The Pomp Podcast
425: Eliza Orlins on Criminal Justice Reform
- Eliza Orlins, a Manhattan public defender with 11 years of experience, is running for Manhattan District Attorney on a criminal justice reform platform.
- The criminal legal system is deliberately designed to marginalize poor people, people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and other vulnerable groups rather than being "broken."
- Police misconduct—including false arrests, falsifying documents, and perjury—occurs with regularity and often goes unpunished due to lack of accountability and transparency (e.g., New York's repealed 50A law shielded disciplinary records).
- The war on drugs disproportionately targets people of color despite similar usage rates across races; decriminalization and treatment-based approaches, as implemented in Portugal and Oregon, reduce overdose deaths and incarceration without increasing drug use.
- Bail systems and sentencing disparities create a two-tiered justice system: wealthy defendants buy their freedom while poor defendants languish in jail pre-trial, worsening case outcomes and family destruction.
- White-collar crime and pharmaceutical misconduct (e.g., opioid crisis) receive minimal prosecution, while street-level offenses and minor theft are aggressively prosecuted.