What do the Lubavitcher Rebbe and the Chabad Chassidic movement have to do with criminal justice reform? It all starts with “Aleph.”
Send us a textWhat do the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, zt”l, and the Chabad Chassidic movement have to do with criminal justice reform? Find out in the latest episode of the JustPod, with our guest, Rabbi Yossi Bryski, the Director of Alternative Sentencing at the Aleph Institute. Aleph was founded in 1981 at the Rebbe’s direction, and for over 40 years since, has served individuals of all backgrounds and faiths in prison programs, reentry programs, alternative sentencing programs, and in advocacy, while providing services for the families of inmates, including summer camps for the children of inmates.Rabbi Bryski and his team work with defense counsel to craft alternative sentencing proposals for offenders. And as a result of their work, federal and state courts across the country have accepted Aleph’s creative alternative sentencing proposals. You’re just a click away from stories and experiences that are both heartwarming and inspiring.
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White Collar Talks with Nina & Joe: Discussion with Susan Bozorgi
Send us a textPlease join co-hosts Joe Whitley and Nina Marino for an insightful discussion with our distinguished guest, Susan Bozorgi.Susan started her impressive career in the public defender’s office in Miami where she found her calling opposing the government in representing people accused of crime. She tried hundreds of jury trials which honed her skills as a formidable trial attorney.Susan is the founder of Bozorgi Law PLLC based in Miami. She is known for her persistence and perseverance and regularly wins cases that objectively have little chance of success. She is also a champion of women as her blog “Women Criminal Defense Attorneys” highlights the successes of women in the criminal justice space, and she is a leader in the Women White Collar Defense Association, the global premiere women white collar defense organization.Susan’s passion for her work shines through in this interview. She is nothing short of a trailblazer for young lawyers and an inspiration for all, as she has broken barriers and torn down ceilings and achieved significant success and respect.
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Volunteering for the Death Penalty: Our Discussion with Award-Winning Journalist Gianna Toboni and Her Debut Book About Scott Dozier
Send us a textGianna Toboni’s book, The Volunteer: The Failure of the Death Penalty in America and One Inmate’s Quest to Die with Dignity, is a morally provocative chronicle about Scott Dozier, a former Army Ranger, who was sentenced to death, and “volunteered” for the death penalty. Dozier had been convicted of murder, sentenced to death, and ultimately demanded the state enforce its own penalty. What unfolds in Toboni’s book is a story not just about death, but also about the bureaucratic, moral, and psychological theater that surrounds it. As the book makes clear, Dozier was not a hero or a martyr. Nonetheless, in Dozier’s story Toboni has put a magnifying glass on the contradictions of a system that claims to value life, even while enforcing the ultimate penalty, death. Toboni is an Emmy-award winning journalist and documentary film maker. The Volunteer, her debut book, was published by Simon and Schuster in April 2025. We’re grateful she included the JustPod among other notable stops (including The Daily Show and Comedy Central!) on her first book tour.
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Defending the “Evil Genius”: A Discussion with Leonard Ambrose, and his Representation of Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong
Send us a textIt was a pleasure to welcome Leonard Ambrose to the JustPod to discuss his representation of the notorious defendant Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong. Ambrose obtained an acquittal of Armstrong after she shot her boyfriend six times as he lay on a couch in 1984. But Armstrong is possibly more well known for her eventual murder conviction in the bizarre Pizza Bomber case in Erie, Pennsylvania—the subject of the Netflix series “Evil Genius.” That case arose from the August 28, 2003 robbery of a bank in Erie Township by Brian Wells, a pizza delivery man. What made the robbery so unusual, and so macabre, was the locked collar around Mr. Wells’ neck when he entered the bank. The collar contained a ticking time bomb that, after a standoff with Pennsylvania law enforcement, exploded, resulting in Mr. Wells’ death. Armstrong was sentenced to life imprisonment, plus 30 years, and died in prison in 2017 of natural causes—unlike her victims.
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A discussion with defense counsel Rocco Cipparone and Angie Levy on January 6 prosecutions
Send us a textWhat was it like to defend clients in prosecutions arising out of events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021? A discussion with defense counsel Rocco Cipparone and Angie Levy.Following the events at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, the federal government initiated one of the largest investigations and prosecutions in American history, ultimately charging nearly 1,600 defendants. Those charges resulted in about 1,270 convictions (most, for misdemeanor offenses). Upon entering Office on January 21, 2025, President Trump fulfilled a campaign promise in granting clemency to these defendants—pardoning or commuting the sentences of those convicted, and ordering the dismissal, by the U.S. Department of Justice, of remaining pending cases. We had the opportunity to talk with two guests who had a front-row seat to the January 6 prosecutions, through their representation of clients in January 6 trials held in federal court in Washington, D.C. Rocco Cipparone and Angie Levy are two well-regarded and respected members of the Philadelphia and New Jersey criminal defense communities, and recognized as terrific trial lawyers. It was a great pleasure to have them with us to discuss the January 6 prosecutions.
Podcast for the Criminal Justice Section of the American Bar Association. We'll talk current issues in criminal justice reform, policy and the Supreme Court. We'll discuss the work of the Criminal Justice Section including events, Task Forces, Standards, the ABA's ICC project and more. This is the Criminal Justice Section of the ABA’s podcast, and may not contain official ABA policy statements. For the ABA’s Code of Online Conduct visit here: https://www.americanbar.org/about_the_aba/codeofconduct/
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