 00:55:14,474
make military uniforms,
body armor, helmets,

1215
00:55:14,476 --> 00:55:17,043
and provide labor
as subcontractors

1216
00:55:17,045 --> 00:55:19,014
for Fortune 500s.

1217
00:55:21,983 --> 00:55:25,251
They make office furniture,
man call centers,

1218
00:55:25,253 --> 00:55:28,487
take hotel reservations,
work in slaughterhouses.

1219
00:55:28,489 --> 00:55:33,559
Or manufacture textiles, shoes,
and clothing for pennies.

1220
00:55:33,561 --> 00:55:36,595
Prison labor
is part of why some state

1221
00:55:36,597 --> 00:55:40,335
and private prisons yield
a multibillion-dollar profit.

1222
00:55:42,304 --> 00:55:45,005
Not only are prisoners
used to make products,

1223
00:55:45,007 --> 00:55:47,907
prisoners themselves
are sold as products.

1224
00:55:47,909 --> 00:55:49,608
Since the 1980s,

1225
00:55:49,610 --> 00:55:51,912
the prison population
has boomed.

1226
00:55:51,914 --> 00:55:55,682
Now, 150 private prisons
are paid billions

1227
00:55:55,684 --> 00:55:58,017
by state governments
to house prisoners.

1228
00:55:58,019 --> 00:56:01,220
Private prisons do so well,
some of their biggest investors

1229
00:56:01,222 --> 00:56:04,958
are banks like Wells Fargo
or Bank of America.

1230
00:56:04,960 --> 00:56:09,996
Many private prisons demand
90 or even 100% occupancy,

1231
00:56:09,998 --> 00:56:13,333
meaning the taxpayer
foots the bill for every bed,

1232
00:56:13,335 --> 00:56:15,168
even the fucking empty ones.

1233
00:56:15,170 --> 00:56:18,470
For-profit prisons
are incentivized

1234
00:56:18,472 --> 00:56:21,641
to incarcerate more people
and for longer periods of time

1235
00:56:21,643 --> 00:56:24,711
to fill their quotas,
and to make sure that happens,

1236
00:56:24,713 --> 00:56:28,447
they spend millions pushing
tough-on-crime bills.

1237
00:56:28,449 --> 00:56:31,418
Today, nearly 10%
of America's prisoners

1238
00:56:31,420 --> 00:56:33,420
are held in private prisons.

1239
00:56:33,422 --> 00:56:37,423
They also spend millions
influencing immigration law.

1240
00:56:37,425 --> 00:56:40,260
Half of detained immigrants
are held in private prisons

1241
00:56:40,262 --> 00:56:43,262
for indefinite periods of time,
often years,

1242
00:56:43,264 --> 00:56:45,231
exposed to brutal conditions.

1243
00:56:45,233 --> 00:56:46,967
And because
they're not Americans,

1244
00:56:46,969 --> 00:56:49,068
the government
gives them no right

1245
00:56:49,070 --> 00:56:53,072
to even the most basic legal
representation or medical care.

1246
00:56:53,074 --> 00:56:56,008
The prisons
are private companies.

1247
00:56:56,010 --> 00:57:01,481
Why would they want
to decrease violence, okay?

1248
00:57:01,483 --> 00:57:03,182
Why would they want to improve

1249
00:57:03,184 --> 00:57:06,219
the quality of life
of these people?

1250
00:57:06,221 --> 00:57:09,021
And then we call it justice,
okay?

1251
00:57:09,023 --> 00:57:11,992
It's blood money.
It's bad karma.

1252
00:57:11,994 --> 00:57:14,661
It's going to come back
and haunt us

1253
00:57:14,663 --> 00:57:17,197
to the point of extinction.

1254
00:57:17,199 --> 00:57:19,666
[male reporter] Three housing
facilities were set on fire.

1255
00:57:19,668 --> 00:57:22,302
It apparently all started
over inmate frustration

1256
00:57:22,304 --> 00:57:24,269
over the quality
of medical care.

1257
00:57:24,271 --> 00:57:25,637
[Matthew]
Perhaps needless to say,

1258
00:57:25,639 --> 00:57:27,606
being treated like chattel

1259
00:57:27,608 --> 00:57:29,575
and used as forced labor
for pennies an hour

1260
00:57:29,577 --> 00:57:32,077
is not that popular
on the inside,

1261
00:57:32,079 --> 00:57:34,213
but that's not the worst of it.

1262
00:57:34,215 --> 00:57:35,782
The socks
they issue you are used.

1263
00:57:35,784 --> 00:57:38,385
The underwear
they issue you is used.

1264
00:57:38,387 --> 00:57:40,787
You gotta buy things
like shaving equipment

1265
00:57:40,789 --> 00:57:45,157
and food and sweats and socks,
underwear, T-shirts.

1266
00:57:45,159 --> 00:57:48,394
The canteen, or commissary,
is more expensive

1267
00:57:48,396 --> 00:57:50,563
than any convenience store
on the outside.

1268
00:57:50,565 --> 00:57:52,599
It's definitely advisable
to have money

1269
00:57:52,601 --> 00:57:54,233
so that you can get started.

1270
00:57:54,235 --> 00:57:56,235
If you don't have 50
to 100 bucks

1271
00:57:56,237 --> 00:57:58,371
coming into your books
or your account every month,

1272
00:57:58,373 --> 00:58:00,141
then you're gonna need a hustle.

1273
00:58:02,777 --> 00:58:05,345
This is Philip.
He was convicted of robbery.

1274
00:58:05,347 --> 00:58:08,748
As crooked as we are out here,

1275
00:58:08,750 --> 00:58:10,550
we're as crooked
inside there, too.

1276
00:58:10,552 --> 00:58:13,420
Whether it's drugs,
whether it's alcohol.

1277
00:58:13,422 --> 00:58:15,188
You got people
that they don't drink,

1278
00:58:15,190 --> 00:58:17,657
but they manufacture
prune-o all day.

1279
00:58:17,659 --> 00:58:19,425
In San Quentin

1280
00:58:19,427 --> 00:58:21,327
in the boiler room,
they found a still.

1281
00:58:21,329 --> 00:58:23,362
Friends that I knew
had actually gotten so far

1282
00:58:23,364 --> 00:58:25,465
as to, like,
get the copper tubing

1283
00:58:25,467 --> 00:58:28,467
from industries over,
and so we had copper tubing.

1284
00:58:28,469 --> 00:58:31,336
[Phillip] They were making
moonshine in San Quentin.

1285
00:58:31,338 --> 00:58:32,771
[Bruce] Mainly they drank it.

1286
00:58:32,773 --> 00:58:35,474
Did I have a hustle?
Sold drugs.

1287
00:58:35,476 --> 00:58:37,610
Through our visits
through a correctional officer.

1288
00:58:37,612 --> 00:58:40,780
Prison is like a networking
college for criminals.

1289
00:58:40,782 --> 00:58:43,182
[Phillip] The majority
of the guys in prison are there

1290
00:58:43,184 --> 00:58:45,217
trying to learn
how to do crime better.

1291
00:58:45,219 --> 00:58:47,554
This is just kind of a school

1292
00:58:47,556 --> 00:58:50,490
for criminals
to learn more to be criminals.

1293
00:58:50,492 --> 00:58:52,358
And that's not an exaggeration.

1294
00:58:52,360 --> 00:58:55,228
A 2011 study
from Ohio University

1295
00:58:55,230 --> 00:58:58,630
showed that after
spending time in prison,

1296
00:58:58,632 --> 00:59:01,501
those continuing to engage
in crime

1297
00:59:01,503 --> 00:59:04,269
see their criminal earnings
increase

1298
00:59:04,271 --> 00:59:08,307
on an average
by $11,000 a year.

1299
00:59:08,309 --> 00:59:10,876
Jody Lewen
is the executive director

1300
00:59:10,878 --> 00:59:12,878
of the Prison University
Project.

1301
00:59:12,880 --> 00:59:15,481
There are thousands
and thousands of people

1302
00:59:15,483 --> 00:59:17,117
in the system.

1303
00:59:17,119 --> 00:59:18,818
All they want
is the opportunity

1304
00:59:18,820 --> 00:59:21,487
to get a good education
and to be hired by somebody

1305
00:59:21,489 --> 00:59:24,624
where they can have a job
where they have meaningful work

1306
00:59:24,626 --> 00:59:26,126
and a livable wage.

1307
00:59:26,128 --> 00:59:28,193
In the late '80s, early '90s.

1308
00:59:28,195 --> 00:59:32,164
There were probably 350 programs
in the prison system nationwide.

1309
00:59:32,166 --> 00:59:33,833
[Bruce] I took my dad's advice,
he'd been saying

1310
00:59:33,835 --> 00:59:35,534
for a long time, "Look
for some computer training.

1311
00:59:35,536 --> 00:59:36,903
Is there any computer training
in there?"

1312
00:59:36,905 --> 00:59:38,570
Because he knows, you know?

1313
00:59:38,572 --> 00:59:40,373
Finally,
when I get to San Quentin,

1314
00:59:40,375 --> 00:59:42,208
I said, "Do you have
any computer training?"

1315
00:59:42,210 --> 00:59:45,445
It was great because I mean,

1316
00:59:45,447 --> 00:59:47,713
those who know the least
obey the best, you know?

1317
00:59:47,715 --> 00:59:50,316
And there's this rebellious
kind of a spirit in there.

1318
00:59:50,318 --> 00:59:53,286
They have you under their thumb
up and to the point

1319
00:59:53,288 --> 00:59:56,289
of being able to put a bullet
in your head if they wanted to.

1320
00:59:56,291 --> 00:59:58,624
Stand still and be quiet.
Face that wall right now.

1321
00:59:58,626 --> 01:00:01,528
So there's this rebelliousness.
I could exercise my brain.

1322
01:00:01,530 --> 01:00:03,429
They can't stop me
from doing that.

1323
01:00:03,431 --> 01:00:05,898
And so we really got this pride
about our education,

1324
01:00:05,900 --> 01:00:07,800
particularly in
that computer programming class,

1325
01:00:07,802 --> 01:00:11,170
and it was an honor
to be able to fight the system,

1326
01:00:11,172 --> 01:00:16,376
as you might say,
by educating each other.

1327
01:00:16,378 --> 01:00:19,711
And then seeing me graduate
that eight years later,

1328
01:00:19,713 --> 01:00:21,347
my dad was really proud of me.

1329
01:00:21,349 --> 01:00:23,349
And our relationship
just blossomed,

1330
01:00:23,351 --> 01:00:26,853
just became
so deep and so meaningful.

1331
01:00:26,855 --> 01:00:29,755
My dad was everything to me.

1332
01:00:29,757 --> 01:00:32,691
And it was just about two weeks
after I graduated

1333
01:00:32,693 --> 01:00:34,429
that he died.

1334
01:00:42,603 --> 01:00:44,204
Sorry.

1335
01:00:44,206 --> 01:00:47,606
♪ Oh, let us stay ♪

1336
01:00:47,608 --> 01:00:50,309
♪ Stay true ♪

1337
01:00:50,311 --> 01:00:53,646
♪ May we love and listen ♪

1338
01:00:53,648 --> 01:00:56,749
♪ And hear our hearts sing ♪

1339
01:00:56,751 --> 01:00:59,686
♪ And keep on giving ♪

1340
01:00:59,688 --> 01:01:04,657
♪ And may we stay true,
let us stay... ♪

1341
01:01:04,659 --> 01:01:08,561
When I sign this crime bill,
we together

1342
01:01:08,563 --> 01:01:12,664
are taking a big step toward
bringing the laws of our land

1343
01:01:12,666 --> 01:01:15,668
back into line
with the values of our people.

1344
01:01:15,670 --> 01:01:18,938
In 1994, Congress passed
the Violent Crime Control

1345
01:01:18,940 --> 01:01:21,874
and Law Enforcement Act,
which, among many other things,

1346
01:01:21,876 --> 01:01:24,443
barred people in prison
from receiving Pell grants.

1347
01:01:24,445 --> 01:01:26,979
Most of those programs folded
almost overnight.

1348
01:01:26,981 --> 01:01:29,414
To be realistic, I mean,
unless you're getting

1349
01:01:29,416 --> 01:01:30,950
a college education in here,

1350
01:01:30,952 --> 01:01:32,985
it's probably not gonna
help you too much.

1351
01:01:32,987 --> 01:01:35,354
But if they have skills
such as welding...

1352
01:01:35,356 --> 01:01:38,258
welding, on this yard
is just phenomenal.

1353
01:01:38,260 --> 01:01:40,425
We've seen guys go through
the welding program,

1354
01:01:40,427 --> 01:01:43,862
and they're making 30, $40
an hour out there on the streets

1355
01:01:43,864 --> 01:01:46,798
and they're writing letters back
to the instructor over here.

1356
01:01:46,800 --> 01:01:49,302
Those are the things
that these guys need.

1357
01:01:49,304 --> 01:01:51,871
They need jobs
so they won't be robbing,

1358
01:01:51,873 --> 01:01:54,039
stealing, turning to the dope,
you know,

1359
01:01:54,041 --> 01:01:56,476
doing the drugs
and that type of thing.

1360
01:01:56,478 --> 01:01:58,744
So, that's...
that's what I would change.

1361
01:01:58,746 --> 01:02:00,947
Critical reason number one
why people

1362
01:02:00,949 --> 01:02:03,816
are ending up in prison
is for lack of, really,

1363
01:02:03,818 --> 01:02:05,751
quality educational
opportunity.

1364
01:02:05,753 --> 01:02:08,054
Since 1970,
in the state of California,

1365
01:02:08,056 --> 01:02:11,023
we've built 22 prisons
and one university.

1366
01:02:11,025 --> 01:02:13,760
We literally have more faith
in punishing people

1367
01:02:13,762 --> 01:02:16,862
and controlling them violently
than teaching them.

1368
01:02:16,864 --> 01:02:20,766
Let's imagine a parent
who raised a child like that.

1369
01:02:20,768 --> 01:02:23,802
What would we say about them?
What would we think of them?

1370
01:02:23,804 --> 01:02:27,373
We'd think of them as the most
unfit parent imaginable.

1371
01:02:27,375 --> 01:02:29,641
Ironically,
we might even call the police.

1372
01:02:29,643 --> 01:02:32,612
[sobbing]

1373
01:02:32,614 --> 01:02:34,313
[Bruce] By not having
an education,

1374
01:02:34,315 --> 01:02:36,048
by not having programs,

1375
01:02:36,050 --> 01:02:38,684
by not having positive things
for the guys to do.

1376
01:02:38,686 --> 01:02:41,387
It's really about terror
and intimidation

1377
01:02:41,389 --> 01:02:43,722
and people basically
fighting for survival

1378
01:02:43,724 --> 01:02:45,624
and often committing
extraordinary violence

1379
01:02:45,626 --> 01:02:47,994
in order to protect themselves
or to stay safe.

1380
01:02:47,996 --> 01:02:50,595
[Tim] It's kind of like
the weak dog in the pack.

1381
01:02:50,597 --> 01:02:53,766
If others spot weakness,
they're gonna pounce on you

1382
01:02:53,768 --> 01:02:55,635
for a couple of reasons.

1383
01:02:55,637 --> 01:02:57,070
You pounce on that guy,

1384
01:02:57,072 --> 01:02:59,005
that gives you
a little more status.

1385
01:02:59,007 --> 01:03:02,608
So, I had to ask myself,
are you gonna be a victim?

1386
01:03:02,610 --> 01:03:04,677
No, I ain't gonna be a victim.

1387
01:03:04,679 --> 01:03:07,780
Well, that really only left me
one choice in my mind.

1388
01:03:07,782 --> 01:03:09,918
That means I gotta be
the victimizer.

1389
01:03:19,094 --> 01:03:23,896
At some point, for some reason,
might be legitimate,

1390
01:03:23,898 --> 01:03:25,867
might not be,
someone's gonna test you.

1391
01:03:31,706 --> 01:03:34,576
Even if you lose, you're gonna
have to stand up for yourself.

1392
01:03:39,748 --> 01:03:41,546
A guy comes over,
and it's your day

1393
01:03:41,548 --> 01:03:43,449
to get your package,
and he tries to take

1394
01:03:43,451 --> 01:03:46,052
your package from you
that your people sent you,

1395
01:03:46,054 --> 01:03:47,954
if you let him do it,
there's gonna be

1396
01:03:47,956 --> 01:03:50,822
10 other dudes,
"Oh, yeah, he let that guy

1397
01:03:50,824 --> 01:03:52,724
take his package,
I'm gonna go get his TV,"

1398
01:03:52,726 --> 01:03:55,695
right down the line
until somebody's after your ass.

1399
01:03:55,697 --> 01:03:57,333
And that's not good.

1400
01:04:00,068 --> 01:04:02,101
But if you stand up
that first time

1401
01:04:02,103 --> 01:04:03,970
and they see you'll stand up
for yourself,

1402
01:04:03,972 --> 01:04:06,542
even if you lose,
people will respect that.

1403
01:04:10,512 --> 01:04:12,077
"Oh, don't mess with him.
There's easier prey."

1404
01:04:12,079 --> 01:04:14,012
"Yeah, but I can get him."
Doesn't matter.

1405
01:04:14,014 --> 01:04:15,782
Don't mess with him.

1406
01:04:15,784 --> 01:04:17,682
Why do you have to go
and get that guy

1407
01:04:17,684 --> 01:04:19,619
and get a couple lumps for it
when he can go get

1408
01:04:19,621 --> 01:04:24,123
that guy's stuff over there,
don't cost you nothing.

1409
01:04:24,125 --> 01:04:26,191
It usually only has to happen
once or twice

1410
01:04:26,193 --> 01:04:28,693
but just as importantly

1411
01:04:28,695 --> 01:04:32,130
that you didn't go
to the man for help...

1412
01:04:32,132 --> 01:04:33,833
you're gonna be all right.

1413
01:04:33,835 --> 01:04:35,802
Now if you're suddenly
thinking,

1414
01:04:35,804 --> 01:04:38,871
this isn't so bad, a black eye,
a few scratches,

1415
01:04:38,873 --> 01:04:40,873
and you're in the clear,
think again.

1416
01:04:40,875 --> 01:04:42,708
The American public in general
has been

1417
01:04:42,710 --> 01:04:46,077
so profoundly brainwashed
into thinking

1418
01:04:46,079 --> 01:04:48,914
that what we're doing
with our prison system

1419
01:04:48,916 --> 01:04:51,150
is somehow normal

1420
01:04:51,152 --> 01:04:56,488
or rational or... just,

1421
01:04:56,490 --> 01:04:58,925
I find that overwhelming
and exhausting just...

1422
01:04:58,927 --> 01:05:01,961
because the more you
spend time in...

1423
01:05:01,963 --> 01:05:03,996
inside and the more contact
you have with people

1424
01:05:03,998 --> 01:05:05,764
who've been directly affected,

1425
01:05:05,766 --> 01:05:08,668
the more depraved
the system appears.

1426
01:05:08,670 --> 01:05:12,938
Over 20%,
one out of every five inmates,

1427
01:05:12,940 --> 01:05:15,740
are physically attacked
every six months.

1428
01:05:15,742 --> 01:05:17,476
I wasn't in San Quentin a week,

1429
01:05:17,478 --> 01:05:19,744
and I watched a man die
right next to me.

1430
01:05:19,746 --> 01:05:23,249
I watched two guys just walk up
and just stab him to death.

1431
01:05:23,251 --> 01:05:27,723
Part of me
wanted to scream in fear.

1432
01:05:29,056 --> 01:05:30,923
But I had a bigger fear of,
man,

1433
01:05:30,925 --> 01:05:32,758
what would these guys
think about me?

1434
01:05:32,760 --> 01:05:35,094
So I pretended like,
man, this ain't nothing.

1435
01:05:35,096 --> 01:05:36,996
I wanted
these people's acceptance.

1436
01:05:36,998 --> 01:05:38,731
They tell me,
"You know how to make a knife?

1437
01:05:38,733 --> 01:05:41,566
Stab that guy there."
And I did.

1438
01:05:41,568 --> 01:05:44,135
So instead of getting
a traditional education

1439
01:05:44,137 --> 01:05:46,539
or job training,
prison's a great place

1440
01:05:46,541 --> 01:05:49,508
to learn how to make a knife
by dropping a razor blade

1441
01:05:49,510 --> 01:05:51,209
onto the melted end
of the toothbrush.

1442
01:05:51,211 --> 01:05:53,845
[Jody] What happens
when you have vast numbers

1443
01:05:53,847 --> 01:05:55,715
of people
in a system like that

1444
01:05:55,717 --> 01:05:59,050
or in a location like that
who have medical needs,

1445
01:05:59,052 --> 01:06:01,586
mental health needs,
educational needs,

1446
01:06:01,588 --> 01:06:04,856
substance abuse,
all of these things.

1447
01:06:04,858 --> 01:06:07,193
And there's nobody who really
knows how to handle that,

1448
01:06:07,195 --> 01:06:09,628
so violence itself
is often a failure

1449
01:06:09,630 --> 01:06:12,664
of communication
or alternatives for coping.

1450
01:06:12,666 --> 01:06:14,967
There are all sorts
of complex social pressures

1451
01:06:14,969 --> 01:06:17,836
on people to be violent
in prison.

1452
01:06:17,838 --> 01:06:20,005
So a lot of the violence
you see in prison is not

1453
01:06:20,007 --> 01:06:22,008
an expression of the character
of the people in prison,

1454
01:06:22,010 --> 01:06:23,943
it's people reacting
to the situation.

1455
01:06:23,945 --> 01:06:25,978
And this is something
so few people understand.

1456
01:06:25,980 --> 01:06:29,215
If you took 1,000 people
off the street and put them

1457
01:06:29,217 --> 01:06:32,019
at Corcoran or Pelican Bay
or Soledad...

1458
01:06:34,322 --> 01:06:38,324
some huge number of them
would end up committing violence

1459
01:06:38,326 --> 01:06:41,594
because of the situation
that they've been placed in.

1460
01:06:41,596 --> 01:06:44,863
Five years into his sentence,
an older inmate

1461
01:06:44,865 --> 01:06:48,333
whose nickname was The Devil,
wanted Reggie to take the blame

1462
01:06:48,335 --> 01:06:50,603
for a knife the guards had
found in the yard.

1463
01:06:50,605 --> 01:06:52,237
But Reggie refused.

1464
01:06:52,239 --> 01:06:53,940
The Devil attacked Reggie
with a knife,

1465
01:06:53,942 --> 01:06:55,675
slashing his neck.

1466
01:06:55,677 --> 01:06:57,275
Reggie later would say
he knew then

1467
01:06:57,277 --> 01:06:59,010
either The Devil
was gonna kill him

1468
01:06:59,012 --> 01:07:00,947
or he had to kill The Devil.

1469
01:07:00,949 --> 01:07:03,816
About 15 minutes
after Reggie was attacked,

1470
01:07:03,818 --> 01:07:05,952
he jumped over
a correctional officer

1471
01:07:05,954 --> 01:07:09,054
and stabbed The Devil
with a prison shank.

1472
01:07:09,056 --> 01:07:12,657
I sit back every day,
and I second-guess myself.

1473
01:07:12,659 --> 01:07:15,360
Could I have went about
the situation any other way?

1474
01:07:15,362 --> 01:07:17,829
And no matter how many times
I tell myself,

1475
01:07:17,831 --> 01:07:20,032
this was the only thing
that could have happened,

1476
01:07:20,034 --> 01:07:22,034
it don't sit right
with me in my cell

1477
01:07:22,036 --> 01:07:23,970
because I should have never
been there in the first place.

1478
01:07:23,972 --> 01:07:25,838
I'm innocent, man,
and you turned me

1479
01:07:25,840 --> 01:07:27,807
into what y'all say I was.

1480
01:07:27,809 --> 01:07:29,708
Y'all been lying on me
this whole time,

1481
01:07:29,710 --> 01:07:32,077
and you turned me into
a murderer because I had to.

1482
01:07:32,079 --> 01:07:34,646
[Susan] After that,
they put Reggie

1483
01:07:34,648 --> 01:07:36,215
in solitary confinement,

1484
01:07:36,217 --> 01:07:38,351
and he went from
a life sentence

1485
01:07:38,353 --> 01:07:42,688
without possibility of parole
to facing the death penalty.

1486
01:07:42,690 --> 01:07:46,891
So he gets put on trial
in the death penalty case,

1487
01:07:46,893 --> 01:07:50,028
and his lawyer starts looking
into his original case

1488
01:07:50,030 --> 01:07:51,863
and gives me a call and says,

1489
01:07:51,865 --> 01:07:53,833
"You know,
I think this guy's innocent

1490
01:07:53,835 --> 01:07:56,001
of what he went to prison
for in the first place."

1491
01:07:56,003 --> 01:07:58,704
And the second reason
Reggie got out

1492
01:07:58,706 --> 01:08:00,305
besides the prison stabbing

1493
01:08:00,307 --> 01:08:04,175
was this miracle
of there happened to be a book

1494
01:08:04,177 --> 01:08:08,280
that had been put out
about the LA homicide division.

1495
01:08:08,282 --> 01:08:10,715
The author of the book
had documented a ride along

1496
01:08:10,717 --> 01:08:13,119
with the LAPD detective.

1497
01:08:13,121 --> 01:08:15,086
This homicide investigator's
first night

1498
01:08:15,088 --> 01:08:16,988
that she was on the job.

1499
01:08:16,990 --> 01:08:19,692
The very night
she investigated the murder,

1500
01:08:19,694 --> 01:08:21,427
she would ultimately arrest
Reggie for.

1501
01:08:21,429 --> 01:08:23,294
And we're flipping through
the book and reading it,

1502
01:08:23,296 --> 01:08:24,996
and there's
all this stuff in it

1503
01:08:24,998 --> 01:08:26,766
that was never disclosed
to the defense.

1504
01:08:26,768 --> 01:08:28,933
That's all documented
that all indicates

1505
01:08:28,935 --> 01:08:31,003
pretty clearly
that Reggie's innocent.

1506
01:08:31,005 --> 01:08:33,438
But it would still take
the Innocence Project 10 years

1507
01:08:33,440 --> 01:08:35,340
to get Reggie out of prison.

1508
01:08:35,342 --> 01:08:38,143
A grandmother doing life
for murder was released

1509
01:08:38,145 --> 01:08:40,745
from prison yesterday
after 17 years

1510
01:08:40,747 --> 01:08:43,214
when a judge said
she did not do it.

1511
01:08:43,216 --> 01:08:46,152
[Matthew] Susan Mellon recently
filed a lawsuit against

1512
01:08:46,154 --> 01:08:48,720
the detective who arrested her
for hiding evidence.

1513
01:08:48,722 --> 01:08:52,692
That detective is the same one
who arrested Reggie Cole.

1514
01:08:52,694 --> 01:08:55,330
[fire-engine siren wailing,
horn honking]

1515
01:09:01,802 --> 01:09:03,939
[sighs]

1516
01:09:10,944 --> 01:09:13,144
You know, we...
you know, as a society,

1517
01:09:13,146 --> 01:09:15,915
we see the bad guy
and the good guy.

1518
01:09:15,917 --> 01:09:17,950
Well, that's cops and robbers.

1519
01:09:17,952 --> 01:09:22,420
But when the cop becomes
the robber, the game is over.

1520
01:09:22,422 --> 01:09:25,424
The game is over.
That's corruption.

1521
01:09:25,426 --> 01:09:29,861
It was a horrific twist of fate
that led to Reggie's release.

1522
01:09:29,863 --> 01:09:32,298
Bruce was more fortunate.

1523
01:09:32,300 --> 01:09:34,900
His father's death
led to an unexpected turn.

1524
01:09:34,902 --> 01:09:38,204
Providence was his big thing,
and he had,

1525
01:09:38,206 --> 01:09:40,039
you know,
great life insurance.

1526
01:09:40,041 --> 01:09:42,808
It was 184,000 that my dad
left me,

1527
01:09:42,810 --> 01:09:45,844
and I was able to parlay
that up to about 236,

1528
01:09:45,846 --> 01:09:48,080
in the stock market,
and then it was just 100%

1529
01:09:48,082 --> 01:09:50,215
of my time dedicated to my case.

1530
01:09:50,217 --> 01:09:53,119
[Susan] And that enabled Bruce
to hire a private investigator.

1531
01:09:53,121 --> 01:09:57,255
We had, essentially,
a growing war chest of evidence

1532
01:09:57,257 --> 01:09:59,525
that I hadn't committed
the crime or at least

1533
01:09:59,527 --> 01:10:02,160
that all the evidence that was
presented was false evidence.

1534
01:10:02,162 --> 01:10:05,363
I had received
a complaint from Bruce Lisker.

1535
01:10:05,365 --> 01:10:09,367
I flew up to the state prison
where Bruce Lisker was.

1536
01:10:09,369 --> 01:10:11,035
I spoke to him.

1537
01:10:11,037 --> 01:10:12,905
When somebody is accused
of murder

1538
01:10:12,907 --> 01:10:14,973
or you're arrested for murder,
it's tape-recorded.

1539
01:10:14,975 --> 01:10:17,942
Everything is tape-recorded.
I couldn't find his tape.

1540
01:10:17,944 --> 01:10:22,882
It had been taken out
of evidence by Detective Monsue,

1541
01:10:22,884 --> 01:10:25,951
and it was never
put back into evidence.

1542
01:10:25,953 --> 01:10:28,920
[Matthew] Detective Monsue
had said the footprints

1543
01:10:28,922 --> 01:10:32,258
outside the house matched
the footprints on the inside.

1544
01:10:32,260 --> 01:10:34,259
Lieutenant Gavin found
the footprints

1545
01:10:34,261 --> 01:10:36,394
weren't actually looked at
by a scientist

1546
01:10:36,396 --> 01:10:38,263
or any qualified expert.

1547
01:10:38,265 --> 01:10:39,999
So he took matters
into his own hands.

1548
01:10:40,001 --> 01:10:41,534
So I contacted our people,

1549
01:10:41,536 --> 01:10:43,803
scientific investigative
division.

1550
01:10:43,805 --> 01:10:46,539
So he takes out
this big magnifying glass,

1551
01:10:46,541 --> 01:10:48,374
looks at it,
looks at the other one,

1552
01:10:48,376 --> 01:10:50,075
and he goes,
"These two don't match."

1553
01:10:50,077 --> 01:10:52,010
See this is a great
embarrassment

1554
01:10:52,012 --> 01:10:54,280
for any large organization
that you've convicted

1555
01:10:54,282 --> 01:10:57,449
somebody for murder and then
five, 10, 20 years later,

1556
01:10:57,451 --> 01:11:00,952
it turns out that
the person's actually innocent.

1557
01:11:00,954 --> 01:11:03,155
And this is what
my lieutenant said...

1558
01:11:03,157 --> 01:11:05,290
"That motherfucker
is not getting out of prison.

1559
01:11:05,292 --> 01:11:07,192
Do you understand me,
Sergeant Gavin?"

1560
01:11:07,194 --> 01:11:10,461
They will do everything
they can to stop you,

1561
01:11:10,463 --> 01:11:13,031
prevent you from coming forward
with the information you have.

1562
01:11:13,033 --> 01:11:15,401
[Susan] Upon reviewing
the comprehensive work

1563
01:11:15,403 --> 01:11:17,268
of the private investigator,

1564
01:11:17,270 --> 01:11:19,338
the LAPD Internal
Affairs Department

1565
01:11:19,340 --> 01:11:21,440
claimed Bruce's complaints
were unfounded

1566
01:11:21,442 --> 01:11:23,608
and that no misconduct
had occurred.

1567
01:11:23,610 --> 01:11:25,544
You can't have
an internal investigation

1568
01:11:25,546 --> 01:11:28,313
where we all investigate
ourselves.

1569
01:11:28,315 --> 01:11:30,382
Tha... that's like a joke.

1570
01:11:30,384 --> 01:11:32,550
I'm not against the authorities
or anything like that.

1571
01:11:32,552 --> 01:11:36,621
I'm just against the system
that has no checks and balances.

1572
01:11:36,623 --> 01:11:38,523
Who the fuck his checking y'all?

1573
01:11:38,525 --> 01:11:40,392
I believe that internal affairs

1574
01:11:40,394 --> 01:11:42,160
should be separate
from the police department.

1575
01:11:42,162 --> 01:11:44,028
There is no way that
a Police Department

1576
01:11:44,030 --> 01:11:45,930
can investigate themselves.

1577
01:11:45,932 --> 01:11:48,299
Currently, there are
no independent organizations

1578
01:11:48,301 --> 01:11:51,937
whose job it is to
investigate police misconduct.

1579
01:11:51,939 --> 01:11:55,409
And there's no oversight
of prosecutors, either.

1580
01:11:57,578 --> 01:11:59,978
Prosecutorial misconduct
is a major factor

1581
01:11:59,980 --> 01:12:01,513
of wrongful convictions.

1582
01:12:01,515 --> 01:12:03,415
It's a single thread
that runs through

1583
01:12:03,417 --> 01:12:06,418
almost all of
the wrongful-conviction cases.

1584
01:12:06,420 --> 01:12:09,487
[Matthew] Jeff Deskovic has
a Master's in criminal justice,

1585
01:12:09,489 --> 01:12:11,656
specializing
in wrongful convictions.

1586
01:12:11,658 --> 01:12:14,893
He's also a survivor
of prosecutorial misconduct.

1587
01:12:14,895 --> 01:12:16,594
I spent 16 years in prison.

1588
01:12:16,596 --> 01:12:19,964
I was wrongfully convicted
at 17.

1589
01:12:19,966 --> 01:12:22,401
I emerged at 32.

1590
01:12:22,403 --> 01:12:25,603
Jeff eventually won a lawsuit
against Putnam County,

1591
01:12:25,605 --> 01:12:27,606
New York,
for his conviction,

1592
01:12:27,608 --> 01:12:29,407
which enabled him
to start his own foundation.

1593
01:12:29,409 --> 01:12:31,977
And I'm the founder
and executive director

1594
01:12:31,979 --> 01:12:34,079
of the Jeffrey Deskovic
Foundation for Justice.

1595
01:12:34,081 --> 01:12:36,014
There's no deterrence.
There's no oversight.

1596
01:12:36,016 --> 01:12:38,017
There's no punishment
for prosecutors.

1597
01:12:38,019 --> 01:12:39,617
So they can break the law.

1598
01:12:39,619 --> 01:12:41,954
They don't face
criminal penalties,

1599
01:12:41,956 --> 01:12:44,389
even when they engage
in withholding

1600
01:12:44,391 --> 01:12:46,592
evidence of innocence,
threatening witnesses,

1601
01:12:46,594 --> 01:12:48,360
coercing witnesses.

1602
01:12:48,362 --> 01:12:50,329
No matter how serious
the misconduct is,

1603
01:12:50,331 --> 01:12:54,232
if the prosecutor commits that
after an arrest has been made,

1604
01:12:54,234 --> 01:12:56,402
they have what's called
prosecutorial immunity.

1605
01:12:56,404 --> 01:12:58,169
They're above the law.

1606
01:12:58,171 --> 01:13:00,004
We need prosecutors

1607
01:13:00,006 --> 01:13:03,208
to really uphold
what's become just words,

1608
01:13:03,210 --> 01:13:05,477
which is, you know,
they're there to do justice.

1609
01:13:05,479 --> 01:13:07,612
They're there
to do the right thing.

1610
01:13:07,614 --> 01:13:10,316
It becomes more like
"we're there to win,"

1611
01:13:10,318 --> 01:13:12,151
especially when
prosecutor's offices

1612
01:13:12,153 --> 01:13:15,720
actually keep statistics
on conviction rates.

1613
01:13:15,722 --> 01:13:19,124
Well, you should be credited
that you looked at a case

1614
01:13:19,126 --> 01:13:22,460
where the police thought
they had a good case

1615
01:13:22,462 --> 01:13:24,228
but a good prosecutor
looked at it and said,

1616
01:13:24,230 --> 01:13:26,031
"You know what?
There's some mistakes made here.

1617
01:13:26,033 --> 01:13:28,133
We should drop the charges
in this case."

1618
01:13:28,135 --> 01:13:30,436
We should incentivize that.

1619
01:13:30,438 --> 01:13:33,104
But instead, we actually
incentivize the opposite,

1620
01:13:33,106 --> 01:13:36,075
of getting convictions
and getting conviction rates.

1621
01:13:36,077 --> 01:13:38,677
All of a sudden, justice gets
lost in that process.

1622
01:13:38,679 --> 01:13:41,112
And whether this guy committed
the crime or not gets lost

1623
01:13:41,114 --> 01:13:43,715
in that process 'cause
it's all about winning my case.

1624
01:13:43,717 --> 01:13:45,718
Immunity, that's bullshit.

1625
01:13:45,720 --> 01:13:48,152
I mean, in the real world,
you know, you're supposed to be

1626
01:13:48,154 --> 01:13:50,356
held accountable
for your wrongdoings.

1627
01:13:50,358 --> 01:13:53,592
So, therefore, if you're
a person of authority...

1628
01:13:53,594 --> 01:13:56,128
of authority,
that you have to be held

1629
01:13:56,130 --> 01:13:58,030
at a higher standard
than just a layman.

1630
01:13:58,032 --> 01:14:00,065
I think we actually need
to step back

1631
01:14:00,067 --> 01:14:02,300
and kind of rethink
the whole system

1632
01:14:02,302 --> 01:14:04,135
in the way
we're approaching it

1633
01:14:04,137 --> 01:14:06,437
because it's become this game,

1634
01:14:06,439 --> 01:14:09,243
and people's lives are lost
as a result of it.

1635
01:14:14,148 --> 01:14:17,116
If you ever do find yourself
wrongfully convicted,

1636
01:14:17,118 --> 01:14:19,250
odds are,
you're never getting out.

1637
01:14:19,252 --> 01:14:23,088
The first thing you need to do
is send preservation letters

1638
01:14:23,090 --> 01:14:26,325
to the Police Department labs
and the courts

1639
01:14:26,327 --> 01:14:29,428
requesting that you want
all your evidence saved.

1640
01:14:29,430 --> 01:14:33,098
Otherwise, they may destroy it
within 30 days.

1641
01:14:33,100 --> 01:14:36,668
Try to find an Innocence Project
that'll take your case.

1642
01:14:36,670 --> 01:14:39,804
Prepare for this process
to take years.

1643
01:14:39,806 --> 01:14:42,273
Then pray for a miracle.

1644
01:14:42,275 --> 01:14:46,144
The Innocence Project
estimates conservatively

1645
01:14:46,146 --> 01:14:50,581
there could easily be 40,000
to over 100,000 Americans

1646
01:14:50,583 --> 01:14:53,419
currently wrongfully convicted,

1647
01:14:53,421 --> 01:14:56,324
the majority of which
are people of color.

1648
01:14:58,626 --> 01:15:02,593
It's kind of hard for me
to relate to my family

1649
01:15:02,595 --> 01:15:04,562
because they don't see me
as the same.

1650
01:15:04,564 --> 01:15:07,232
It's like Adam and Eve
when he told them,

1651
01:15:07,234 --> 01:15:09,233
"Don't go
and don't eat this fruit,"

1652
01:15:09,235 --> 01:15:11,370
and they ate it,
and they were enlightened.

1653
01:15:11,372 --> 01:15:13,805
I'm enlightened.
I'm on the other side now.

1654
01:15:13,807 --> 01:15:16,241
I'm not the same
as y'all no more.

1655
01:15:16,243 --> 01:15:18,811
You know, I don't...
I can't speak

1656
01:15:18,813 --> 01:15:21,847
in a boisterous tone
because everyone gets scared.

1657
01:15:21,849 --> 01:15:24,418
But I'm not that dude.
I'm not him.

1658
01:15:34,462 --> 01:15:38,263
And I'm innocent, man.
I'm innocent.

1659
01:15:38,265 --> 01:15:40,165
You know,
I gotta fight my demons.

1660
01:15:40,167 --> 01:15:42,534
I gotta do what I gotta do
for me, you know?

1661
01:15:42,536 --> 01:15:44,503
I got a child, you know?

1662
01:15:44,505 --> 01:15:46,537
I'm trying
to get myself right so I can,

1663
01:15:46,539 --> 01:15:48,272
you know, teach her right.

1664
01:15:48,274 --> 01:15:50,108
But I mean,
there's no accountability.

1665
01:15:50,110 --> 01:15:51,876
These people
that did this to me,

1666
01:15:51,878 --> 01:15:54,379
these people
that took everything, man,

1667
01:15:54,381 --> 01:15:56,084
they took everything.

1668
01:16:04,591 --> 01:16:06,458
[Susan] Bruce's
private investigator

1669
01:16:06,460 --> 01:16:08,192
never gave up on his case.

1670
01:16:08,194 --> 01:16:11,330
He had a very vigorous
private investigator

1671
01:16:11,332 --> 01:16:13,397
who made a complaint
to the LAPD,

1672
01:16:13,399 --> 01:16:16,668
and it landed on the desk of
an Internal Affairs investigator

1673
01:16:16,670 --> 01:16:22,409
who looked at Bruce's claims in
a very serious-minded fashion.

1674
01:16:28,448 --> 01:16:31,215
It's the people
like Detective Monsue

1675
01:16:31,217 --> 01:16:33,718
and the others out there
that have made our job

1676
01:16:33,720 --> 01:16:35,786
very difficult to do
day after day

1677
01:16:35,788 --> 01:16:38,723
because we lose
the confidence of the public,

1678
01:16:38,725 --> 01:16:40,759
and we lose the confidence
of the courts.

1679
01:16:40,761 --> 01:16:43,629
We have to have police chiefs,
directors of public service

1680
01:16:43,631 --> 01:16:45,731
that are willing to do
the right thing

1681
01:16:45,733 --> 01:16:49,300
and terminate employees
who are doing the wrong thing.

1682
01:16:49,302 --> 01:16:51,269
If you want to say
you're the good guy

1683
01:16:51,271 --> 01:16:53,738
but you're ostracized by
everybody that you believed in,

1684
01:16:53,740 --> 01:16:57,409
it's a very difficult situation
because I have to continue

1685
01:16:57,411 --> 01:17:00,278
to work for the same department
that did this to Bruce Lisker.

1686
01:17:00,280 --> 01:17:02,281
I don't look at myself
as a hero.

1687
01:17:02,283 --> 01:17:07,352
I look at myself as a survivor
because the system attacked me.

1688
01:17:07,354 --> 01:17:09,854
The system went after me,
and the system did

1689
01:17:09,856 --> 01:17:12,891
everything they could
to keep Bruce Lisker in jail

1690
01:17:12,893 --> 01:17:15,326
and everything to keep me quiet.

1691
01:17:15,328 --> 01:17:17,495
It's been a lot of therapy.

1692
01:17:17,497 --> 01:17:21,333
My wife and I met
in third grade.

1693
01:17:21,335 --> 01:17:23,701
We were elementary, junior-high,
high-school sweethearts.

1694
01:17:23,703 --> 01:17:25,603
We lived on the same street,

1695
01:17:25,605 --> 01:17:29,273
and it's been a very difficult,
difficult road.

1696
01:17:29,275 --> 01:17:31,442
She is third-generation LAPD.

1697
01:17:31,444 --> 01:17:35,414
And the survival is day by day

1698
01:17:35,416 --> 01:17:37,415
and always looking
over your shoulder

1699
01:17:37,417 --> 01:17:39,351
whether you're doing
the right thing or not.

1700
01:17:39,353 --> 01:17:41,352
You're constantly
looking over your shoulder.

1701
01:17:41,354 --> 01:17:44,356
And every time I get called
into the captain's office,

1702
01:17:44,358 --> 01:17:46,959
I wonder, "What did I do now?"

1703
01:17:46,961 --> 01:17:49,227
And I've never had
that feeling before.

1704
01:17:49,229 --> 01:17:51,996
I just kept on telling myself,
they are not going to defeat me.

1705
01:17:51,998 --> 01:17:53,865
They're not going to defeat me.

1706
01:17:53,867 --> 01:17:57,369
It's just when you
come across something like this,

1707
01:17:57,371 --> 01:17:58,836
what are you gonna do?

1708
01:17:58,838 --> 01:18:00,772
And that's the difficult thing.

1709
01:18:00,774 --> 01:18:03,875
If I had not given up
the information that I did

1710
01:18:03,877 --> 01:18:07,879
to the LA Times, Bruce Lisker
would still be in prison.

1711
01:18:07,881 --> 01:18:11,950
[Matt] A bloody footprint
that was attributed to Bruce

1712
01:18:11,952 --> 01:18:15,486
at his trial had recently
been reanalyzed

1713
01:18:15,488 --> 01:18:18,490
and shown to have not been
made from Bruce's shoe.

1714
01:18:18,492 --> 01:18:20,291
So that got us interested
in the case,

1715
01:18:20,293 --> 01:18:22,693
and we started talking
to his private investigator

1716
01:18:22,695 --> 01:18:25,429
and began
the seven-month investigation.

1717
01:18:25,431 --> 01:18:28,366
And at the conclusion of that,
they filed an article

1718
01:18:28,368 --> 01:18:30,802
called A Case of Doubt
that eventually

1719
01:18:30,804 --> 01:18:33,338
won them an award,
won The Times an award.

1720
01:18:33,340 --> 01:18:35,674
I wound up sitting
between 2005,

1721
01:18:35,676 --> 01:18:38,643
when the first article came out,
and 2009 in prison,

1722
01:18:38,645 --> 01:18:41,580
four solid years...

1723
01:18:41,582 --> 01:18:44,415
a widely recognized
innocent man.

1724
01:18:44,417 --> 01:18:49,353
We knew back in 2003, 2004,
that we had probably a person

1725
01:18:49,355 --> 01:18:51,589
that was in prison
for a crime he did not commit.

1726
01:18:51,591 --> 01:18:53,392
And it took five years
for the courts

1727
01:18:53,394 --> 01:18:55,727
to work through the...
the entire system.

1728
01:18:55,729 --> 01:18:58,597
There were a lot of delays
because of the conduct

1729
01:18:58,599 --> 01:19:00,866
of my own police department
and the conduct

1730
01:19:00,868 --> 01:19:04,702
of the California
Attorney General.

1731
01:19:04,704 --> 01:19:07,472
[Matthew] Reggie Cole
spent 16 years in prison

1732
01:19:07,474 --> 01:19:09,574
for a crime he didn't commit.

1733
01:19:09,576 --> 01:19:12,611
10 of those years were spent
in solitary confinement,

1734
01:19:12,613 --> 01:19:15,714
and he had to kill another man
to get a trial.

1735
01:19:15,716 --> 01:19:18,083
The whole way I've been
telling them, I'm innocent.

1736
01:19:18,085 --> 01:19:19,918
Every article I'm in,
everything...

1737
01:19:19,920 --> 01:19:21,820
everybody I'm talking to,
I'm telling them,

1738
01:19:21,822 --> 01:19:24,856
"I'm innocent, man,
I didn't do anything to anyone."

1739
01:19:24,858 --> 01:19:27,392
They don't care.
They don't care.

1740
01:19:27,394 --> 01:19:30,361
It's not that they didn't know.
They didn't care.

1741
01:19:30,363 --> 01:19:32,733
It's a miracle Reggie
got out at all.

1742
01:19:38,505 --> 01:19:41,339
Tim's is a miracle story
as well.

1743
01:19:41,341 --> 01:19:45,910
In late 2012, after 26 years,
he made parole.

1744
01:19:45,912 --> 01:19:48,412
I signed some papers
for the parole officer,

1745
01:19:48,414 --> 01:19:50,618
he said,
"Okay, see you later.

1746
01:19:53,854 --> 01:19:55,853
Didn't ask me
how I was getting home,

1747
01:19:55,855 --> 01:19:58,357
didn't ask me if I had a home.

1748
01:19:58,359 --> 01:20:03,030
When I realized these people
honestly don't give a fuck.

1749
01:20:08,902 --> 01:20:10,501
To survive getting out,

1750
01:20:10,503 --> 01:20:12,670
it's a lot harder
than it sounds.

1751
01:20:12,672 --> 01:20:15,107
You may have developed
post-traumatic stress disorder,

1752
01:20:15,109 --> 01:20:19,745
agoraphobia, paranoia
and require immediate treatment.

1753
01:20:19,747 --> 01:20:22,848
You're gonna need food,
new clothes.

1754
01:20:22,850 --> 01:20:25,549
You're going to need money
for transportation

1755
01:20:25,551 --> 01:20:28,452
to and from
your parole-officer meeting.

1756
01:20:28,454 --> 01:20:30,388
If you miss a meeting,

1757
01:20:30,390 --> 01:20:33,125
you could find yourself
back in jail.

1758
01:20:33,127 --> 01:20:34,992
You're going to need a job,

1759
01:20:34,994 --> 01:20:36,894
but there's a lot
of discrimination out there

1760
01:20:36,896 --> 01:20:38,729
for employment and housing.

1761
01:20:38,731 --> 01:20:42,666
Speaking of which,
you're gonna need a home.

1762
01:20:42,668 --> 01:20:44,535
I wouldn't have a home

1763
01:20:44,537 --> 01:20:47,438
if it wasn't for
the Rescue a Life Foundation.

1764
01:20:47,440 --> 01:20:50,409
They set up a house,
a transitional housing.

1765
01:20:50,411 --> 01:20:55,647
God and that foundation
is what's got me by.

1766
01:20:55,649 --> 01:20:58,750
It's the reason I'm sitting here
and not back inside.

1767
01:20:58,752 --> 01:21:01,753
[Susan] The Rescue
a Life Foundation was founded

1768
01:21:01,755 --> 01:21:04,688
by Dwayne McElwee who knows
how challenging it can be

1769
01:21:04,690 --> 01:21:06,691
to re-enter society.

1770
01:21:06,693 --> 01:21:09,794
Dwayne did 25 years himself
for murder.

1771
01:21:09,796 --> 01:21:11,996
After school,
we would have to go down

1772
01:21:11,998 --> 01:21:14,732
to my mother's dress shop
and hang out all day

1773
01:21:14,734 --> 01:21:16,567
and work around the business.

1774
01:21:16,569 --> 01:21:18,969
At that time,
we had several organizations

1775
01:21:18,971 --> 01:21:20,871
that would just patrol
that area.

1776
01:21:20,873 --> 01:21:23,442
So it was pretty safe.
We had the Black Panthers,

1777
01:21:23,444 --> 01:21:25,910
Ron Karenga's
whole organization,

1778
01:21:25,912 --> 01:21:27,144
United Slaves.

1779
01:21:27,146 --> 01:21:29,647
We had the Nation of Islam.

1780
01:21:29,649 --> 01:21:31,849
It was pretty cool,
you didn't have to worry

1781
01:21:31,851 --> 01:21:34,452
about people coming in,
holding you up and everything.

1782
01:21:34,454 --> 01:21:36,487
Didn't have to worry
about that type of stuff.

1783
01:21:36,489 --> 01:21:41,460
But it was after the COINTELPRO
when they got pushed underground

1784
01:21:41,462 --> 01:21:44,094
that everything just seemed
like, you know, went crazy.

1785
01:21:44,096 --> 01:21:45,930
All the thugs came out,
and then, you know,

1786
01:21:45,932 --> 01:21:48,732
you were fair game then,
the store operators.

1787
01:21:48,734 --> 01:21:50,735
That's when we started having
a lot of robberies,

1788
01:21:50,737 --> 01:21:52,704
a lot of burglaries.

1789
01:21:52,706 --> 01:21:56,107
My mother, she's just
a little, bitty 5-foot-4 lady.

1790
01:21:56,109 --> 01:21:59,210
She was beat up and robbed
one day while I was there.

1791
01:21:59,212 --> 01:22:01,780
And he grabbed her,
threw her to the ground

1792
01:22:01,782 --> 01:22:03,815
and kicked her and beat her
after he got the money.

1793
01:22:03,817 --> 01:22:05,916
Then he figured it wasn't
enough money, you know?

1794
01:22:05,918 --> 01:22:07,952
And I was a little kid.

1795
01:22:07,954 --> 01:22:11,156
I was probably about 11 years
old at the time, you know?

1796
01:22:11,158 --> 01:22:13,558
And he had this gun on him,
and she was hollering at me

1797
01:22:13,560 --> 01:22:15,559
not to move and just...
you know,

1798
01:22:15,561 --> 01:22:18,763
and this dude is kicking her
and demanding more money.

1799
01:22:18,765 --> 01:22:20,999
He got all the money we had,
you know?

1800
01:22:21,001 --> 01:22:23,968
[Matthew] Dwayne's mother
wasn't robbed once.

1801
01:22:23,970 --> 01:22:26,004
She was robbed over
and over again.

1802
01:22:26,006 --> 01:22:28,039
I had a good friend.

1803
01:22:28,041 --> 01:22:30,976
He would always be commenting
about me being so uptight.

1804
01:22:30,978 --> 01:22:34,211
And he smoked weed.
He said, "Man, just take this.

1805
01:22:34,213 --> 01:22:35,914
You need,
this, like, medication."

1806
01:22:35,916 --> 01:22:37,581
That led to other things.
You know.

1807
01:22:37,583 --> 01:22:41,820
That led to cocaine,
it led to PCP,

1808
01:22:41,822 --> 01:22:45,190
Which ended up leading
to my crime

1809
01:22:45,192 --> 01:22:47,592
that happened that sent me
to prison, you know.

1810
01:22:47,594 --> 01:22:49,827
I went to prison
for a second-degree murder.

1811
01:22:49,829 --> 01:22:51,629
Some dudes robbed me.

1812
01:22:51,631 --> 01:22:53,531
They were supposed to have been
the middleman

1813
01:22:53,533 --> 01:22:56,166
going to get the drugs,
and they end up robbing me.

1814
01:22:56,168 --> 01:22:58,803
Because it had happened to us
in our business,

1815
01:22:58,805 --> 01:23:01,740
the family business so much,
this guy,

1816
01:23:01,742 --> 01:23:04,543
he wasn't just someone that
was robbing me all the time.

1817
01:23:04,545 --> 01:23:06,177
He was the image of somebody

1818
01:23:06,179 --> 01:23:08,946
that had been victimizing
my family.

1819
01:23:08,948 --> 01:23:11,316
And all these other times,
you had got away,

1820
01:23:11,318 --> 01:23:13,585
but this time,
you weren't going to get away.

1821
01:23:13,587 --> 01:23:16,620
So it was kind of like
a revenge thing,

1822
01:23:16,622 --> 01:23:18,956
a retaliation thing
for you and your kind.

1823
01:23:18,958 --> 01:23:21,625
You're going to pay for that,
and so what I found

1824
01:23:21,627 --> 01:23:25,996
is that what you can't forgive,
you end up becoming.

1825
01:23:25,998 --> 01:23:29,970
What you can't forgive,
you end up becoming.

1826
01:23:33,606 --> 01:23:36,273
So I had to learn how to forgive
and let that go,

1827
01:23:36,275 --> 01:23:38,576
and I had to learn
how to forgive him

1828
01:23:38,578 --> 01:23:41,646
and let that go
because he was also after...

1829
01:23:41,648 --> 01:23:46,250
I got to see his record,
and this guy had a rap sheet,

1830
01:23:46,252 --> 01:23:48,186
you know, from here...
from one side of the room

1831
01:23:48,188 --> 01:23:51,889
to the other, you know,
and I could see that, you know,

1832
01:23:51,891 --> 01:23:53,825
he needed the same help
that I needed.

1833
01:23:53,827 --> 01:23:55,826
We are generally taught
to imagine

1834
01:23:55,828 --> 01:23:58,862
that there is such a thing as,
for example, a murderer, right?

1835
01:23:58,864 --> 01:24:01,199
So in other words, a murderer
in the public imagination

1836
01:24:01,201 --> 01:24:03,867
and in most of our minds,
whether we've thought about it

1837
01:24:03,869 --> 01:24:07,606
or not, initially,
is someone who likes to murder

1838
01:24:07,608 --> 01:24:09,708
and who would murder
given the opportunity, right?

1839
01:24:09,710 --> 01:24:11,643
It's like a vocation, right?
That's what murderers do.

1840
01:24:11,645 --> 01:24:13,378
They go around murdering,
right?

1841
01:24:13,380 --> 01:24:15,379
And that's why you don't let
them out of prison

1842
01:24:15,381 --> 01:24:17,781
You let them out of prison,
they're going to murder again.

1843
01:24:17,783 --> 01:24:21,285
The reality is that murder
is almost always a context.

1844
01:24:21,287 --> 01:24:22,853
It's a situation.

1845
01:24:22,855 --> 01:24:24,723
It is,
statistically speaking,

1846
01:24:24,725 --> 01:24:27,692
very rarely driven
by a compulsion

1847
01:24:27,694 --> 01:24:30,128
or a desire to do harm, right?

1848
01:24:30,130 --> 01:24:32,731
It's a reaction to some set
of circumstances,

1849
01:24:32,733 --> 01:24:37,736
to a real or perceived threat,
to some extreme emotional state.

1850
01:24:37,738 --> 01:24:39,737
It's not a propensity.

1851
01:24:39,739 --> 01:24:43,040
Basically, we're confusing
the profile of a psychopath,

1852
01:24:43,042 --> 01:24:45,809
the psychopath we've read about,
you know, the serial killer,

1853
01:24:45,811 --> 01:24:47,411
with prisoners in general,
right?

1854
01:24:47,413 --> 01:24:51,182
If we as a society
stop and imagine

1855
01:24:51,184 --> 01:24:54,718
that the people in prison
are fully human,

1856
01:24:54,720 --> 01:24:57,656
incredibly diverse,
have often been through

1857
01:24:57,658 --> 01:25:01,992
some of the most extreme
and difficult situations

1858
01:25:01,994 --> 01:25:04,094
and conditions,
some of which many of us

1859
01:25:04,096 --> 01:25:07,866
couldn't even really
begin to imagine, then suddenly,

1860
01:25:07,868 --> 01:25:11,102
all of that judgment
and all that hostility

1861
01:25:11,104 --> 01:25:13,838
and all that vindictiveness

1862
01:25:13,840 --> 01:25:16,273
doesn't have such
a natural place anymore.

1863
01:25:16,275 --> 01:25:18,777
Many of our students
have committed murder

1864
01:25:18,779 --> 01:25:21,312
and felt horrible
about their crime

1865
01:25:21,314 --> 01:25:23,180
as soon as it happened.

1866
01:25:23,182 --> 01:25:25,049
It's not like they needed
to sit in prison for 15

1867
01:25:25,051 --> 01:25:26,985
or 20 years to realize
they'd done a bad thing

1868
01:25:26,987 --> 01:25:28,786
or to never want to do it again.

1869
01:25:28,788 --> 01:25:33,157
There's no human element...

1870
01:25:33,159 --> 01:25:36,995
to the criminal justice
system.

1871
01:25:36,997 --> 01:25:40,031
There's no human element.
They're not there to help you.

1872
01:25:40,033 --> 01:25:42,133
They're not there
to help society.

1873
01:25:42,135 --> 01:25:45,437
They can say that that's what
it's set up for all they want.

1874
01:25:45,439 --> 01:25:48,173
That's not what it's there for,

1875
01:25:48,175 --> 01:25:51,342
not in California
and not in a lot of places.

1876
01:25:51,344 --> 01:25:54,478
It's a system set up
to punish people,

1877
01:25:54,480 --> 01:25:56,246
and they take a bad situation,

1878
01:25:56,248 --> 01:25:58,752
and they usually
make it much worse.

1879
01:26:02,122 --> 01:26:05,290
You know what the official
success rate of state prison is?

1880
01:26:05,292 --> 01:26:10,829
Nearly 80% of all inmates
go back within five years.

1881
01:26:10,831 --> 01:26:13,397
[man]
That's a success rate of 20%.

1882
01:26:13,399 --> 01:26:16,000
Imagine if we had those
requirements of airplanes.

1883
01:26:16,002 --> 01:26:18,937
Wow, eight out of 10 airplanes
falling out of the sky.

1884
01:26:18,939 --> 01:26:20,504
It's a little bit crazy-making.

1885
01:26:20,506 --> 01:26:22,307
And that is
Department of Justice data.

1886
01:26:22,309 --> 01:26:24,308
That's federal government
research.

1887
01:26:24,310 --> 01:26:27,178
Dr. Michael Coyle
attended Harvard University,

1888
01:26:27,180 --> 01:26:29,781
has a PhD in justice studies

1889
01:26:29,783 --> 01:26:31,382
and is a professor
of criminal justice

1890
01:26:31,384 --> 01:26:33,050
at California State
University.

1891
01:26:33,052 --> 01:26:34,885
Dr. Coyle says that prison

1892
01:26:34,887 --> 01:26:36,888
not only increases
criminal behavior

1893
01:26:36,890 --> 01:26:39,424
but has a deleterious effect
on society as a whole.

1894
01:26:39,426 --> 01:26:42,427
What happens to a family
when the wage earner is removed

1895
01:26:42,429 --> 01:26:45,897
from society and thrown
into prison for 10 years?

1896
01:26:45,899 --> 01:26:48,366
What happens to those children?
How are they impacted?

1897
01:26:48,368 --> 01:26:50,335
What are their chances
of success in life?

1898
01:26:50,337 --> 01:26:51,936
They start to go down.

1899
01:26:51,938 --> 01:26:54,304
How does that impact
the community?

1900
01:26:54,306 --> 01:26:56,174
Loss of resources
in that community,

1901
01:26:56,176 --> 01:26:57,976
more demands
on the community now to help...

1902
01:26:57,978 --> 01:26:59,544
to help this family,

1903
01:26:59,546 --> 01:27:01,912
maybe the other parent,
maybe the children.

1904
01:27:01,914 --> 01:27:05,383
It's just so clearly
a failure

1905
01:27:05,385 --> 01:27:08,085
by every measure
that you look at it

1906
01:27:08,087 --> 01:27:11,222
that I think we just need
to rethink the whole thing

1907
01:27:11,224 --> 01:27:15,326
and not just keep trying
to put lipstick on this pig,

1908
01:27:15,328 --> 01:27:17,128
'cause that's what we're doing.

1909
01:27:17,130 --> 01:27:19,062
I think it is difficult
for people to imagine

1910
01:27:19,064 --> 01:27:20,498
a world without prisons now.

1911
01:27:20,500 --> 01:27:23,802
We've become so accustomed

1912
01:27:23,804 --> 01:27:26,437
to the idea of prisons that
it's hard for people to imagine.

1913
01:27:26,439 --> 01:27:29,440
Well, what do you do with people
if you don't put them in prison

1914
01:27:29,442 --> 01:27:31,241
when they've done wrong?

1915
01:27:31,243 --> 01:27:33,010
There are other alternatives.

1916
01:27:33,012 --> 01:27:35,546
Dostoevsky said the degree
of civilization

1917
01:27:35,548 --> 01:27:38,482
in a society could be judged
by entering its prisons.

1918
01:27:38,484 --> 01:27:41,285
Hebrews, 13:3,

1919
01:27:41,287 --> 01:27:43,955
remember those who are in chains

1920
01:27:43,957 --> 01:27:47,224
as if you
were in chains with them.

1921
01:27:47,226 --> 01:27:50,029
If we don't,
we put everybody at risk.

1922
01:27:52,064 --> 01:27:55,266
My husband, Dan,
was a police officer,

1923
01:27:55,268 --> 01:27:57,936
and he was killed
in the line of duty.

1924
01:27:57,938 --> 01:28:01,873
My goal at the trial
was to get the man

1925
01:28:01,875 --> 01:28:05,476
who killed my husband
convicted of first-degree murder

1926
01:28:05,478 --> 01:28:09,046
and be given the death penalty,
and that's what I got.

1927
01:28:09,048 --> 01:28:11,915
That's what happened.
I thought okay, here it is.

1928
01:28:11,917 --> 01:28:16,019
I got justice.
I'm gonna be free from this.

1929
01:28:16,021 --> 01:28:19,357
And it didn't happen.
It was... it was just a lie.

1930
01:28:19,359 --> 01:28:21,625
It didn't change anything.

1931
01:28:21,627 --> 01:28:23,628
[Susan]
Aqeela Sherrills is famous

1932
01:28:23,630 --> 01:28:25,964
for brokering the truce
between the Crips

1933
01:28:25,966 --> 01:28:28,165
and the Bloods in 1992.

1934
01:28:28,167 --> 01:28:32,903
Then in 2004, he experienced
an unimaginable tragedy.

1935
01:28:32,905 --> 01:28:37,575
My oldest son was murdered,
home from winter break, college.

1936
01:28:37,577 --> 01:28:41,211
And, yeah,
was shot to death at a party.

1937
01:28:41,213 --> 01:28:43,013
You know, so my daughter
called me and was like,

1938
01:28:43,015 --> 01:28:44,915
"Hey, you know, dad,
they getting together

1939
01:28:44,917 --> 01:28:47,018
over on Sesame Street
in the projects and stuff,

1940
01:28:47,020 --> 01:28:49,187
and they talking about going
on a mission for Tyrell."

1941
01:28:49,189 --> 01:28:51,155
So I jumped in my car,
and I drove over there

1942
01:28:51,157 --> 01:28:53,491
to the projects,
and I jumped out the car,

1943
01:28:53,493 --> 01:28:55,994
and I said, "Hey," I said,

1944
01:28:55,996 --> 01:28:57,896
"Man, we've played
this eye-for-an-eye,

1945
01:28:57,898 --> 01:28:59,597
tooth-for-a tooth game
long enough."

1946
01:28:59,599 --> 01:29:02,400
I'm like, "You know,
it's left us all blind

1947
01:29:02,402 --> 01:29:04,102
and toothless, you know?"

1948
01:29:04,104 --> 01:29:05,969
And I'm like,
"Without anybody here

1949
01:29:05,971 --> 01:29:07,405
to provide direction
and guidance for the kids

1950
01:29:07,407 --> 01:29:09,273
and the young folks
and the parents

1951
01:29:09,275 --> 01:29:11,375
and the loved ones
that are left behind like"...

1952
01:29:11,377 --> 01:29:14,312
I'm like,
"Let's do something different."

1953
01:29:14,314 --> 01:29:17,147
I've met people who've had

1954
01:29:17,149 --> 01:29:19,651
absolutely devastating things
happen to them,

1955
01:29:19,653 --> 01:29:22,219
and they're just angry
and bitter.

1956
01:29:22,221 --> 01:29:26,523
And I didn't want that to be me.
I'd done that long enough.

1957
01:29:26,525 --> 01:29:28,593
And it wasn't working.

1958
01:29:28,595 --> 01:29:31,094
And I needed
something different.

1959
01:29:31,096 --> 01:29:34,331
Dionne and Aqeela
did something incredible.

1960
01:29:34,333 --> 01:29:38,068
They rose to a consciousness
most of us cannot imagine.

1961
01:29:38,070 --> 01:29:39,970
They didn't condone
what happened,

1962
01:29:39,972 --> 01:29:41,673
but they forgave it.

1963
01:29:41,675 --> 01:29:44,174
I believe in the "F" word,
you know, forgiveness.

1964
01:29:44,176 --> 01:29:47,411
Because of forgiveness is not,
you know,

1965
01:29:47,413 --> 01:29:50,080
something that you do
for the perpetrator.

1966
01:29:50,082 --> 01:29:51,683
It's something
that you do for yourself.

1967
01:29:51,685 --> 01:29:56,120
There is no cure
to violence in violence.

1968
01:29:56,122 --> 01:29:58,723
Violence can never
be a cure for violence.

1969
01:29:58,725 --> 01:30:00,558
It's been said
for thousands of years.

1970
01:30:00,560 --> 01:30:04,161
You can't fight darkness
with darkness.

1971
01:30:04,163 --> 01:30:06,097
You can only bring in the light.

1972
01:30:06,099 --> 01:30:09,534
If we're really trying
to deliver public safety,

1973
01:30:09,536 --> 01:30:12,602
then we need to start
asking questions.

1974
01:30:12,604 --> 01:30:14,339
We need to say why.

1975
01:30:14,341 --> 01:30:16,374
What happened
in the personal life

1976
01:30:16,376 --> 01:30:18,576
of this young man to cause him
to have this callous heart,

1977
01:30:18,578 --> 01:30:21,144
this fear that he would take
another human being's life?

1978
01:30:21,146 --> 01:30:24,415
Why is this person

1979
01:30:24,417 --> 01:30:27,585
cycling in and out
of jail or prison?

1980
01:30:27,587 --> 01:30:30,053
For Dionne, she decided
she wanted the death

1981
01:30:30,055 --> 01:30:33,491
of her husband Dan to lead
to something transformative,

1982
01:30:33,493 --> 01:30:38,996
something good and the same
for Aqeela and his son, Tyrell.

1983
01:30:38,998 --> 01:30:41,065
We're going to harness
the essence of Tyrell,

1984
01:30:41,067 --> 01:30:43,134
and we're going to do something
much more profound with this.

1985
01:30:43,136 --> 01:30:45,303
The point is to understand
what's happened.

1986
01:30:45,305 --> 01:30:48,039
How can we repair the harm
that's been done?

1987
01:30:48,041 --> 01:30:50,340
How can we make sure
that it doesn't happen again?

1988
01:30:50,342 --> 01:30:52,210
And how can we, you know...
with that individual,

1989
01:30:52,212 --> 01:30:54,245
but also with other individuals
coming after them.

1990
01:30:54,247 --> 01:30:56,414
When we get the answer
to that question,

1991
01:30:56,416 --> 01:30:58,549
we need to actually
do something about it.

1992
01:30:58,551 --> 01:31:01,018
Real investment in institutions

1993
01:31:01,020 --> 01:31:03,353
that help people
to heal from trauma.

1994
01:31:03,355 --> 01:31:06,523
There was an interesting
article

1995
01:31:06,525 --> 01:31:08,358
in The New York Times
a few years ago.

1996
01:31:08,360 --> 01:31:11,262
It was called
Million Dollar Blocks,

1997
01:31:11,264 --> 01:31:15,098
where if you calculated
how many of the residents

1998
01:31:15,100 --> 01:31:18,135
of that particular block
were actually incarcerated

1999
01:31:18,137 --> 01:31:21,104
and you added up
how much it cost the state

2000
01:31:21,106 --> 01:31:23,141
to keep those people
incarcerated,

2001
01:31:23,143 --> 01:31:26,576
you would actually come up with
more than $1 million per block.

2002
01:31:26,578 --> 01:31:29,714
What I would say is
take those million dollars

2003
01:31:29,716 --> 01:31:32,583
that you're spending to put
all those people in prison

2004
01:31:32,585 --> 01:31:35,452
and invest them
in the kinds of things

2005
01:31:35,454 --> 01:31:38,055
that we know very well

2006
01:31:38,057 --> 01:31:40,090
will actually transform
those communities.

2007
01:31:40,092 --> 01:31:43,428
My passion is Shakespeare
because it's about words.

2008
01:31:43,430 --> 01:31:46,630
And the only way that
you can heal trauma

2009
01:31:46,632 --> 01:31:48,266
is to find language for it.

2010
01:31:48,268 --> 01:31:50,535
I met my father
when I was like 15.

2011
01:31:50,537 --> 01:31:52,602
[Curt] Never met him before?
Never saw him?

2012
01:31:52,604 --> 01:31:55,138
There's something strange here.
It's something...

2013
01:31:55,140 --> 01:31:57,340
someone with my kind of
background here a little bit.

2014
01:31:57,342 --> 01:31:59,710
What they're trying to do
is simply inhabit

2015
01:31:59,712 --> 01:32:02,446
that character
as truthfully as they can.

2016
01:32:02,448 --> 01:32:04,482
And in analyzing
and digging down deep

2017
01:32:04,484 --> 01:32:06,483
into the truth
of that character,

2018
01:32:06,485 --> 01:32:08,852
what happens is they begin
to dig into their own lives.

2019
01:32:08,854 --> 01:32:12,156
[man] When I was a young man
and I came to prison,

2020
01:32:12,158 --> 01:32:15,660
the older convicts taught me how
to hustle at every opportunity

2021
01:32:15,662 --> 01:32:18,129
to make money,
how to get over on the police.

2022
01:32:18,131 --> 01:32:22,333
And I looked up to them.
They were my mentors.

2023
01:32:22,335 --> 01:32:24,102
Through Shakespeare Behind Bars,

2024
01:32:24,104 --> 01:32:28,406
I have learned that mentoring...
mentoring is...

2025
01:32:28,408 --> 01:32:31,375
it's very important,
but it's also important

2026
01:32:31,377 --> 01:32:33,244
to mentor them
in the right direction.

2027
01:32:33,246 --> 01:32:36,147
So, our recidivism rate
in Kentucky

2028
01:32:36,149 --> 01:32:39,483
for this program,
22 years old, is 5.1%.

2029
01:32:39,485 --> 01:32:42,253
Guys that are out on the street.
"Why didn't they go back?"

2030
01:32:42,255 --> 01:32:45,156
People ask all the time.
I say, "Don't ask me, ask them."

2031
01:32:45,158 --> 01:32:47,157
What'll they tell you?
Here's what I hear them say.

2032
01:32:47,159 --> 01:32:50,527
"I take responsibility for
the crime that brought me here.

2033
01:32:50,529 --> 01:32:52,897
I now understand where
that behavior came from

2034
01:32:52,899 --> 01:32:55,199
because I've gone back
in my life,

2035
01:32:55,201 --> 01:32:56,733
and I've looked at all of that.

2036
01:32:56,735 --> 01:33:00,271
But I am not
that human being anymore.

2037
01:33:00,273 --> 01:33:04,342
That's what arts programming
many times gives prisoners hope,

2038
01:33:04,344 --> 01:33:07,711
because arts deal with
the internal essence

2039
01:33:07,713 --> 01:33:09,546
of what it means
to be a human being.

2040
01:33:09,548 --> 01:33:12,286
[man vocalizing]

2041
01:33:16,221 --> 01:33:21,224
Vipassana is an intense program,
a meditative technique.

2042
01:33:21,226 --> 01:33:25,495
The inmate has to go through it
24 hours a day

2043
01:33:25,497 --> 01:33:28,900
- for a 10-day period of time.
- I spent eight and a half years

2044
01:33:28,902 --> 01:33:30,668
on death row,
and this was harder.

2045
01:33:30,670 --> 01:33:33,370
All the stuff
that's buried down deep,

2046
01:33:33,372 --> 01:33:34,906
they come up gradually.

2047
01:33:34,908 --> 01:33:37,208
They want you there long enough

2048
01:33:37,210 --> 01:33:39,544
that you actually deal
with your stuff.

2049
01:33:39,546 --> 01:33:41,215
[woman] She says...

2050
01:33:45,784 --> 01:33:48,686
[Matthew] This is a restorative
justice workshop.

2051
01:33:48,688 --> 01:33:51,254
They're very rare,
and they are much harder

2052
01:33:51,256 --> 01:33:54,424
on perpetrators of crimes
than sitting in a prison cell.

2053
01:33:54,426 --> 01:33:56,626
It puts these guys face to face

2054
01:33:56,628 --> 01:33:58,829
with the human consequences
of their actions.

2055
01:33:58,831 --> 01:34:00,798
This is Rosa.

2056
01:34:00,800 --> 01:34:02,967
Her son was killed
in a drive-by shooting.

2057
01:34:02,969 --> 01:34:06,204
And now, she devotes her life
to telling inmates

2058
01:34:06,206 --> 01:34:09,473
serving time for murder what
the effect was of their crime

2059
01:34:09,475 --> 01:34:12,246
not just for the deceased
but on everyone.

2060
01:34:31,564 --> 01:34:33,697
- Thank you. Thank you.
- Thank you.

2061
01:34:33,699 --> 01:34:35,501
[applause]

2062
01:34:52,819 --> 01:34:54,621
[Rosa] You know what?

2063
01:35:02,528 --> 01:35:04,562
Restorative justice programs

2064
01:35:04,564 --> 01:35:07,330
and victim/offender
reconciliations can take years.

2065
01:35:07,332 --> 01:35:09,567
They require a staff
and resources

2066
01:35:09,569 --> 01:35:11,369
and they're incredibly
successful.

2067
01:35:11,371 --> 01:35:12,969
Those who go through
these programs

2068
01:35:12,971 --> 01:35:15,539
have as low as 10% rates
of reoffending

2069
01:35:15,541 --> 01:35:19,809
as opposed to the 80% failure
rates prisons shamefully have.

2070
01:35:19,811 --> 01:35:21,911
We sit there perplexed like,
wow, what are we gonna do

2071
01:35:21,913 --> 01:35:23,714
about this criminal
justice system?

2072
01:35:23,716 --> 01:35:26,916
It's such a mess.
[laughs]

2073
01:35:26,918 --> 01:35:31,054
Maybe if we just stopped doing
these things that we're doing

2074
01:35:31,056 --> 01:35:35,026
and we try on a whole new set
of other things,

2075
01:35:35,028 --> 01:35:38,528
it might turn out to be a little
bit simpler than we thought.

2076
01:35:38,530 --> 01:35:43,567
The biggest prison we have
is an invisible prison.

2077
01:35:43,569 --> 01:35:46,637
It's the conditioned mind,
and you don't know

2078
01:35:46,639 --> 01:35:48,973
you're in the prison because
you can't see bars.

2079
01:35:48,975 --> 01:35:50,840
You can't see walls.

2080
01:35:50,842 --> 01:35:53,811
And the conditioned mind
is the separate mind.

2081
01:35:53,813 --> 01:35:55,446
It doesn't exist.

2082
01:35:55,448 --> 01:35:57,447
We are part of
a collective mind,

2083
01:35:57,449 --> 01:36:00,451
and if the collective mind
is violent, then we are violent.

2084
01:36:00,453 --> 01:36:03,521
And you can change that.

2085
01:36:03,523 --> 01:36:06,956
There's an opportunity here
for us to take the wisdom

2086
01:36:06,958 --> 01:36:08,793
that we know works,
what we would do

2087
01:36:08,795 --> 01:36:10,894
for our own kids if our own kids
were in trouble,

2088
01:36:10,896 --> 01:36:12,698
and do it
for everybody's kids.

2089
01:36:14,466 --> 01:36:17,434
We need to end the war on drugs.

2090
01:36:17,436 --> 01:36:20,071
We have to demand
once and for all

2091
01:36:20,073 --> 01:36:24,709
an end to policing
and prisons for profit.

2092
01:36:24,711 --> 01:36:27,644
At least half of the people
in there are in there

2093
01:36:27,646 --> 01:36:29,379
for crimes of addiction

2094
01:36:29,381 --> 01:36:31,615
or economic desperation
or mental health.

2095
01:36:31,617 --> 01:36:33,517
Instead of just throwing
everybody

2096
01:36:33,519 --> 01:36:35,419
that we've decided
we can't help into prison...

2097
01:36:35,421 --> 01:36:38,688
Use the money for restorative
justice programs,

2098
01:36:38,690 --> 01:36:42,026
rehabs, and social services.

2099
01:36:42,028 --> 01:36:44,594
There has to be
citizen oversight

2100
01:36:44,596 --> 01:36:47,665
and accountability
for all our public servants.

2101
01:36:47,667 --> 01:36:50,000
Luckily for us, we have access
to all of the data.

2102
01:36:50,002 --> 01:36:53,504
If you have any interest
in justice or equal access

2103
01:36:53,506 --> 01:36:55,138
to opportunity in this country,

2104
01:36:55,140 --> 01:36:57,007
all the data,
luckily, is out there.

2105
01:36:57,009 --> 01:36:59,710
It's just a matter
of whether you give a shit.

2106
01:36:59,712 --> 01:37:03,546
Our survival depends
on being logical.

2107
01:37:03,548 --> 01:37:07,451
Our survival depends
on being smart.

2108
01:37:07,453 --> 01:37:12,522
And our survival depends
on love...

2109
01:37:12,524 --> 01:37:15,125
for each other....

2110
01:37:15,127 --> 01:37:17,495
And, um...

2111
01:37:17,497 --> 01:37:19,633
love for yourself.

2112
01:37:22,667 --> 01:37:24,902
[female reporter] And a good
Monday morning to you.

2113
01:37:24,904 --> 01:37:28,738
California man finally free
after serving 16 years

2114
01:37:28,740 --> 01:37:30,875
for a crime he didn't commit.

2115
01:37:30,877 --> 01:37:32,710
[Reggie] I didn't think
it was real until I saw

2116
01:37:32,712 --> 01:37:35,979
my attorneys in visiting, and...

2117
01:37:35,981 --> 01:37:38,417
I'm trying to describe
the feeling.

2118
01:37:42,188 --> 01:37:44,421
It was an unbelievable feeling.

2119
01:37:44,423 --> 01:37:48,659
It was just an emotional
roller coaster that, you know...

2120
01:37:48,661 --> 01:37:50,628
I mean,
I cried walking out.

2121
01:37:50,630 --> 01:37:54,831
It was just the magnitude
of all these years

2122
01:37:54,833 --> 01:37:56,933
and, like, now here it is.

2123
01:37:56,935 --> 01:37:58,936
And then a moment later,

2124
01:37:58,938 --> 01:38:00,838
I would be too bewildered
to cry

2125
01:38:00,840 --> 01:38:03,577
and I would just be...
[chuckles]

2126
01:38:07,180 --> 01:38:09,946
That... that whole day
was really scary for me.

2127
01:38:09,948 --> 01:38:13,049
A lot of people, like,
think that they would be like,

2128
01:38:13,051 --> 01:38:17,888
"Yay," but I was terrified.

2129
01:38:17,890 --> 01:38:21,125
There were well-wishers...
well-wishers there of officers

2130
01:38:21,127 --> 01:38:24,160
that knew the...
I think they knew the truth

2131
01:38:24,162 --> 01:38:26,464
and certainly knew
the character,

2132
01:38:26,466 --> 01:38:27,932
you know, my character.

2133
01:38:27,934 --> 01:38:29,869
And then
I was in the parking lot.

2134
01:38:33,538 --> 01:38:36,173
The air smelled different.

2135
01:38:36,175 --> 01:38:37,842
I wish my mom
could've been there.

2136
01:38:37,844 --> 01:38:39,576
I wish my dad
could've been there.

2137
01:38:39,578 --> 01:38:40,779
I wish my stepmom
could've been there.

2138
01:38:44,850 --> 01:38:46,585
But I think in a way they were.

2139
01:38:48,887 --> 01:38:51,757
And it was good.
It was good.

2140
01:38:53,993 --> 01:38:57,928
Like, once I got on the other
side with my attorneys,

2141
01:38:57,930 --> 01:39:00,830
I just felt like running,
like just getting as far away

2142
01:39:00,832 --> 01:39:03,133
from that place
as I possibly could.

2143
01:39:03,135 --> 01:39:05,870
That's probably not the answer

2144
01:39:05,872 --> 01:39:08,772
that everybody would think
that I would have.

2145
01:39:08,774 --> 01:39:13,811
But... it wasn't
a joyous time for me.

2146
01:39:13,813 --> 01:39:16,146
I mean, like, I literally
was scared to death.

2147
01:39:16,148 --> 01:39:17,947
My cousin was waiting for me.

2148
01:39:17,949 --> 01:39:19,950
My private investigator
was waiting for me,

2149
01:39:19,952 --> 01:39:24,153
and I said... you want to hear
what I actually said?

2150
01:39:24,155 --> 01:39:29,660
[laughs] And I looked at Paul,
and I said, you know...

2151
01:39:29,662 --> 01:39:31,195
"Let's get this stuff
in the truck

2152
01:39:31,197 --> 01:39:33,563
and get the fuck out of here."
[laughs]

2153
01:39:33,565 --> 01:39:35,769
And we couldn't leave
fast enough.

2154
01:39:38,170 --> 01:39:42,005
The first place we stopped
at was IHOP for some breakfast.

2155
01:39:42,007 --> 01:39:47,710
And I was, like,
amazed at just the syrup menu.

2156
01:39:47,712 --> 01:39:50,981
[laughs] It just was
overwhelming, like,

2157
01:39:50,983 --> 01:39:52,619
it was completely overwhelming.

2158
01:39:56,889 --> 01:39:59,188
[Bruce] I haven't been
in a vehicle

2159
01:39:59,190 --> 01:40:03,027
without being chained at my feet
and with a waist chain

2160
01:40:03,029 --> 01:40:05,696
and then handcuffs hooked
to the waist chain

2161
01:40:05,698 --> 01:40:09,603
and in a paper jumpsuit
for 26 years.

2162
01:40:12,805 --> 01:40:14,804
♪ I am a man ♪

2163
01:40:14,806 --> 01:40:16,839
♪ I am a man ♪

2164
01:40:16,841 --> 01:40:19,043
♪ I am a man ♪

2165
01:40:19,045 --> 01:40:23,182
♪ I am a man
'cause you said I am ♪

2166
01:40:25,751 --> 01:40:29,119
The word "adjustment," I mean...
[clears throat]

2167
01:40:29,121 --> 01:40:31,888
I try to...
I try to figure that word out.

2168
01:40:31,890 --> 01:40:33,857
Do I have to...

2169
01:40:33,859 --> 01:40:37,260
I'm still trying to figure
that word out.

2170
01:40:37,262 --> 01:40:41,264
Like, how do you adjust coming
from the planet Mars to Earth?

2171
01:40:41,266 --> 01:40:44,701
I don't even think the oxygen
is the same up there.

2172
01:40:44,703 --> 01:40:46,669
I don't think
I'm adjusted at all.

2173
01:40:46,671 --> 01:40:50,809
♪ It's impossible
to be invincible ♪

2174
01:40:53,311 --> 01:40:57,947
♪ But maybe it's possible
to be impossible ♪

2175
01:40:57,949 --> 01:40:59,883
♪ I am a man ♪

2176
01:40:59,885 --> 01:41:02,018
♪ I am a man ♪

2177
01:41:02,020 --> 01:41:04,088
♪ I am a man ♪

2178
01:41:04,090 --> 01:41:08,261
♪ I am a man
'cause you said I am ♪

2179
01:41:08,263 --> 01:41:09,994
Subtitles by explosiveskull

2180
01:41:09,996 --> 01:41:11,331
♪ Yeah ♪

2181
01:41:14,166 --> 01:41:16,333
♪ I am a man ♪

2182
01:41:16,335 --> 01:41:18,402
♪ I am a man ♪

2183
01:41:18,404 --> 01:41:20,737
♪ I am a man ♪

2184
01:41:20,739 --> 01:41:24,944
♪ I am a man
'cause you said I am ♪

2185
01:41:26,278 --> 01:41:27,881
♪ Yeah ♪

2186
01:41:30,015 --> 01:41:32,652
♪ Oooh ♪

2187
01:41:56,108 --> 01:42:00,343
♪ Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh ♪

2188
01:42:00,345 --> 01:42:03,714
♪ Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh ♪

2189
01:42:03,716 --> 01:42:06,717
♪ Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh ♪

2190
01:42:06,719 --> 01:42:09,852
♪ Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh ♪

2191
01:42:09,854 --> 01:42:12,923
♪ Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh ♪

2192
01:42:12,925 --> 01:42:16,059
♪ Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh ♪

2193
01:42:16,061 --> 01:42:19,129
♪ Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh ♪

2194
01:42:19,131 --> 01:42:22,299
♪ Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh ♪

2195
01:42:22,301 --> 01:42:25,335
♪ Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh ♪

2196
01:42:25,337 --> 01:42:28,705
♪ Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh ♪

2197
01:42:28,707 --> 01:42:31,842
♪ Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh ♪

2198
01:42:31,844 --> 01:42:34,878
♪ Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh ♪

2199
01:42:34,880 --> 01:42:37,850
♪ Ohh, ohh, ohh... ♪