Chicago Justice Podcast
The Chicago Justice Podcast challenges the stories we're told about crime, public safety, and justice. Instead of accepting headlines, political talking points, or conventional wisdom at face value, we dig deeper to uncover what the data, research, and lived experiences actually reveal.
Each episode features candid conversations with journalists, researchers, advocates, policymakers, and people working to transform the justice system from within. Together, we examine the policies, institutions, and power structures that shape who is criminalized, who is protected, and who is left behind.
From policing and police accountability to gun violence, surveillance, incarceration, public records, government transparency, and criminal justice reform, we explore the complex issues driving today's debates about safety and justice. Some conversations are uncomfortable. Others are infuriating. All of them are necessary.
Grounded in evidence, accountability, and a commitment to challenging dominant narratives, The Chicago Justice Podcast goes beyond sound bites to expose how systems really work and whose interests they serve.
If you're ready to question assumptions, confront hard truths, and explore what real justice and public safety could look like, this podcast is for you.
Episodes
140 episodes
The Conviction Integrity Unit Under Eileen O'Neill Burke: A New Direction, Fewer Exonerations?
This week on the Chicago Justice Podcast, we sit down with Injustice Watch Senior Reporter Dan Hinkel to examine the changing role of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) under State's A...
Turner’s Outdoorsman, Crime Guns, and What the Data Reveals | Ft The Trace’s Aaron Mendelson
The Right to Know Under Threat? California’s AB 1821 Explained with Sean McMorris
California’s public records law is designed to give residents access to government information, but proposed changes to Assembly Bill 1821 (AB 1821) could significantly reshape how that access works in practice....
The NYPD’s Secretive Community Response Team: Misconduct, Power, and Accountability
What happens when a police unit operates outside traditional oversight and is staffed by officers with troubling disciplinary histories? In this episode, we take a deep dive into the New York Police Department’s Community Response ...
Who Is Being Watched? The Geography of ALPR Surveillance
More than 100,000 Automated License Plate Reader cameras are now operating across the United States, feeding data into networks shared by thousands of police departments and federal agencies. But where are these camera...
Flock Security and the Rise of Mass Vehicle Surveillance | Featuring Jon McCray Jones
In this episode, we begin a special series examining the rapid expansion of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology and the growing privacy and civil liberties concerns surrounding its use.
When Official Stories Collapse: The Brandon Webster Murder
What really happened on New Year’s Day 2019 when North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers shot and killed Brandon Webster? For years, the official account of the shooting was accepted by law enforcement leaders, go...
Beyond Qualified Immunity: How Police Avoid Accountability
In this episode, we sit down with Joanna C. Schwartz, UCLA law professor and author of Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable, to unpack the hidden systems that protect police from consequences. We go...
Because I Got Raided: Afroman, Police Power, and a Lawsuit That Backfired”
This week, we break down the controversial 2022 raid of Grammy-nominated rapper Afroman’s home by Adams County Sheriff’s deputies and the legal fallout that followed. Acting on claims from a confidential informant alleging kidnapped women...
Crime, Fear, and Power: Why We’re Taking a National Focus
How politics, media, and institutions distort crime narratives across America Fear has become the dominant framework for how Americans understand crime—and it is often deliberately manufactured. In this episode of ...
What does the science say about ShotSpotter?
In a first-of-its-kind independent analysis of the effectiveness of ShotSpotter, the science says the technology does not lead to more arrests and convictions for gun crimes and does not reduce these crimes in the are...
Time to Remove Guns from People Suspected of DV?
We open season four with a discussion of Karina’s bill, which hopes to formalize a process for the courts & police departments throughout Illinois to seize guns from individuals who have an order of protection entered against them. Our guest to...
Trying to Erase History is Purposeful
On today’s show, we discuss the connection between racialized policing in the US and the efforts by the right-wing to erase slavery from America’s history. We discuss this with Joseph Flynn, the Executive Director for Equity and Inclusion in the D...
ACLU on CPD Traffic Stop Lawsuit
On today's episode, we feature an interview with Alexandra Block from the ACLU of Illinois about their lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department's highly questionable traffic stop practices. The ACLU alleges that the CPD pulls people over excl...
Mismanagement & Abuse at JTDC
Today's episode discusses the long history of abuse and mismanagement at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) with Injustice Watch reporters Kelly Garcia and Carlos Ballesteros. The JTDC has long been a dumping ground for ...
CPD Doesn’t Take Lying Seriously
Despite promises to the contrary by the Chicago Police Department and the agencies that make up the police accountability system in Chicago, lying while undertaking your official duties as an officer isn't taken all that seriously. The CPD's ru...
Kareem Butler – Truth About Electronic Monitoring
On today's show we attempt to bring facts and science to the discuss around the Pre-Trail Fairness Act (PTFA) and the state of electronic monitoring (EM) in the Cook County criminal justice system. We were honored to sit down with Kareem Butler, a...
Raina Lipsitz on Toxic Cycle of Justice Reform
On the show today we sit down with Raina Lipsitz to discuss America's problem with justice reform and how cities like Chicago are caught in endless cycle of failure when it comes to passing meaningful justice reform. A meaningful conversation to e...
Our Take on Adam Toledo Shooting
The Adam Toledo shooting while a massive tragedy was not out of line with Chicago Police Department guidelines and so the firing of Eric Stillman smells like politics. Despite how the video of this shooting has been exploiting repeatedly for poli...
Kim Foxx is Not Running for Re-Election
Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx has announced that after two terms in office she will not be running for re-election in the fall of 2024. On today's show we will provide our quick response to Foxx deciding to end her political career and pro...
How a New CPD Supt Gets Picked
On today's show we discuss the new process for how a new superintendent (supt) for the Chicago Police Department gets selected. With the creation of the new Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability the process is slightly differen...
Initial Thoughts on Brandon Johnson Victory
On today's episode I am going to give you my very initial thoughts on the Brandon Johnson victory in the Chicago mayoral runoff election as it pertains to police reform issues. The majority of the mayoral field ran primarily on the issue of cr...
Arne Duncan Makes Ridiculous Endorsement
On today’s pod we discuss the alleged reasoning behind Chicago CRED’s founder & leader Arne Duncan’s endorsement of Paul Vallas for mayor. Later we also discuss the Chicago Tribune’s editorial comparing Donald Trump & Jussie Smollett.We know about...
Tribune on Mayor Race
The coverage of the runoff in the race for mayor and the intense focus on crime and criminal justice matters exposes bias in the Chicago Tribune and the reporters. In the article we discuss today there are massive assumptions embedded in the artic...
Retrospective on David Brown
This week we take the first of what will be many looks at soon to be former Chicago Police Department Superintendent David Brown and his time in Chicago. Unfortunately for Chicago despite the Mayor's glowing endorsement and hiring of Brown the...