Criminal Records are a Family Sentence

Episode #27

Criminal Records are a Family Sentence

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New analysis from CAP has found that nearly half of U.S. children now have at least one parent with a criminal record. To discuss the family consequences that can stem from the barriers associated with a parent’s criminal record, we’re joined by our colleagues Melissa Boteach, Vice President of the Poverty to Prosperity Program, and Todd Cox, CAP Senior Fellow and TalkPoverty Radio’s criminal justice correspondent. We’re then joined by a 32 year-old mother of three from Philadelphia who discusses how a decade-old misdemeanor conviction continues to punish her whole family. We’re also joined by Jo-Ann Wallace, the President and CEO of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), who discusses how the underfunding of public defense makes the right to counsel ring hollow for low-income defendants.