The episode almost didn’t happen. Our guest fell through, the feed glitched, and then Bruce Bryan hopped on from a car in Midtown and delivered the most human, unflinching conversation we’ve had about wrongful conviction, prison violence, and what real reform could look like. Bruce grew up in Manhattan and Queens during the crack era, got swept into a homicide case he says he didn’t commit, and spent years on Rikers Island before a trial with a traumatized public defender and a prosecutor later tied to misconduct. He survived 29 years inside, studied relentlessly in the law library, mailed more than a thousand legal letters, and ultimately won executive clemency after a law professor built a 499-page case for his humanity and impact.
We dig into the mechanics that break people: lost evidence, overloaded defense, Brady violations, and corrections units where force too often goes unseen. Bruce describes everyday violence behind walls and why the absence of body cameras in prisons keeps the worst behavior unaccountable. Then he points to a model that instantly changes the room: Justice Defenders. In Kenya and Uganda, incarcerated people and officers study the law together, write motions, argue appeals, and reduce violence through shared purpose. It’s radical because it’s simple—teach the law to everyone with skin in the game, and you get outcomes built on dignity and facts.
From there, we talk solutions that scale: mental health treatment for the huge share of people inside with disorders, dyslexia and literacy support, community-focused policing that prizes consistency and local trust, and real accountability for deliberate prosecutorial misconduct. Bruce refuses bitterness, even at a parole board that expected false remorse; he chose truth, and still walked out. His line sticks: “Where there’s life, there’s hope.” That’s not a cliché here—it’s a strategy.
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