Rattling The Bars The Real News Network

After two years of resistance against the proposed "Atlanta Public Safety Training Center," more commonly known as Cop City, more than 60 activists associated with the movement have been indicted on RICO charges. The push to build Cop City and the heavy-handed state response to local protests cannot be separated from the past decade of neoliberal crisis and anti-police protests rocking Atlanta and the country at large. Taya Graham and Stephen Janis of Police Accountability Report join Rattling the Bars for a special crossover episode on the movement to Stop Cop City.

Studio Production: David Hebden, Cameron Granadino
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

Help us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:

Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-rtb
Sign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-rtb

Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

While the death penalty has been abolished in 23 states and Washington, DC, other states are doubling down on the barbaric practice of capital punishment. Idaho wants to bring back firing squads, and now the state of Alabama is pushing to become the first state to execute a death row inmate, Kenneth Smith, by forcing him to inhale pure nitrogen. Why are these states seeking such cruel execution methods? Alabama-based investigative journalist Lee Hedgepeth joins Rattling the Bars.

Click here to read the episode transcript: https://therealnews.com/alabamas-pure-nitrogen-execution-of-kenneth-smith-could-take-over-15-minutes

Studio Production: David Hebden, Cameron Granadino

Help us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:

Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-rtb
Sign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-rtb

Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

After 52 years of incarceration, Edward Alan Poindexter is among the longest serving political prisoners in US and world history. Originally part of the "Omaha Two," Poindexter and Mondo we Langa, both leaders of the Omaha Black Panthers, were convicted of the murder of Omaha police officer Larry Minard in 1971. Poindexter and we Langa's case has long been a subject of scrutiny, with Amnesty International recommending a retrial for both men in 1999. We Lenga passed away in 2016 after years of poor health, and now Poindexter's family members fear he could face a similar fate unless he's released on medical and compassionate grounds.

Studio: Cameron Granadino
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

Help us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:

Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-rtb
Sign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-rtb

Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/george-jacksons-unfinished-revolution

At the age of 18, George Jackson was condemned to a prison sentence of one year to life for the alleged robbery of $70 from a Los Angeles gas station. Jackson spent the remainder of his short life behind bars, but it was from the confines of prison that he became one of the most powerful revolutionary voices and one of greatest living threats to the American capitalist system. Jackson’s autobiographical book of prison letters, titled Soledad Brother, would become a touchstone of Black revolutionary thought for generations of radicals within and outside the prison-industrial complex. As Field Marshal of the Black Panther Party and one of the organization's principal thinkers, Jackson's philosophy and strategy for revolution lit the path to armed struggle taken by the Black Liberation Army and other organizations. On the 52nd anniversary of his killing by prison authorities, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez joins Rattling the Bars to speak with host Mansa Musa about Jackson's towering life and example, and about the impact Jackson’s work had on Mansa, on our departed mentor and fellow political prisoner Marshall “Eddie” Conway, and on their incarcerated comrades.

Studio: David Hebden, Cameron Granadino
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

Help us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:

Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-rtb
Sign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-rtb
Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/juvenile-sentencing-in-the-us-is-barbaric-racist-and-ineffective

“The United States is the only country in the world that permits youth to be sentenced to life without parole,” the Juvenile Law Center notes. “Sentencing children to die in prison is condemned by international law. For children or adults, a sentence of life without parole is cruel, inhumane, and denies the individual’s humanity. For children, the sentence also defies law and research confirming that youth are different than adults and must be treated differently by our legal system.” While many individual states have banned the practice of sentencing juvenile offenders to life without parole, 22 states still permit it, and the conservative majority of the US Supreme Court has shown a troubling openness to overturning past precedents regarding juvenile sentencing. Abd’Allah Wali Lateef, Deputy Director with the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, joins Rattling the Bars to talk about the sordid history behind youth sentencing practices in the US and about the state of the fight to end juvenile life without parole.

Abd’Allah Wali Lateef is Deputy Director of the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. In spite of being condemned to life without possibility of parole at 17 years of age—and without hope or expectation of ever being released from prison—Lateef devoted himself to personal and collective transformation, serving as a mentor, religious advisor, faith leader, and reform advocate. He also studied legal jurisprudence and worked as a paralegal at Paraprofessional Law Clinic, Inc. Lateef was released from prison in the fall of 2017.

Studio: David Hebden, Cameron Granadino
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

Help us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:

Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-rtb
Sign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-rtb
Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

The shocking arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment of Nebraska teen Celeste Burgess and her mother, Jessica Burgess, has now become one of the best-known cases of abortion criminalization in post-Roe America. But the Burgess case is just the tip of the iceberg. Since the 2022 Supreme Court Dobbs decision, abortion bans only make it easier to criminalize all pregnancy outcomes. Emma Roth of Pregnancy Justice joins Rattling the Bars to discuss the Burgess case and the broader movement to criminalize abortion care.

Emma Roth is a staff attorney with Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit advocacy group that defends the civil rights of women and pregnant people.

Pre-Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Studio Production: David Hebden, Cameron Granadino
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

Help us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:

Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-rtb
Sign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-rtb

Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews