Community-powered criminal justice reform
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0:01 - 0:03This is my favorite protest shirt.
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0:04 - 0:06It says, "Protect your people."
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0:06 - 0:09We made it in the basement
of our community center. -
0:09 - 0:12I've worn it at rallies,
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0:12 - 0:15at protests and marches,
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0:15 - 0:17at candlelight vigils
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0:17 - 0:20with families who have lost loved ones
to police violence. -
0:21 - 0:24I've seen how this ethic
of community organizing -
0:24 - 0:27has been able to change
arresting practices, -
0:27 - 0:30hold individual officers accountable
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0:30 - 0:34and allow families
to feel strong and supported -
0:34 - 0:36in the darkest moments of their lives.
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0:37 - 0:40But when a family would come to our center
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0:40 - 0:44and say, "My loved one
got arrested, what can we do?" -
0:44 - 0:46we didn't know how to translate
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0:46 - 0:50the power of community organizing
that we saw on the streets -
0:50 - 0:51into the courts.
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0:52 - 0:53We figured we're not lawyers,
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0:53 - 0:56and so that's not our arena
to make change. -
0:57 - 1:00And so despite our belief
in collective action, -
1:00 - 1:03we would allow people that we cared about
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1:03 - 1:05to go to court alone.
-
1:06 - 1:10Nine out of ten times --
and this is true nationally -- -
1:10 - 1:12they couldn't afford their own attorney,
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1:12 - 1:16and so they'd have a public defender,
who is doing heroic work, -
1:16 - 1:19but was often under-resourced
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1:19 - 1:22and stretched bare with too many cases.
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1:22 - 1:26They would face prosecutors
aiming for high conviction rates, -
1:26 - 1:28mandatory minimum sentences
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1:28 - 1:32and racial bias baked
into every stage of the process. -
1:34 - 1:36And so, facing those odds,
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1:36 - 1:39stripped away from the power of community,
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1:39 - 1:42unsure how to navigate the courts,
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1:42 - 1:46over 90 percent of people that face
a criminal charge in this country -
1:46 - 1:47will take a plea deal.
-
1:48 - 1:52Meaning, they'll never have
their fabled day in court -
1:52 - 1:55that we talk about
in television shows and in movies. -
1:56 - 2:02And this is the untold part of the story
of mass incarceration in America -- -
2:02 - 2:05how we became
the largest jailer in the world. -
2:06 - 2:09Over two million people
currently incarcerated in this country. -
2:10 - 2:11And projections that say
-
2:11 - 2:15one out of three black men
will see the inside of a prison cell -
2:15 - 2:19at some point in their life
on this trajectory. -
2:21 - 2:22But we have a solution.
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2:23 - 2:26We decided to be irreverent to this idea
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2:26 - 2:29that only lawyers can impact the courts.
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2:30 - 2:32And to penetrate the judicial system
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2:32 - 2:37with the power, intellect and ingenuity
of community organizing. -
2:39 - 2:42We call the approach
"participatory defense." -
2:42 - 2:45It's a methodology
for families and communities -
2:45 - 2:47whose loved ones are facing charges,
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2:48 - 2:50and how they could impact
the outcome of those cases -
2:50 - 2:54and transform the landscape
of power in the courts. -
2:55 - 2:56How it works is,
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2:56 - 2:59families whose loved ones
are facing criminal charges -
2:59 - 3:01will come to a weekly meeting,
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3:01 - 3:03and it's half support group,
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3:03 - 3:05half strategic planning session.
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3:06 - 3:08And they'll build a community
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3:08 - 3:12out of what otherwise would be
an isolating and lonely experience. -
3:13 - 3:15And they'll sit in a circle,
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3:15 - 3:18and write the names
of their loved ones on a board, -
3:18 - 3:20who they're there to support.
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3:20 - 3:21And collectively,
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3:21 - 3:25the group will find out ways
to tangibly and tactfully -
3:25 - 3:27impact the outcome of that case.
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3:28 - 3:31They'll review police reports
to find out inconsistencies; -
3:32 - 3:34they'll find areas that require
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3:34 - 3:36more investigation
by the defense attorney; -
3:36 - 3:38and they'll go to court with each other,
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3:38 - 3:40for the emotional support
-
3:40 - 3:45but also so that the judge knows
that the person standing before them -
3:45 - 3:46is part of a larger community
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3:46 - 3:49that is invested in their
well-being and success. -
3:51 - 3:53And the results have been remarkable.
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3:54 - 3:56We've seen charges get dismissed,
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3:57 - 3:59sentences significantly reduced,
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3:59 - 4:01acquittals won at trial
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4:03 - 4:06and, sometimes, it has been
literally lifesaving. -
4:06 - 4:09Like in the case of Ramon Vasquez.
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4:09 - 4:15Father of two, family man, truck driver
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4:15 - 4:18and someone who was wrongfully charged
with a gang-related murder -
4:18 - 4:20he was totally innocent of,
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4:20 - 4:22but was facing a life sentence.
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4:23 - 4:25Ramon's family came to those meetings
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4:25 - 4:28shortly after his arrest
and his detention, -
4:28 - 4:30and they worked the model.
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4:30 - 4:32And through their hard work,
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4:32 - 4:34they found major
contradictions in the case, -
4:35 - 4:38gaping holes in the investigation.
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4:38 - 4:42And were able to disprove
dangerous assumptions by the detectives. -
4:43 - 4:47Like that the red hat that they found
when they raided his home -
4:47 - 4:50somehow affiliated him
to a gang lifestyle. -
4:51 - 4:54Through their photos and their records,
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4:54 - 4:59they were able to prove that the red hat
was from his son's Little League team -
4:59 - 5:01that Ramon coached on the weekends.
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5:02 - 5:04And they produced independent information
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5:04 - 5:07that proved that Ramon
was on the other side of town -
5:07 - 5:09at the time of the alleged incident,
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5:10 - 5:11through their phone records
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5:11 - 5:13and receipts from the stores
that they attended. -
5:15 - 5:18After seven long months
of hard work from the family, -
5:18 - 5:21Ramon staying strong inside jail,
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5:21 - 5:24they were able
to get the charge dismissed. -
5:25 - 5:27And they brought Ramon home
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5:27 - 5:30to live the life that he should
have been living all along. -
5:30 - 5:32And with each new case,
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5:32 - 5:36the families identified new ways
to flex the knowledge of the community -
5:36 - 5:38to have impact on the court system.
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5:40 - 5:42We would go to a lot
of sentencing hearings. -
5:42 - 5:45And when we would leave
the sentencing hearing, -
5:45 - 5:47on the walk back to the parking lot
-
5:47 - 5:50after someone's loved one
just got sent to prison, -
5:50 - 5:53the most common refrain we would hear
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5:53 - 5:56wasn't so much, "I hate that judge,"
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5:56 - 5:58or "I wish we had a new lawyer."
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5:59 - 6:01What they would say was,
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6:01 - 6:04"I wish they knew him like we know him."
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6:05 - 6:08And so we developed tools and vehicles
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6:08 - 6:11for families to tell the fuller story
of their loved one -
6:11 - 6:14so they would be understood
as more than just a case file. -
6:14 - 6:18They started making what we call
social biography packets, -
6:18 - 6:22which is families making a compilation
of photos and certificates and letters -
6:22 - 6:26that show past challenges
and hardships and accomplishments, -
6:26 - 6:29and future prospects and opportunities.
-
6:29 - 6:33And the social biography [packets]
were working so well in the courts, -
6:33 - 6:37that we evolved it
into social biography videos. -
6:37 - 6:39Ten-minute mini documentaries,
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6:39 - 6:42which were interviews
of people in their homes, -
6:42 - 6:44and at their churches
and at their workplace, -
6:44 - 6:47explaining who the person was
in the backdrop of their lives. -
6:49 - 6:54And it was a way for us to dissolve
the walls of the court temporarily. -
6:54 - 6:56And through the power of video,
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6:56 - 7:01bring the judge out of the court
and into the community, -
7:01 - 7:05so that they would be able to understand
the fuller context of someone's life -
7:05 - 7:08that they're deciding the fate of.
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7:09 - 7:13One of the first social biography projects
that came out of our camp -
7:13 - 7:14was by Carnell.
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7:15 - 7:16He had come to the meetings
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7:16 - 7:19because he had pled
to a low-level drug charge. -
7:19 - 7:20And after years of sobriety,
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7:20 - 7:23got arrested for this one
drug possession charge. -
7:23 - 7:26But he was facing a five-year
prison sentence -
7:26 - 7:28because of the sentencing
schemes in California. -
7:29 - 7:31We knew him primarily as a dad.
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7:31 - 7:33He'd bring his daughters to the meetings
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7:33 - 7:36and then play with them
at the park across the street. -
7:36 - 7:38And he said, "Look, I could do the time,
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7:38 - 7:41but if I go in,
they're going to take my girls." -
7:43 - 7:45And so we gave him a camera
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7:45 - 7:48and said, "Just take pictures
of what's like being a father." -
7:49 - 7:53And so he took pictures
of making breakfast for his daughters -
7:53 - 7:54and taking them to school,
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7:54 - 7:57taking them to after-school programs
and doing homework. -
7:58 - 8:00And it became this photo essay
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8:00 - 8:03that he turned in to his lawyer
who used it at the sentencing hearing. -
8:04 - 8:08And that judge, who originally indicated
a five-year prison sentence, -
8:08 - 8:11understood Carnell in a whole new way.
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8:11 - 8:15And he converted
that five-year prison sentence -
8:15 - 8:18into a six-month outpatient program,
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8:18 - 8:21so that Carnell could be
with his daughters. -
8:21 - 8:23His girls would have
a father in their life. -
8:23 - 8:26And Carnell could get the treatment
that he was actually seeking. -
8:28 - 8:31We have one ceremony of sorts
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8:31 - 8:34that we use in participatory defense.
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8:34 - 8:37And I told you earlier
that when families come to the meetings, -
8:37 - 8:39they write the names
of their loved ones on the board. -
8:39 - 8:42Those are names that we all
get to know, week in, week out, -
8:42 - 8:44through the stories of the family,
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8:44 - 8:47and we're rooting for
and praying for and hoping for. -
8:47 - 8:49And when we win a case,
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8:49 - 8:53when we get a sentence reduced,
or a charge dropped, -
8:53 - 8:55or we win an acquittal,
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8:55 - 8:58that person, who's been
a name on the board, -
8:58 - 8:59comes to the meeting.
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9:00 - 9:02And when their name comes up,
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9:02 - 9:04they're given an eraser,
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9:04 - 9:06and they walk over to the board
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9:06 - 9:08and they erase their name.
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9:09 - 9:13And it sounds simple,
but it is a spiritual experience. -
9:13 - 9:17And people are applauding,
and they're crying. -
9:17 - 9:20And for the families
that are just starting that journey -
9:20 - 9:22and are sitting in the back of the room,
-
9:22 - 9:24for them to know
that there's a finish line, -
9:24 - 9:28that one day, they too might be able
to bring their loved one home, -
9:28 - 9:30that they could erase the name,
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9:30 - 9:32is profoundly inspiring.
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9:34 - 9:37We're training organizations
all over the country now -
9:37 - 9:39in participatory defense.
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9:39 - 9:42And we have a national
network of over 20 cities. -
9:42 - 9:45And it's a church in Pennsylvania,
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9:45 - 9:48it's a parents' association in Tennessee,
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9:48 - 9:50it's a youth center in Los Angeles.
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9:51 - 9:54And the latest city that we just added
to the national network -
9:54 - 9:56to grow and deepen this practice
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9:56 - 9:57is Philadelphia.
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9:58 - 10:02They literally just started their first
weekly participatory defense meeting -
10:02 - 10:03last week.
-
10:04 - 10:09And the person that we brought
from California to Philadelphia -
10:09 - 10:13to share their testimony,
to inspire them to know what's possible, -
10:13 - 10:15was Ramon Vasquez,
-
10:16 - 10:19who went from sitting in a jail
in Santa Clara County, California, -
10:19 - 10:22to inspiring a community
about what's possible -
10:22 - 10:26through the perseverance of community
across the country. -
10:27 - 10:32And with all the hubs, we still use
one metric that we invented. -
10:33 - 10:34It's called time saved.
-
10:34 - 10:37It's a saying that we actually
still say at weekly meetings. -
10:37 - 10:41And what we say when a family
comes in a meeting for the first time is: -
10:41 - 10:43if you do nothing,
-
10:43 - 10:46the system is designed to give
your loved one time served. -
10:47 - 10:51That's the language the system uses
to quantify time of incarceration. -
10:52 - 10:56But if you engage, if you participate,
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10:56 - 10:59you can turn time served into time saved.
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11:00 - 11:03That's them home with you,
living the life they should be living. -
11:04 - 11:08So, Carnell, for example,
would represent five years of time saved. -
11:09 - 11:12So when we totaled our time saved numbers
-
11:12 - 11:15from all the different
participatory defense hubs, -
11:15 - 11:17through the work
in the meetings and at court -
11:17 - 11:20and making social biography
videos and packets, -
11:21 - 11:27we had 4,218 years of time saved
from incarceration. -
11:29 - 11:32That is parents' and children's lives.
-
11:32 - 11:35Young people going to college
instead of prison. -
11:35 - 11:38We're ending generational
cycles of suffering. -
11:39 - 11:43And when you consider
in my home state of California, -
11:44 - 11:50it costs 60,000 dollars to house someone
in the California prison system, -
11:51 - 11:54that means that these families
are saving their states -
11:55 - 11:57a ton of money.
-
11:57 - 12:00I'm not a mathematician,
I haven't done the numbers, -
12:00 - 12:03but that is money and resources
that could be reallocated -
12:03 - 12:06to mental health services,
-
12:06 - 12:08to drug treatment programs, to education.
-
12:10 - 12:14And we're now wearing this shirt in courts
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12:15 - 12:16all across the country.
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12:16 - 12:18And people are wearing this shirt
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12:18 - 12:22because they want the immediacy
of protecting their people -
12:22 - 12:23in the courtroom.
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12:24 - 12:26But what we're telling them is,
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12:26 - 12:30as practitioners,
they're building a new field, -
12:30 - 12:32a new movement
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12:32 - 12:36that is going to forever change the way
justice is understood in this country. -
12:37 - 12:38Thank you.
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12:38 - 12:41(Applause)
- Title:
- Community-powered criminal justice reform
- Speaker:
- Raj Jayadev
- Description:
-
Community organizer Raj Jayadev wants to transform the US court system through "participatory defense" -- a growing movement that empowers families and community members to impact their loved ones' court cases. He shares the remarkable results of their work -- including more than 4,000 years of "time saved" from incarceration -- and shows how this new model could shift the landscape of power in the courts.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 12:54
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for Community-powered criminal justice reform | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Community-powered criminal justice reform | ||
Oliver Friedman approved English subtitles for Community-powered criminal justice reform | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for Community-powered criminal justice reform | ||
Krystian Aparta accepted English subtitles for Community-powered criminal justice reform | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Community-powered criminal justice reform | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Community-powered criminal justice reform | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Community-powered criminal justice reform |