Watch the video now on our Events Page.
MiAngel Cody wanted to be an activist since she was a teenager. Now she picks locks to human cages by defending hundreds of people in federal court and achieving a range of courtroom victories - from jury acquittals to successful federal appeals to significantly reduced sentences.
In their live chat today, she and Arielle discussed the false assumptions around inmates, the school-to-prison pipeline, and the reforms that are necessary to revolutionize a racist, antiquated, unjust system. MiAngel is the founder & executive director of The Decarceration Collective. She has won presidential clemency and freedom for five prisoners serving life sentences. Before becoming a lawyer, Ms. Cody was a capital defense investigator and spent seven years listening to death row prisoners in Louisiana and Georgia. Ms. Cody believes the Sixth Amendment demands the highest caliber of representation for those with the least means, especially when their freedom or life is at stake.
Just a few of my takeaways:
* There are 3 relationships that are deeply protected within American society: the first is with your doctor, the second is with your spiritual leader, and the third is with your lawyer. A lawyer gets to go behind the curtain to see the person for who they are. A lawyer is also the person who can show a prisoner something so rarely given to this population: humanity.
* The school-to-prison pipeline starts with the fog that surrounds the perception of the black child. Do we look at a black child differently than a child of another race?
* In certain demographics, the process of corrections starts early - we don't repair or cure early on. We don't nurture, we correct, and it starts with juvenile detentions.
* To understand the carceral state in America is to understand everyone who is profiting from the prison system.
We'd love to know your takeaways - share them!
Watch the video now on our Events Page.