Podcasts: The Hustler Files
The Hustler Files
The Hustler Files – Storytelling That Will Challenge What You Thought You Knew
Join creator and host Lisa Reilly every Saturday morning from 9:32 AM to 10:00 AM, streaming here on WHMP.com, or find us on your favorite podcast platform. Each week, we bring storytelling with grit, purpose, and possibility to break stigmas, reshape narratives, and amplify the voices of justice-involved individuals, advocates, and change-makers. We’ll explore the criminal justice system, addiction recovery, domestic violence, human trafficking, fair-chance employment, and prison reform through powerful storytelling and candid interviews that bring humanity to issues too often overlooked.
Please reach out with questions or comments to thehustlerfiles@outlook.com
The Hustler Files Ep 87
EARN & LEARN APPRENTICESHIP AT CATALYST
Over the last couple of decades, tech companies and tech-minded entrepreneurs have been developing various ways to assist incarcerated and justice-involved individuals with job training both behind the wall and upon returning to the community. Checkr, a California-based background tech company, has been leading the charge for more employers, like those they work with, to become more socially responsible in the fair chance hiring movement by bridging the gap between employers, needing employees, and justice-involved individuals learning a trade and earning a living wage. To that means, Checkr has launched CATALYST, a 12-month, 2,000 hours, apprenticeship program to offer justice-involved individuals with real-life learning, in a variety of career pathways, and that includes a formal credential from the US Department of Labor, upon completion of their apprenticeship. CATALYST was piloted, in-house, at Checkr for a full year, before launching the roll-out with a handful of employers who believe in this valuable, often-overlooked talent pool. Checkr has committed o$1M over the next two years to expand CATALYST, and Christina Louie Dyer, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility has been tapped to oversee this life-changing initiative.
The Hustler Files Ep 86
LOVE IN A BACKPACK IS LIKE A WARM HUG
When you leave jail, there isn’t much you take with you, so to receive a backpack filled with shampoo, conditioner, socks, female hygiene items, snacks, water, and other items can feel, as one formerly incarcerated individual, like Christmas. Most ideas to help less fortunate, others, have the commonality of being hatched at a kitchen table, and LOVE In A Backpack is no different. When St. John’s Episcopal Church member, Susan Todd’s daughter, Nell, was assessing the needs of those leaving incarceration, a backpack filled with necessary items and a personalized letter of encouragement, seemed to fill the bill. Since its inception, LOVE In A Backpack has supplied over 600 backpacks to incarcerated women, leaving jail, in Western Massachusetts. According to Jenny Wildermuth, Outreach Coordinator at St. John’s, there is ALWAYS a need for more backpacks and backpack-filling events. They also encourage other churches and congregations across the US to replicate their mission of LOVE and HOPE.
The Hustler Files Ep 85
THE 13TH AMENDMENT, LEGAL SLAVERY & PROPOSITION 6
Here in 2024, the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution still states; “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction”. This year, on the California ballot, was Proposition 6, a ‘yes’ vote would amend the California Constitution and prohibit the state from punishing incarcerated individuals with involuntary work assignments AND from disciplining those who refuse to work. Prop 6 didn’t pass and so slave labor may continue within the California prison system. Nicolas Tirado, of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, spent 11 years in various California prisons, working at jobs that would have no transferrable skills, back in the community, and making $.86 a day, PRE tax and restitution. His recent online op-ed, in Teen Vogue, was an eye opening article about ending “modern-day slavery” and well worth the read.
The Hustler Files Ep 84
SENTENCED TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE, BUT SHE DIDN’T DO THE CRIME
Unfortunately the cycle of domestic abuse can be handed down, from generation to generation, and it is an inheritance that can prove deadly. Such was the case for Kelly Savage-Rodriguez. Kelly grew up in an abusive family, and her mother was constantly, in the criminal justice system. Kelly herself was in a domestic violence situation when sadly she lost her 4 year old son, at the hands of her then husband. While Kelly’s husband was sentenced to LWOP – Life Without Parole, Kelly herself was charged, at the time, with the California failure to protect law. Kelly served 23 years behind the wall and she also lost her baby daughter to her ex-husbands family. But Kelly wasn’t going to quit fighting for her release, and in November of 2018 had her LWOP sentence commuted by then California Governor Brown. Through all of Kelly’s pain, she used her time in prison to not only improve herself, but help others, including taking on a role with the California Coalition of Women Prisoners, as a Drop LWOP Coordinator. Kelly is still in that role today, but fortunately outside the wall.
The Hustler Files Ep 83
THE EXONERATED 5 TAKE ON DONALD TRUMP IN A DEFAMATION CIVIL SUIT
On September 10, 2024, in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Attorney Alex Van Dyke, of famed legal firm, Kline & Specter, along with 67 million viewers tuned in to watch the Presidential debate between Vice President, Kamala Harris, and Donald Trump. What transpired that evening, would once again put the former Central Park Five, now known as the Exonerated Five, back in the spotlight. That night at the podium, Donald Trump relayed false information, stating that the Exonerated Five plead guilty to the assault and rape of the jogger and that she in fact died of her injuries. Neither of these statements are true. In 1989, these five men, then teenagers, were arrested for the rape and assault of that woman. All five pled not guilty, yet were sentenced to years in prison. The victim of this infamous attack suffered horrific injuries, but she did survive. In 2002, with more conclusive DNA evidence, and a confession from the actual rapist, these five men were exonerated and their charges vacated. Fast forward 35 years, and the Exonerated Five have filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump. Listen in as we open this episode with a preamble from Attorney Bill Newman and then Attorney Alex Van Dyke, from the Exonerated Fives’ legal team, joins us for a first look at this new civil lawsuit against Donald Trump.
The Hustler Files Ep 82
CHOSEN BY THE PEOPLE, WITH GOD’S GRACE, TO UPHOLD THE RULE OF LAW
Sheriff Kieran Donahue of Canyon County, Idaho, will tell you it’s humbling to be a Sheriff that’s responsible for a jurisdiction that encompasses 602 square miles, with a population of close to 250,000, but then again, Sheriff Donahue is no ordinary Sheriff. Sheriff Kieran Donahue’s career reads like an adventure novel and maybe that’s because it’s been just that. From an Alaskan Fish & Game Warden, to a scuba diver on the Exxon Valdez, to working undercover on the Federal Task Force, he’ll also tell you that his career has been undeniably directed by God. As Sheriff Donahue prepares to take on a fourth term for Canyon County, he’s been privileged to also hold his current role as President of the National Sheriffs’ Association, oh and let’s not forget that he’s also a subject matter expert on the Mexican Cartels, their relationship with China, the Northern and Southern borders, and the people and drugs that are being smuggled into the United States, on a daily basis.
The Hustler Files Ep 81
MAN UP ISN’T JUST A PHRASE, IT’S A CRUSADE
We all know the pink ribbon that signifies support for Breast Cancer. But did you know there’s another color ribbon that’s just as significant? It’s the purple ribbon of Domestic Violence. In 2012, in Nampa, Idaho, Sheriff Kieran Donahue of Canyon County approached his wife, Jeanie, and suggested they launch an organization to raise funds for those affected by domestic violence. In his line of work, Sheriff Donahue had encountered both women and men in the throes of intimate partnership violence and he wanted to be a changemaker. Having grown up as a fourth-generation cattleman, Sheriff Donahue was raised with the cowboy codes that included the saying, ‘man up’, meaning, be man enough to deal with a difficult situation. Thus the Man Up Crusade was born. EVERY day in the U.S., 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men are the victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner. Man Up Crusade partners with local community events such as rodeos, and fairs to promote safe and healthy relationships through education, advocacy, and funding. Currently, Man Up Crusade has a presence in 18 States and is also supported by the Western States Sheriffs’ Association.
The Hustler Files Ep 80
ARE MANY INCARCERATED WOMEN ALSO THE VICTIMS?
This episode continues some additional, and important storylines we explored during our recent visit behind the wall in Episode 79. Coincidentally, it also touched upon a recent Op-Ed article on BostonGlobe.com from Professor Susan Sered, a criminal justice specialist who wrote, ‘incarcerated women are being held in overly restrictive environments despite evidence that women pose little security risk, compared to their male counterparts.’ Based on what we heard and saw behind the wall, that article and ensuing soundbites we recorded, and now share in this episode created an interesting conversation that included The Hustler Files Producer Jess Tyler. Of the six women we met, 1 was awaiting trial for an alleged murder, 1 for assault with a dangerous weapon, and 1 for carjacking and robbery. The other 3 were sentenced; one for manslaughter (defending herself), one for multiple DUIs, and one for ‘being in the wrong place’. To sit and chat with them, you could close your eyes and be anywhere but behind the wall. The sad common denominator between them was abusive childhoods, no parents or lack of parental boundaries, drugs, alcohol and/or, mental health challenges. So the question to be asked is; Are these women as much the victims as they are the criminals?
The Hustler Files Ep 79
THE WOMEN OF THE WESTERN MASS REGIONAL JAIL
Behind the wall in Chicopee Massachusetts there are 150 women serving time. If you’re sentenced, you wear green prison garb. If you’re waiting to be sentenced then you’re wearing orange. The Women’s Western Mass Regional Correctional Center is under the watch of the Hampden County Sheriff, Nick Cocchi, and thus considered a jail. Just don’t make the mistake of calling it a prison. Prisons are either run by the state, the feds or private industry. Upon arriving at the jail, submitting to our CORI reports, and being escorted through the many sliding metal doors, we are ushered into a classroom where there are six incarcerated women sitting around a table and signing release forms for their interview. Assistant Superintendent, Colleen Stocks, who runs the jail, graciously hosted us and allowed us to chat with Maggie, Vanessa, Brenda, Auntie, Keys and Jay. Listen in as these women open up about life behind the wall, the daily challenges of incarceration and what they would tell their younger selves.
The Hustler Files Ep 78
MAKING A ‘WHAT IF’ A REALITY, Part 2
This episode is the second of a two-parter featuring Eva Hamilton, MBE, CEO and Founder of the very successful re-entry program, Key4Life. There was still so much to cover, including a very revealing conversation with Aaron White, a Senior Case Worker on the Key4Life program and a formerly incarcerated individual. If you’re wondering about Eva’s Key4Life blended program, well it’s seven steps and involves Equine Therapy, Behavioral Support, Music Therapy, Non-physical Football and Boxing, an introduction to Mentors, Mock-Interviews, and a Final Action Plan but there’s so much more to learn about Eva Hamilton, MBE with her 39 years in impacting the incarceral system.
