This episode uncovers the chilling, hidden history of habitual offender statutes in the United States. Attorney and legal historian Daniel Loehr reveals how these laws were originally championed by the 1920s eugenics movement in a racist effort to prevent reproduction by people deemed “habitual criminals.

This episode features Cleveland Vance, incarcerated in the Colorado Department of Corrections; Stefano IllescasRomo, incarcerated in the Colorado Department of Corrections; and Daniel Loehr, CUNY School of Law.

HABITUAL is a production of Colorado Radio for Justice.

Executive Producers: Herbert Alexander and Ryan Conarro

Hosts and Producers: Herbert Alexander, Ryan Conarro, and Seth Ready

Lead Writer: Ryan Conarro

Editors: Ringo Joon, Lucy Richardson, Herbert Alexander, & Ryan Conarro

Music composition: Xavier Gauthier

Mastering Engineer: Tongjai Lee

Graphic design: Mayela Cardenas

Vocal Coach: Mare Trevathan

Production of HABITUAL was supported in part by Colorado Media Project, a funding collective fiscally sponsored by Rose Community Foundation. Special thanks to Spero Justice Center and to Chuck Murphy, Investigative Editor at Colorado Public Radio.

HABITUAL is an original documentary podcast. This series includes limited excerpts of third-party media, such as news reporting and archival materials, used solely for purposes of journalism, commentary, and public interest analysis. These excerpts are selected carefully, used sparingly, and presented with additional reporting, context, and critique.

Any such material is incorporated in a transformative manner and only to the extent necessary to support factual storytelling, including the examination of legal systems, media narratives, and the lived experience of those directly affected.

HABITUAL relies on fair use as defined under 17 U.S.C. § 107 of U.S. copyright law. All rights to third-party materials, including news and media content, remain with their respective owners.

This episode includes the following sources:

• Retro Report, “Three Strikes & You’re Out”:
  https://rmpbs.pbslearningmedia.org /resource/crime-punishment-three-strikes-law-video/retro-report/
• PBS, “The Origins of Eugenics in America | The US and the Holocaust”:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsg5IwYRw9A
• Radical History: “How Britain and American Inspired Nazi Eugenics”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dyyt2kVOEg

Stay engaged with HABITUAL and Colorado Radio for Justice:
https://www.radioforjustice.org/habitual

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