What if the question isn’t what someone deserves but what it would take for them to live a good life? In this episode, Justin Yentes sits down with Liz, a pioneering mitigation specialist and author of the upcoming book The Deserving. Through decades of work on capital cases, Liz has helped courts see the full humanity of people facing society’s harshest punishments. Together, they unpack how trauma, poverty, intergenerational harm, and systemic failure shape lives long before the justice system ever becomes involved and why punishment alone cannot create safety or justice. Liz also shares the cases that changed her, the patterns she’s seen across hundreds of lives, and why mitigation isn’t about excuses, it’s about context, truth, and moral clarity.

Key Topics Covered:

• Why jurors often never hear the full story before deciding life or death

• The myth of equal opportunity and the danger of retributive justice

• How adverse childhood experiences shape behavior, health, and outcomes

• Intergenerational trauma and the unseen legacy of abuse, poverty, and violence

• Mental health crises and why jails have become America’s largest providers

This episode will challenge deeply held beliefs about punishment, responsibility, and who we consider worthy of care.

If this conversation unsettles you, that’s the point. This episode asks us to rethink who we protect, who we abandon, and what kind of society we’re choosing to build.

Follow Justin and the pod: @truthbefoundpodcast

Link to Justin’s agency, AIA: https://azprivateinvestigator.com

Follow Liz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-vartkessian/

Follow ARC, Inc.: @advancechange

About Advancing Real Change, Inc.: https://advancechange.org/

What happens when surveillance grows faster than the law meant to restrain it? In this episode, Justin sits down with Paul Avelar, attorney at the Institute for Justice, to unpack how modern surveillance technologies, especially automatic license plate reader cameras, are reshaping privacy, constitutional rights, and the balance of power between citizens and the government. From quiet local contracts to nationwide databases, this conversation reveals how systems built in the name of safety can quietly become tools of pervasive tracking.

Key Moments:

• How license plate reader cameras work and what happens with the data they collect
• The lack of transparency and oversight at the city and state level
• Real-world examples of surveillance abuse and misuse by those in power
• Why this issue cuts across political lines and demands bipartisan reform
• What solutions could actually protect privacy without abandoning public safety

This episode challenges the assumption that surveillance is only a problem for criminals or future administrations we don’t trust. It asks listeners to reconsider how much privacy is lost when data is collected indefinitely, shared broadly, and used without probable cause. If you care about constitutional rights, government accountability, civil liberties, or simply the idea of being left alone in a free society, this conversation is essential listening.

Tune in to hear these hard-hitting questions. The answers are vital because they affect us all.

Follow Justin and the pod: @truthbefoundpodcast

Link to Justin’s agency, AIA: https://azprivateinvestigator.com/

Institute for Justice: https://ij.org/

About the Fourth Amendment work: https://ij.org/issues/ijs-project-on-the-4th-amendment/

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution: https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-4/

In today’s Spanish-language episode, Justin sits down with Faviola, originally from Venezuela and now a U.S. citizen, to break down the rapidly unfolding crisis surrounding the U.S. attacks on Venezuelan boats, the absence of evidence behind the drug-trafficking claims, and the deep divide this has created among Venezuelans both inside the country and abroad. Together, they explore how desperation, hope, misinformation, and geopolitical power collide to shape life-or-death consequences for ordinary people.

Listeners will gain:

• A clearer understanding of what’s actually happening between the U.S. and Venezuela

• A deeper empathy for the people caught in the middle

• A challenge to re-examine assumptions about intervention, immigration, and geopolitics

• A reminder that “liberation” without autonomy isn’t liberation at all

This episode is essential for Americans wanting to understand the truth behind the boat strikes, Venezuelans searching for clarity amid overwhelming misinformation, immigrants and advocates concerned about due process and human rights, and anyone who wants a deeper, human perspective beyond headlines.

This conversation may unsettle long-held beliefs, but it also opens the door for more informed judgment, more compassion, and more accountability in how nations wield their power. Follow along for more as this situation continues to evolve.

Show Notes:

Follow Justin and the pod: @truthbefoundpodcast 

Link to Justin’s agency, AIA: https://azprivateinvestigator.com/

Follow Faviola on TikTok: @moreandchismes