Episode 5 – Alec Karakatsanis

Alec Karakatsanis, graduated from Yale College in 2005 with a degree in Ethics, Politics, & Economics and Harvard Law School in 2008, where he was a Supreme Court Chair of the Harvard Law Review. Before founding the Civil Rights Corps, Alec was a civil rights lawyer and public defender with the Special Litigation Division of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, a federal public defender in Alabama representing impoverished people accused of federal crimes. He is also a co-founder of the non-profit organization Equal Justice Under Law. He is the author of the book Usual Cruelty. In this episode, we discuss police brutality and the challenging process of prosecuting a police officer. We talk about his experiences prosecuting police officers and working as a public defender in Alabama. He gives several examples of how our system criminalizes the poor and how police abuse their power, especially in searches. We also discuss the bail system and the impact of private prison lobbies, as well as the possibility of a “a post-carceral society.”

As the concluding podcast of my series, I wanted this episode to address the issues that have prompted millions of protestors to take to the streets. More people than ever before are fighting for racial equality in the criminal justice system, and I want the audience to understand the legal aspects of policing and the power structures that prevent police departments and officers from being held accountable for misconduct and abuse.