me are not, no man above the law. what we see on most tv shows is not reality or just the system isn't what you think it is. rolling stone magazine considers wayne kramer of the m. c. 51 of the top 100 greatest guitarist of all time he battled drug addiction. in 1975, went to prison for 2 years for selling cocaine. he sends provided guitars and taught music to inmates at over 50 correctional institution throughout the united states. people think that, you know, you have a right to a trial and everybody goes to trial and there's the good prosecutor and, and the defense attorney and they battle it out. that is the way it works. the way it works is the prosecutor stack up, the charges on you have for you to plead guilty to a lesser charge to keep from doing life or double life or triple life. people don't get trials. what they get is a deal. people suggest that anywhere between,

you know, 3 or 10 and 15 percent people behind bars could be innocent of the crime which they were charged. michelle alexander is a civil rights lawyer, stanford law professor and the author of the new jim crow, one of the most highly acclaimed america's criminal justice system. the reality is that thousands of people, every year in the united states, wind up pleading guilty to crimes. they may not have committed because they're either railroaded by police officers who give them false information or course confessions or because they are afraid of facing harsh mandatory minimum sentences . and believe that you know, the best chance to just take a pleat. every thing about, you know, the prison, the politics in county jail, you don't know anything. so they put through there with these people. and this is

how they force you to take deals. do you have just systems like any justice system in the world? a system where 95 percent of the cases are resolved by plea bargain. it's no longer trial system. it's a plea bargain system. the whole purpose of plea bargains from the perspective of a prosecutor raises this conviction, right? so the prosecutors typically have an high $900.00 percentile conviction rates, including those plea bargains. because of course, from a legal standpoint, we know that nobody would ever plead guilty to something they didn't do. and so we agreed that i would plead guilty and exchange for youth authorities and we went back in the trial. we entered the plea and i went down for a 90 day observation. have to use authority in norwalk, the challenges. if you're innocent and you plead guilty, you better be a good liar. you go down there, you talk to psychologists, and they ask you said you do it well, you have to say yes because it has to be consistent with everything. well, how do you do it? i mean, i didn't have adequate answers for these questions,

so they didn't, they didn't buy it in a sense, you know, rightly so. and they sent a report that was just positive and negative report back to the judge. he said, i didn't realize that you thought he wouldn't be able to help you. and so i'll allow you to take back your guilty plea and go have a trial oral sentence, you to state prison right now. so that began another period waiting. it would be well over a year before bruce would get another trial date, 23 hours a day at a cell in isolation. no contact with other juveniles only counselors, one hour out for recreation. and while they might not be able to introduce an alternate suspect boost demanded, his lawyer knocked down every argument. the prosecution could make. the prosecutor said bruce could not have seen his mother's body to the back window of the house. the sons reflection in the glass and the furniture would have blocked his view. his

defense was the crime scene. pictures were taken on a much sunny day. the prosecution claimed all the bloody footprints in the house matched bruce's shoes. bruce's defense said its thing appends were not found anywhere in the crime scene. there was no evidence has wiped anything down or made any attempt to cover his tracks because bruce had nothing to hide. the prosecution called robert hughes proclaimed bruce confessed, and the 7000 module of county jail and the defense compared robert hughes too. he used car salesmen wasn't to be trusted. then one day they wrap their keys on the door and they say listener and subverted. and my dad was there, he was there just every court day and he was right there in the front row and we were just, you know, i contact but you can't really talk because you're not allowed to, it's not a visit. you know, you're not allowed to visit with you but he was, he was there and jerry comes in one by one. excruciatingly slow,

sits down, and the job speaks be reached a verdict. yes, we have in the matter of people versus bruce listener. when the jury find the defendant and they said guilty and it was just the bottom literally fell out of my world. over my life. when you been falsely accused, your only hope is for your attorney to directly challenge the veracity of the glaze . my attorney seemed unwilling to go that far. you never read said, isn't it true that you're just lying about all of this? here's the investigatory work that i did. the proof that you're just a liar, and he never did that. and this is part of a larger problem that david serona called the authority by authority bias,

meaning the government and institution says somebody did something and they must have done it. what's strange about it is that this is a country that in one way, the americans i go because i don't trust the government can't do anything around. i don't trust that even the government says, and yet at another level, at the very same time, is that the dominant rhetorical paradigm in our politics. there is this authority bias where when the government accuses somebody of a crime or says somebody is a wrongdoer, reflexively millions and millions of americans must be true to go. you're no, you're not your secondary, you're not allowed the holding. would you like to be placed under arrest? you're not allowed to arrest me. ah. and so if you're innocent and you find yourself in prison, it's hard to have any hope at all. but a year later,

mike ryan robbed another woman at night point and was sentenced to 6 years for armed robbery. but other than bruce and his father, nobody had connected mike ryan to the murder, besides other inmates like jeff desk of it. another wrongfully convicted man, trying to prove his innocence losing home. and i remember reading about bruce, this was case in the magazine justice tonight, they allow people who alleged that they've been wrongfully convicted, whoever plausible story to write about their case. once i hope that more public attention will come, when i read about bruce's case, it was reaffirming to me that i was on the right path, because even though he hadn't been exonerated, he was still looking for help. he hadn't given up. you can't give up. no matter how long it takes and it could take a long time. one of the biggest factors in the u. s. has the largest prison population in the world is the length of our prison sentences. the average sentence

for burglary in canada and in england is around 6 months in the us. it's around a year and a half in other developed countries, a drug offense, my land you a year, a year and a half in jail, in the us. it's 5 to 10 years or more. if you're a black man in america, your sense will be 20 percent longer than if you're a white man. for the exact same crime. i met a woman that had a 1st offense. nothing more than 5. i was both of crack cocaine and was sent to jail in 1979 and didn't come home until 2014. and she said to me, i don't know how to use no phone. i don't know how to send a text. i don't know how to email sorry,

where people, particularly black people were defined as the enemy and the war on drugs. they were to find that way politically, but also through media imagery, donations crack. cocaine epidemic is taking a new and dangerous turn. white people, brown, people, and black people all use drugs and sell drugs at the same rate. but if we look at who's serving time in america's prisons, the launch force and apparatus is deployed disproportionately against people of color. oh, look at that in the war on drugs also bears a major responsibility for racial bias in our prison system. is african americans are rest of for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of whites and serve longest sentences. although people of color make up only 30 percent of our populates as they make of 60 percent of our prisoners by the most conservative estimates. if we keep going, the way were gone. one and 4 black men born

a day will go to geo at some point near lifetime. estimated 5300000 americans of july, the right to vote based on a past felony conviction and that impacts men of color more than any one else. this has got to change, you know, with any war there is some collateral damage and although white people may not have been the original targets, they may not have been the inspiration for the war. many white people, particularly poor and working class white folks, have found themselves swept in patriarchs. my country's not happy with my government, but i love my country. paul, rick is a u. s. army veteran who served in the gulf war. i was out about 3 weeks when i got busted for l. s. d never sold acid and ermine and dime off of acid. i took it on the weekends i reimbursed my buddy for what he paid for it. so that he wasn't

giving it to me for free. we want to call that trafficking, i guess i'm a trafficker was personal use. we would just fry and play frisbee and listen to rock and roll, drill face or another major reason for america is overflowing prison population. the u. s. locks up more people for drugs than any other country on the planet. there are over half a 1000000 americans locked up for drugs on any given day. paul was one of them. he was facing a lot of time facing tenure, a mandatory minimum. and they offered him a deal for not for sure government to go through the time and expensive trial. all he had to do was plead guilty. and after some painful consideration, i took it. and after all those years in prison, one thing bothered. paul, the most, you know, here we are in the modern society where we are melting pot and everybody's getting along to the most part and then imprison completely opposite. get in there. if you weren't a racist when you went in, they require you to be one soon as you get in every single jail and prison in

america, everyone i've ever been to, it's all divided by ration everything segregated in there. you have the white phone, you have, you have the black phone, you have the asian phone. the join me every thursday on the alex simon show. when i was speaking to guess in the world, the politics, sport, business and show business. i'll see you then. me what we're going to say on the show is picking and you've got global hash wor, cuz i called countries are now competing to accumulate the most bitcoin as part of the game theory that's built into the incentive stack. that is the magic of bitcoin . and was unpredictable who exactly would take the 1st step and we had talked about possibly japan, possibly around. possibly. russia turns out that nel, salvador is taking the 1st step toward

a big point standard making bitcoin legal standard. doing this breathing technique and then take a pool in the hill. and i don't know where it goes back to. to bring that. i need to read a dime, a field trip tomorrow, which i didn't read a vision. she gave me the me seems to raise the spark. the explosion of america's prison system still burned like a raging fire,

which was shamefully hidden from the public guy. there was a very strict code of pending on your race. this is what we do. even the prison guards promote this. some people theorized that it's way for the guard to keep control over us. because if we all got along then who would really be run into prison, us or the guards just one guard for every 100 guys. prison society is further divided from race into gangs. so it helps to either be in one or be from the right neighborhood on my right to present the guy that was next to him. he was just a regular dog from long beach. he played basketball at holly high school. he was a regular dual flat me and you know, he was going to praise for he took a deal for, believe it was like a spouse, abuse him and grow. it was a terrorist threat in the united states. a terrorist threat covers any statement.

it contains a threat of violence against another person. in this case reggie is talking about an argument, a man was having with his girlfriend, where he threatened her, he told his don't beat or whatever it was. it was a terrorist threat. it was no physical violence or anything, but he took a deal for 18 months and he was only supposed to like, 8 months ago. you can do for 18 months, you're going to do 5 or 10 or whatever. so he failed for the 1st and i, we got near the actual, from south central from south central you from explained to me from your home boys over here, cetera, cetera, they're going to direct you. were you supposed to go this guy, he didn't have any. why he would just from lonely no, he just was a regular do know and that night and i'm listening to what's going on. and i'm at 1st i thought they were playing because that's what he started off was. this is the whole game. if they, if everything is boy to lead to something else, that's what i say, you don't let anybody touch you in jail. and he didn't notice he did understand. and you're not supposed to ras, with somebody in sales, because this is what they're doing. they're trying to see if they can get you involved a position in it right there. and i'm listening to it and i'm thinking,

damn way somebody can come help me. and they didn't said lighting the sale. they rating according to the department of justice. nearly one and 10 prisoners suffer sexual abuse while in american jails and prisons. so let's keep that in mind the next time a talk show host, a government official, or anybody makes a joke about prison, rape. the fact that we find these jokes acceptable shows just how far we've got normalizing rape as a just punishment for any offense. as long as we keep imagining that people in prison are sub human and they're predatory and cordial and nothing like you and me . why would we lose any sleep about what their lives are like or what's happening to them? there are now over $5000.00 jails and prisons in the united states, more than we have colleges and universities. in many parts of america, particularly the south. there are more people living in prisons than on college

campuses, and a multimillion dollar business has emerge. brace yourself. this is going to sound too barbaric to be real. like medieval times, fanfiction horner film, or a french historical. the 13th amendment of the constitution outlined slavery. it still allows for forced labor. if you are in prison today, there are roughly 1000000 american prisoners working for corporations and government industries. there is no minimum wage, so you could make as little as a few cents an hour. bruce worked in the kitchen for years, men in clerical jobs making a maximum of $0.32 an hour. it sounds like another time or a column brother's movie, but it's happening right now. there are no benefits, no organizing, and no strikes. this is big business for state and for profit. prisons sell inmate

labor to fortune $500.00 like chevron bank of america, a t and t, and the us military. nearly half of the population in prison make military uniforms, body armor helmets, and provide labor contractors for fortune $500.00. they make office furniture, man call centers, take hotel reservations, work in slaughterhouses for manufacture, textile shoes and clothing for pennies, prison labor. part of why some state and private prisons yield a multi $1000000000.00 price in not only are prisoners use to make product prisoners themselves or sold this product. since the 1980. the prison population has boomed. now 150 private prisons are paid 1000000000 the government to house prisoners private prisons do. well some of their biggest investors are bank like

wells fargo, or bank of america. many private prison men 90 or even a 100 percent occupied meaning the tax payer, which bill for every bed, even the member for profit prison, or incentivized to incarcerate more people. and for a longer period of time to filter quote, to make sure that they spend millions pushing tough on crime today, nearly 10 percent of americans prisoners are held in private presence and they also spend millions influencing immigration law counselors detained immigrants are held in private prisons for indefinite periods of time, often years exposed to brutal conditions because they're not americans, the government gives him no right to even the most basic legal representation or medical care. 3 housing facilities were set on fire and apparently all started over in made frustration over the quality of medical care, perhaps unable to say,

being treated like chattel and used as forced labor for pennies. an hour is not that popular on the inside, but that's not the worst of it. the socks, the issue, are you the under where the issue is used, you got to buy things like shaming, equipment and food and sweat, socks, underwear, t shirts, the canteen or commissary is more expensive than any convenient store on the outside is definitely advisable to have money so that you can get started, if you don't have $5200.00 coming in to your books or your account every month. and you're going to need a hustle. this is phillips, he was convicted of robbery is crook. it is. we are out here. we go get inside there to whether it's, it's drugs, whether it's alcohol, you've got people that they don't drink, but the manufacturer bruno wall day is banquet in the boiler room. they found a still friends that i knew had actually gotten so far as to get the copper tubing

from industries over and so we had copper tubing, they were making motion. and jake, when mainly they drank it, did i have also sold drugs through our visits? recreational officer prison is like networking college for criminals. the majority of the guys in prison are, are they're trying to learn how to do crime better. just kind of school for criminals. to learn more be criminals and that's not an exaggeration. a 2011 study from ohio university showed that after spending time in prison, those continuing to engage in crime see their criminal earnings increase on an average by $11000.00 a year. jody lewin is the executive director of the prison diversity projects. there are thousands and thousands of people in the system. all they want is the opportunity to get a good education and to be hired by somebody where they can have a job where they have a meaningful work. and in

a livable wage in the late eighty's, early ninety's, there were pi 350 programs in the present system. nationwide i took my dad's advice, been saying for a long time, live for some computer training. is there any computer training in there because he knows, you know, i finally, when i get to the banquet and i said, do you have any, any computer training? so it was great because i mean those who know the leave to be the best, you know, and there's this rebellious kind of, of spirit in their stance. still a big, quiet right now. so there's this rebelliousness, you know, i could exercise my brain, they can't stop me from doing that. so we really got this friday about our education, particularly in that computer programming class. and it was an honor to be able to fight the system. as you might say, by educating each other and then see me graduate. that 8 years later, my dad was really proud of me and our relationships blossom just became so deep. and so, so meaningful and ad was everything to me. and it was just 2 weeks after i

graduated that he died. ah, i will live here. same. keep true. when i signed this crime bill we together are taking a big step for bringing the laws of our land back in the land with the values of our people. in 1994, congress passed the violent crime control and law enforcement act, which among many other things, borrowed people in prison from receiving pell grants. most of those programs folded almost overnight. to be realistic, i mean, unless you're going to college education in here,

it's probably not going to help you too much. but if they have skills such as welding, welding on this chart is just phenomenal. we've seen guys go through the welding program and they're making $3040.00 an hour out there on the streets and they're writing letters back to the instructor over here. and those are the things that you guys need a new job so they won't be robbing still and turning to adult, you know, doing the drugs and that type of thing. so that's what i would change. critical reason. number one, why people are ending up in prison is for lack of really quality educational opportunity. the american public in general, has been so profoundly brainwashed into thinking that what we're doing with our present system is somehow normal or rational. or just i find that overwhelming and exhausting, just because the way you spend time in inside and the more contact you have, people have been directly affected. the more the praise,

the system appears over 20 percent, one out of every 5 inmates are physically attack every 6 months. so a lot of the violence you see in prison is an expression of the character of the people in prison. its people reacting to the situation and this is something so few people understand if you took a 1000 people off the street and put them in corporate or pelican bay or solid dad, some huge number of them would end up committing violence because of the situation that they've been placed in 5 years into a sense, an older and made his nickname was the devil wanted ready to take the blame for a knife. the guards found on the yard, but reggie refused. reggie later would say he knew then either the devil was going to kill him, or he had to kill the devil and they can get myself could i have one about the situation any other way? and no matter how many times i tell myself, this was the only thing that could have happened. i don't see it right when me

marcell because i said and never been in the 1st place. i'm innocent man. and you turn me into what you all say are worth, doesn't allow me this whole time and you turn me into a murder because i had to, after that, they put reggie in solitary confinement. and he went from a life sentence without possibility of parole to facing the death penalty. so he gets put on trial in the death penalty case. and his lawyer starts looking into his original case and gives me a call and says, you know, i think this guys, innocent of what he went to prison for the 1st. and the 2nd reason reggie got out beside the prison, stabbing was this miracle of there happened to be a book that had been put out about the l. a homicide division. the author of the book had documented a ride along with the l. a. p d detective this homicide investigators 1st night that she was on the job the every night she investigated the murder. she would ultimately arrest reggie for him,

was flipping through the book and reading it. and there's all this stuff in it that was never disclosed to the defense. that's all documented. that'll indicate pretty clearly dennison, but it was still take the innocence project 10 years to get reggie out of prison. ah, me make notes, you know, borders blind to tease. emerge we don't have authority, we don't actually the whole world leads to take action and be ready. people who judge governors crisis we can do better, we should be better. everyone is contributing each in their own way. but we also know that this crisis will not go on forever. the challenge is paid for the

response has been massive. so many good people are helping us. it makes us feel very proud that we need together now join me every thursday on the alex simon show. and i'll be speaking to guess in the world, the politic sport business. i'm show business. i'll see you then. me long long. when i would show the wrong, when all just don't the yes to see out the same because the after an engagement equals the trail. when so many find themselves, well the part we choose to look for common ground responding

will be necessarily need budget. you have to do the packing, but again, jack and john's island is died. i might as well talk to you about some of the $100.00 there are $410.00 days right. on the bank of guns based water, chemical lights and has are, this is going to develop a new to them and their international market know that these industries polluting you simply ignore it. in one days that mother and when we loved the mother, that means we lost the in the,

in the i, in the mornings headlines, the pandemic increases the number of millionaires by 5000000. as the gap between the rich and the poor widens even further. john mack and phase found dead in a spanish prison cell after what authorities say were suicide. the 75 year old creator of anti virus software was a frequent guest on this channel. we'll take a look back at some of the interviews he gave us the morning now of disturbing images. residents in northern paris are up and for 2 year old boys assaulted by a drug addict, a proficient sanction drug use in a nearby area.