For more than two decades, Criminologist Dr. Kathryn M. Whiteley has been speaking to women with life sentences, to women who have committed murder. Dr. Whiteley believes that many of these women are more than the sum of their sentence, although she does not discount the pain and suffering of the families who lost a loved one. In this episode, topics of childhood trauma, abandonment, faith, and search for purpose are the common factors that emerge in the stories that Kathryn hears and reads through the hundreds of letters she's received through the years. Through her research and Self Identities podcast, Whiteley creates space for women to speak for themselves while recognizing the harm they have caused. It's a conversation about accountability, second chances, and the humanity of women who are too often forgotten. Plus, this week's Know Your Rights Minute from the Center for Social Justice at Western New England School of Law explores debt collection lawsuits and why showing up in court matters.

Being justice impacted can follow you forever and close doors to employment and housing. Consumer debt from loans and credit cards can leave people facing a courtroom alone. At Western New England University School of Law, the Center for Social Justice is helping people navigate both. Dean Zelda Harris and Center Director Zachary Bleckner discuss CORI sealing and expungement, consumer debt assistance, and how the pro bono work of their law students serves the community and a larger mission. Plus, in this episode, The Hustler Files is proud to launch its new partnership with the Center for Social Justice with the NEW Know Your Rights Minute. This weekly feature provides legal information, not advice, available for those in Massachusetts. For information regarding these subjects please contact your own State for your laws.

If you're justice impacted, getting hired can be a real roadblock, and even then, finding support and opportunity to build a different life isn't guaranteed. In this follow-up episode with Awake Window & Door co-founder Scott Gates, meet Joe Mason and Jessica Coz, two of Awake's team with one perspective on making fair-chance employment work. Joe, Awake's Director of Training and Development, explains how personal growth classes, practical resources, and a supportive workplace help their employees move forward. Jessica shares her journey through incarceration at Arizona's Perryville prison, where she helped develop programming to improve communication between correctional officers and incarcerated women. Today, she's gone from hearing "no" from employers to helping hire others. Together, they discuss accountability, setbacks, belonging, and what becomes possible when someone sees your potential.