On Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, CT Rep. Josh Elliott & Tiheba Bain were our guests to discuss Free Prison Calls on the Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant – The Voice of CT Criminal Justice. Live on WNHH 103.5 FM New Haven, rebroadcast at 5 pm. Live-streamed and podcast everywhere, see below. Sponsored by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven – Now More Than Ever.

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State Representative Josh Elliott

Since winning the 88th District House seat in the Connecticut General Assembly in 2016, State Representative Josh Elliott has advocated for implementing progressive policies that will help improve Connecticut’s economy and allow it to remain competitive with surrounding states.

Elliott, who grew up in Connecticut and attended high school in Hamden, graduated with a B.A. in Sociology from Ithaca College. He later went on to obtain his J.D. at Quinnipiac School of Law. As co-owner of Shelton’s The Common Bond Market and Thyme & Season in Hamden, which he also manages– two family-run natural food stores – Elliott recognizes the importance of investing in working families and businesses, both large and small.

As a member of the Progressive Caucus, Elliott continues to support efforts to establish a paid family and medical leave system that would be funded by employees at a 0.5 percent payroll tax. He is also fighting to increase Connecticut’s minimum wage.

Elliott is working to ensure that Connecticut employs quality public health standards by pushing for a requirement that all children in the public education system receive proper immunizations. Elliott is also dedicated to improving the treatment of Connecticut’s incarcerated population. He is an active advocate of banning the use of solitary confinement and has independently championed a bill that would provide certain telecommunication services to incarcerated people at no cost.

Elliott deeply believes the right to vote is a fundamental feature of government and has resultantly sponsored several bills aimed at efficiently reforming Connecticut’s electoral system. Among these are a bill that would restore voting privileges of formerly incarcerated individuals on parole and a bill that would implement a ranked-choice voting system, which would allow a voter to rank candidates by their preference.
He has spearheaded efforts to legalize the use of recreational marijuana, sought to equalize property tax rates, and consistently supported establishing a more equitable tax structure.

Elliott currently serves as Assistant Majority Leader and vice chair of the Commerce Committee. He is also a member of the Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee and Energy & Technology Committee.

Tiheba Bain, Executive Director, Women Against Mass Incarceration & Director of Coalitions, National Council of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls

As the Director of Coalitions for The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, Tiheba Bain works with various organizations around the country building out coalitions surrounding criminal justice reform. She also founded Women Against Mass Incarceration, a grassroots nonprofit organization, empowering the justice activism of women and girls.

She graduated with a dual Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Women and Criminal Justice from CUNY Baccalaureate Interdisciplinary and Unique Studies Program. She is a contributing published author to Race Education and Reintegration and she assisted with the legislation of Senate Bill 13 in Connecticut, which concerned the fair treatment of incarcerated persons.

Whether she’s advocating for policy changes or providing direct services to women and girls, Tiheba has dedicated her life to making change within the criminal injustice system.

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The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy and Jeff Grant is broadcast live at 9 am ET on the first and third Friday of each month Sept. through June, from the WNHH 103.5 FM studios in New Haven. It is rebroadcast on WNHH at 5 pm ET the same day. Podcast and Archive available all the time, everywhere.

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An article about each show is published a few days later in the New Haven Independent (newhavenindependent.org).

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Contact us: jgrant@prisonist.org

Season Three Guests:

Fri., Sept. 6, 2019: Khalil Cumberbatch, Chief Strategist at New Yorkers United for Justice
Fri., Sept. 20, 2019: Aaron T. Kinzel, Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Michigan-Dearborn
Fri., Oct. 4, 2019: Charlie Grady, Outreach Specialist for the FBI CT Community Outreach Program
Fri., Oct. 18, 2019: Michael Kimelman, Former Hedge Funder and Author of Confessions of a Wall Street Insider: A Cautionary Tale of Rats, Feds, and Banksters
Fri., Nov. 1, 2019: Corey Brinson, Former Attorney Convicted for a White Collar Crime who is running for Hartford City Council
Fri., Nov. 15, 2019: Cathryn Lavery, Ph.D., Asst. Chair & Graduate Coordinator for the Iona College Criminal Justice Department
Fri., Dec. 6, 2019: Rep. Josh Elliott, Tiheba Bain & James Jeter, Free Prison Calls Show
Fri. Dec. 20, 2019: John Hamilton, CEO, Liberation Programs
Fri., Jan. 3, 2020: Reginald Dwayne Betts, Lawyer, Poet, Lecturer on Mass Incarceration
Fri., Jan. 17, 2019: Serena Ligouri, Executive Director, New Hour for Women & Children – L.I.
Fri., Feb. 7, 2020: David Garlock, Program Director, New Person Ministries, Lancaster, PA
Fri., Mar. 20, 2020: Tiheba Bain, Women’s Incarceration Advocate