Local • News & Public Affairs • Podcast
It is the intention of Jaws of Justice Radio to investigate how to achieve justice in America, this includes issues of economic injustice, political injustice and the criminal justice system. We want to put a human face on those caught in the grasp of injustice and those that are part of an unjust system. We strive to dispel the misconceptions created by the news and entertainment industry, politicians and our educational system.
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The Team
Craig Lubow is a criminal defense and family law attorney in Kansas. Craig has been a progressive activist since the early 1970s, starting in the War Resisters’ League. Craig serves on the executive committee of the Kanza Group of the Kansas Sierra Club.
Mr. Bell has significant experience in criminal matters at the local, state and federal level. After obtaining his business and tax law degrees, Mr. Bell worked as a tax and estate planning attorney. Combining his desire to help people with his love of the law, Mr. Bell then served as a trial attorney with the Missouri Public Defender’s System in Jackson County, Missouri where he represented thousands of clients in matters ranging from misdemeanor assault to first degree murder. Now in private practice as a criminal defense attorney, Mr. Bell's practice areas include white-collar, violent offenses, drug offenses, and sexual offenses.
I am a native son of Kansas City, Missouri who recently returned to this city after a long expedition, or journey that took me to some of the places in America that are referred to here at KKFI as the “Jaws of Justice!” Once I heard that terminology, I automatically knew this is where I belonged and I have been here every sense.
Margot Patterson is a writer and editor. Most of her experience has been in print journalism, frequently writing on U.S. foreign policy and the Middle East. In 2019 she and co-hosts Jamie Jackson and Jeremy Rothe-Kushel started “Understanding Israel-Palestine,” a now-weekly program that seeks to provide listeners with a more informed perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than is often available in the mainstream press. She is a long-time contributor to KKFI’s “Jaws of Justice” program and has interviewed a wide range of policy experts, criminologists, law enforcement officials and former inmates on topics ranging from juvenile justice detention, mass incarceration and police training to domestic extremism, human trafficking, solitary confinement and new technologies of incarceration.
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It is the intention of Jaws of Justice Radio to investigate how to achieve justice in America, this includes issues of economic injustice, political injustice and the criminal justice system. We want to put a human face on those caught in the grasp of injustice and those that are part of an unjust system. We strive to dispel the misconceptions created by the news and entertainment industry, politicians and our educational system. We want to pull back the veil and reveal those that really write our laws and who our justice system is meant to protect. It is our intention to seek out alternatives to the present practice that puts the law before justice, alternatives that are restorative to those that have been wronged and just to those that have offended. In short, we want to inform our society of the realities of the existing systems and in doing so start a dialogue about how to create systems that truly seek justice for all.
The Jaws of Justice Radio group is made up of formerly incarcerated citizens, family members of victims, family members of the incarcerated, lawyers, and justice seeking members of our community. We invite you to join the dialogue.
Jaws of Justice Radio has covered issues of law enforcement, courts, incarceration, homelessness, economic injustice, foster care, death penalty, constitutional rights and more. We are looking for organizations and individuals to tell their story, and more folks that want to learn how to produce radio.
Executive co-producers are Craig Lubow and Margot Patterson.
June 5, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
OPPOSE THE DEATH PENALTY IN ALL FORMS!
Host Elyse Max talks with two spiritual advisors about their experiences inside and outside the execution chamber as spiritual advisors to those facing the ultimate punishment. Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood is a pastor and activist who lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is Convenor of Clergy Against the Death Penalty. Cantor Michael Zoosman lives in Maryland and he is a Chaplin and founder of L'Chaim: Jews Against the Death Penalty.
ListenMay 29, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
Roadblocks and setbacks on the Road to Parole in Missouri
Host Macy Jones talks to Dale Patterson, an inmate at the South Central Correctional Facility in Licking, Missouri. Dale has been incarcerated since the age of 18 for second degree murder. He is now 62 years old. He entered an Alford plea after being told he would be out in fourteen years. Forty four years later, he is still incarcerated after numerous “setbacks” by the Parole Board. His application for parole will be reconsidered in 2027. The rejections are vague, saying “due to circumstances of the present offense.” No details are ever provided to Dale. Dale believes that having a support system with family appear at the hearings would be helpful. However, his close family members are all deceased. Hear much more from Dale.
ListenMay 22, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
RESPECT YOURSELF!
Host David Bell speaks with Kimberlee Shaw-Ellis, a retired Kansas City Missouri police officer. They will ask us; how can we be empathetic and coexist in multiple worlds when those worlds appear oppositional to each other?
ListenMay 15, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
ITS TIME TO BE HEARD!
Host Bev Livingston speaks with Thomas (TJ) James, the Community Organizer for Our Voices with More2, Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity. They are one of the most recognizable social justice organizations in the metro.
ListenMay 8, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
ACTIONS REALLY CAN CHANGE THE WORLD FOR GOOD
On May 8th, host Elyse Max speaks with Ed Hundley, the Founder/Executive Director/President of KODI, "Keeping our Destiny Intact", a local non-profit in Kansas and Missouri dedicated to restoring families, providing guidance for at-risk youth, and aiding the transitional process of those being released back into society.
Host Melvin Merritt spoke with Lora McDonald, Executive Director of More² about their activities. Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity is a faith-based organizing group that trains and develops ordinary Kansas City area faith leaders to do extraordinary things to shape public policies and change their communities.
Tune in and listen at: https://kkfi.org/listen/
May 1, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL IMPACTS OF WRONGFUL ACCUSATIONS
Hosts Keith Carnes and Latahra Smith Carnes talk with exonerees from all over the United States. Being wrongfully accused of criminal offences can lead to serious negative consequences to those wrongfully accused and their families. There is too little research on the psychological and psychosocial impacts of wrongful incarceration.
ListenApril 24, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
SPARK THE HEART
Host David Bell talks with Dr Nicole Price, Author of the forthcoming book “Spark the Heart, Engineering Empathy in your Organization.” Empathy, often dismissed as a soft skill, is one of the most undervalued skills at our disposal. Recognizing and understanding why another person believes what they believe and values what they value, even if it is different from our own views and thoughts, is fundamental to the criminal justice system.
ListenApril 17, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
LIGHT OF HOPE
On April 17th, host Bev Livingston speaks with Tahir Atwater, Director of Donor and Volunteer Engagement, and Judith Westmoreland, Staff Attorney, both with Jackson County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). Next, host Craig Lubow will speak with D.C. Hiegert, a legal fellow and attorney with the ACLU of Kansas. They will talk about the anti-trans bills that were considered by the Kansas Legislature during the 2023 session.
ListenApril 10, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
WONDER HOW TO KEEP FROM GOING UNDER?
Host Terri Wilke speaks with Akile Anai, Director of the Department of Agitation and Propaganda of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP). The Uhuru Movement is an American-based socialist and African internationalist movement founded in 1972 and led by the APSP.
ListenApril 3, 2023 Local, News & Public Affairs, Podcast
THE REALITY OF PRISON
Host Elyse Max speaks with Lori Curry, Founder of Missouri Prison Reform and Tim Wallace, Former Correctional Officer for the Missouri Department of Corrections. They will discuss conditions of incarceration in Missouri.
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