With Bruce King, Co-Executive Director, Maine Inside Out, Kels Park, former Policy and Community Advocacy Coordinator, Restorative Justice Institute of Maine, Laura Ligouri, Founder and Executive Director, Mindbridge, and Leo Hylton, Executive Secretary of the Maine State Prison branch of the NAACP and columnist for Mainer.

The Freedom & Captivity Podcast presents conversations with people at the forefront of abolitionist organizing and visioning in Maine. A new episode is launched weekly during fall 2021. The episodes will cover a broad range of issues, from abolition’s history in Maine to current calls to end youth incarceration; from alternatives to punishment that prioritize harm reduction and a different approach to drug policy to the impact on families of the criminal legal system; from the disproportionate policing experiences by Black and brown people to the use of surveillance to monitor political dissent. The Portland Media Center sponsors the podcast, which is produced by Catherine Besteman, edited by sound engineers Josh Riddle and Dino Raymond, and accompanied by the music of Samuel James.

Stream the episode above or access it via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, or the Portland Media Center website.

Resources for Further Learning:

– Danielle Sered (2021) Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair. The New Press.

– Fania E. Davis (2019) The Little Book of Race and Restorative Justice: Black Lives, Healing, and US Social Transformation. Good Books.  

– April Llaman and James Larson. “Prioritizing restorative justice in United States prisons.” Journal of Criminal Justice and Legal Issues, Vol. 3.

– Michelle Stowe. “Empathy: The Heart of Difficult Conversations.” TEDxTallaght.  

– Berastain, Pierre R. Berastain (2016) “A Restorative Promise Inside a Prison.” The Huffington Post.

– Pierre R. Berastain (2013) “Restorative Justice Behind Prison Walls.” The Huffington Post.

– Howard Zehr (2014) The Little Book of Restorative Justice. Good Books.