Damon Davis on Social Justice

Today’s guest, Damon Davis, talks about social justice and criminal justice reform. Damon is a Juris Doctor candidate who expects to graduate in May and take the bar exam shortly afterward. His life’s journey included several years in federal prison, which gave him deep insight into repressive societal issues. To act on his passion for criminal justice reform, Damon plans to work within a Public Defender’s office and has already received an offer.
We start by talking about Damon’s personal challenges but quickly dive into a deep discussion about societal issues that sustain injustice. For example, the incarceration rate in the U.S. is the highest in the world - even higher than El Salvador, Cuba, Rwanda and Turkmenistan. Why? To a large degree, the answer is based on systemic inequities in our culture that perpetuates through the generations. While it makes sense to address social injustice by examining our past, there’s tremendous pushback on that idea, because, as Damon puts it, “If you teach the truth, now you have to deal with and confront the wrongs that have been done, and things like equity, injustice and restitution . . . come into play.”