It's been about a year since Ricky Kidd was exonerated of charges for a 1996 double homicide he didn't commit. As he's set out to build a new life after 23 years in prison, the world has also changed around him, amid a global pandemic and wides

Epilogue: Life after life in prison

Dec 13th, 2019 35m 13s

Ricky Kidd is finally free -- thanks to his pro bono legal team, led by law professor Sean O'Brien. In this bonus episode, Ricky and Sean tell us about adjusting to life after prison and we talk through some loose ends from the case. Also, we a

Introducing America, Interrupted

May 7th, 2020 25m 23s

Much of what we've heard about the coronavirus is from major cities like New York. But what's happening to hospitals in rural America, where there are more high-risk patients, fewer resources and a smaller safety net -- if there is one at all?

Episode 5: Where do we go from here?

Dec 4th, 2019 36m 33s

After 23 years behind bars, and a crushing defeat in 2009, Ricky Kidd finally gets a new day in court. Plus, we take a look inside a new St. Louis County prosecutor's campaign to uproot the process that fuels the overload on public defenders. C

Episode 4: Public defenders fight back

Nov 26th, 2019 23m 14s

The most common tool used to attack problems in public defender systems is the class action lawsuit. But what if there's a better strategy? Steve Hanlon, a longtime advocate for systemic legal reform, has a big idea about big data. This is the

Episode 3: When things go wrong

Nov 20th, 2019 28m 5s

The American justice system is based around the idea that you can get to the truth when two opposing sides make their cases in court. But what happens if your defense attorney is so overloaded they can't handle the case that could cost you your

Episode 2: How did we get here?

Nov 13th, 2019 29m 57s

Americans didn't always have the right to an attorney. It all started with a pool hall robbery in Florida, and an unlikely legal advocate: a poor drifter named Clarence Earl Gideon. Gideon brought the fight for free counsel to the Supreme Court

Episode 1: Triage

Nov 6th, 2019 25m 37s

Can an attorney handle more than 100 criminal cases at a time? That's the reality for a public defender like Jeff Esparza, who represents defendants unable to afford their own lawyers in Kansas City. The public defender system in Missouri--and

Broken Justice Trailer

Oct 29th, 2019 1m 26s

In 1997, Ricky Kidd was sentenced to life without parole for a double homicide he says he didn't commit. And he says his court-appointed lawyer is the reason. In the U.S. justice system, everyone has the right to an attorney, even if you can't

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