Makeba and I kicked off the inaugural web radio show yesterday. Our guest was Sharon B. Content, the founder and CEO of Children of Promise, NYC.

During the show I talked to Makeba about her own experience growing up with an incarcerated mother and her involvement with Lives in Focus.  We also discussed the misconceptions that some people have of children with incarcerated parents.

Content offered her own expertise, discussing the role of her organization and ways of breaking the cycle of incarceration.  Listen to the show below to hear what you missed.  We welcome feedback and suggestions for future shows so please leave a comment below.

Maya Pope-Chappell, a graduate student at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, has joined Lives in Focus’s “Family Life Behind Bars” project as a multimedia journalist.

Last month, I was conducting one of my free workshops for youth who have an incarcerated parent when Maya approached me to ask is she could help. And now, in addition to helping with the workshops, she’ll be reporting and producing pieces using audio, video, photographs and text to help broaden the site’s coverage. She will also co-host a Web radio show starting next week.

Maya is an Oakland, CA native who moved to New York last year to pursue a Masters’ degree at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.  Her freelance articles have appeared in newspapers such as the Brooklyn Heights Courier, Contra Costa Times, and the Brooklyn Free Press, and online for sites like the Amsterdam News, Latina.com, and Whatchusay.com.

As Democrats captured a majority in the state senate for the first time since 1964, beating out Republican incumbents in two districts, the new political landscape has many reformers anticipating a once-in-a-generation opportunity to influence longstanding legislation.
(more…)

The crumbling economy, taxes, and the Iraq War have soaked up the limelight when it comes to the 2008 Presidential Election.  With less than one week left before voters’ caste their ballots, questions about Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama’s positions on incarceration and criminal justice remain unanswered.

According to the Sentencing Project, a nonpartisan research and advocacy organization, little specifics are known about the candidates’ viewpoints to reform the federal prison system.

Based on information from the candidates’ past records, Obama once against the death penalty, currently supports it for monstrous crimes.  As an Illinois State Senator, Obama also lead the charge in passing legislation that requires confessions and interrogations to be videotaped to prevent death sentencing errors in capitol cases.

Obama has connected issues of unemployment and poverty within certain communities to the disproportionally high rate of crime and incarceration of those who live there.

Senator John McCain who has been labeled as “tough-on-crime” is a firm supporter of the death penalty. In his past votes, during the mid-nineties, McCain showed support for restricting appeals to the death penalty and was against using the defense of racial discrimination within appeals. McCain has favored violent offenders to serve their complete sentences, with no opportunity for parole.

McCain has also offered the alternative of rehabilitation programs for first time drug offenders and has voted for more community police to prevent hate crimes.

Both candidates have vocalized support for re-entry programs once a prisoner has been released, but a clear and concise picture as to what the programs actually look like and involve is unknown.

On November 4th, regardless of who is elected into the oval office, Ryan King, a policy analyst for the Sentencing Project, says incarceration issues should must become a priority for the next President.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: Are you considering the candidates’ views on incarceration and criminal justice in your voting decision? Which way are you leaning and why?

[Use the comments feature below or call (646)-867-1891 to leave an audio message.]

Lindsay A. Lazarski attends CUNY Graduate School of Journalism with a concentration in Urban Studies and Interactive Media.