Episode 2 – Sam Lewis

Sam Lewis, a former prisoner himself, is the Executive Director of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, which empowers formerly and currently incarcerated people by providing a support network, comprehensive reentry services, and opportunities to advocate for policy change. ARC has also co-sponsored 17 pieces of legislation focusing on criminal justice reform in the state of California. In this episode, we discuss what ARC does, what recidivism is and how it relates to the larger context of criminal justice reform. We also talk about how lower recidivism rates are closely connected to rehabilitation. We explore rehabilitation versus punishment through success stories of former convicts who have been rehabilitated. 

I hope that this episode will help listeners better understand the punishment vs. rehabilitation dichotomy and convince them that in order to lower our nation's recidivism rate, we must implement more rehabilitative services—both in prison and after release.