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Pursuing Justice

Pursuing Justice

Written by: Harriet Hendel
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About this listen

 What if you or someone you loved were arrested, convicted and incarcerated for a crime --a crime for which you or that person was innocent? What if the lawyer you hired was incompetent and you were out of funds and out of options? What if years and decades had gone by and you or your loved one were still behind bars? Where would you find help? Wrongful conviction in the United States occurs more often than you might think. In 2022, the National Registry of Exonerations recorded 417 people who were proven innocent. They have tracked cases of innocence since 1989. Since 1973, 200 people were taken off Death Row and freed from prison. The total number of men and women exonerated since 1989 is 3,460. That is just the tip of the iceberg as it is estimated that 4%-6% of the 2 million people doing time are innocent. The desperate help these people need is coming from innocence organizations in most every state in addition to groups like Conviction Integrity Units around the nation. They work pro bono for each client. This podcast will explore causes of wrongful conviction in addition to many other topics related to our criminal justice system. We will continue to interview exonerees, share memoirs they have published, speak to Professors of Law who are also authors of books about false confessions and junk science. We will interview directors of Innocence Projects around the nation in addition to organizations like "Puppies Behind Bars". Host Harriet Hendel served on the Board of Directors of the Innocence Project of Florida from 2013~2019, having been active with IPF since 2009. The project is the sponsor of the podcast. Harriet has been teaching classes on topics related to our justice system since 2012 in Florida and New Jersey. Her goal is to shine a light on the miscarriage of justice going on all over our nation with the hope that one day wrongful conviction will be eliminated for good.© 2026 Harriet Hendel Politics & Government Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Writing From Behind The Wall with John J. Lennon [Part 1]

    Writing From Behind The Wall with John J. Lennon [Part 1]
    Jan 8 2026

    John J. Lennon is serving his twenty-fourth year behind bars, currently in Sing Sing Correctional Facility. His writing has appeared in The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Esquire, and New York magazine. His work has been anthologized in the Best American Magazine Writing, and he’s twice been a finalist for the National Magazine Award, in feature writing and reviews and criticism. Lennon recently published his first book, The Tragedy of True Crime: Four Guilty Men and the Stories That Define Us, which was named a "best book of the year" by the New York Times and NPR. Lennon will be eligible for parole in 2029.

    To learn more about John, and to purchase his book, visit https://johnjlennon.net/

    This podcast is proudly sponsored by the Innocence Project of Florida. Visit www.floridainnocence.org for more information.

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    21 mins
  • Bard Prison Initiative: College Behind Bars with Max Kenner and Elias Beltran [Part 2]

    Bard Prison Initiative: College Behind Bars with Max Kenner and Elias Beltran [Part 2]
    Nov 27 2025

    Max Kenner is the founder and director of Bard Prison Initiative which he launched 25 years ago. At Bard College, he is Vice President for Institutional Initiatives and advisor to the President on Public Policy and College Affairs. Currently, he sits on the New York State Council on Community Justice. His awards are many: JFK Presidential Library's New Frontier Award and the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award in Education. B.P.I. has been featured on "60 Minutes", PBS News Hour, the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post and the docuseries "College Behind Bars" by Ken Burns which was shown on PBS. This 4 part documentary is the inspiring, deeply human story of men and women struggling to earn college degrees while in prison for serious crimes.

    Elias Beltran graduated from B.P.I. in 2017 having been incarcerated for 29 1/2 years. He earned a B.A. in Literature and the Humanities. He is now a PhD candidate at Cornell University. He has been a writing fellow with Bard's MicroCollege at the Brooklyn Public Library as well as at the Harlem Children's Zone and at Cornell for the English Language Support Organization (ELSO). He continues studying Mandarin Chinese. He is also a T.A. at Cornell, teaching a class on Crime and Punishment. He was awarded a prize given to Teaching Assistants at Cornell. In the Fall of 2025, he will be teaching at Albion Correctional Facility for Women, a prison in upstate New York. At the age of 16, Elias was sentenced to 30 years-to-life.

    BPI on 60 Minutes: https://bpi.bard.edu/news-stories/news/bpi-on-60-minutes/


    Max Kenner with Deidre Faughey: https://bpi.bard.edu/news-stories/news/max-kenner-with-deirdre-faughey/


    Plus, you can find a lot more about BPI here: https://bpi.bard.edu/news-stories/

    This podcast is proudly sponsored by the Innocence Project of Florida. Visit www.floridainnocence.org for more information.

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    29 mins
  • Bard Prison Initiative: College Behind Bars with Max Kenner and Elias Beltran [Part 1]

    Bard Prison Initiative: College Behind Bars with Max Kenner and Elias Beltran [Part 1]
    Nov 20 2025

    Max Kenner is the founder and director of Bard Prison Initiative which he launched 25 years ago. At Bard College, he is Vice President for Institutional Initiatives and advisor to the President on Public Policy and College Affairs. Currently, he sits on the New York State Council on Community Justice. His awards are many: JFK Presidential Library's New Frontier Award and the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award in Education. B.P.I. has been featured on "60 Minutes", PBS News Hour, the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post and the docuseries "College Behind Bars" by Ken Burns which was shown on PBS. This 4 part documentary is the inspiring, deeply human story of men and women struggling to earn college degrees while in prison for serious crimes.

    Elias Beltran graduated from B.P.I. in 2017 having been incarcerated for 29 1/2 years. He earned a B.A. in Literature and the Humanities. He is now a PhD candidate at Cornell University. He has been a writing fellow with Bard's MicroCollege at the Brooklyn Public Library as well as at the Harlem Children's Zone and at Cornell for the English Language Support Organization (ELSO). He continues studying Mandarin Chinese. He is also a T.A. at Cornell, teaching a class on Crime and Punishment. He was awarded a prize given to Teaching Assistants at Cornell. In the Fall of 2025, he will be teaching at Albion Correctional Facility for Women, a prison in upstate New York. At the age of 16, Elias was sentenced to 30 years-to-life.

    BPI on 60 Minutes: https://bpi.bard.edu/news-stories/news/bpi-on-60-minutes/


    Max Kenner with Deidre Faughey: https://bpi.bard.edu/news-stories/news/max-kenner-with-deirdre-faughey/


    Plus, you can find a lot more about BPI here: https://bpi.bard.edu/news-stories/

    This podcast is proudly sponsored by the Innocence Project of Florida. Visit www.floridainnocence.org for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    26 mins
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