Welcome to the DefundDOC Podcast, where we delve into the critical issues surrounding voting rights and criminal justice reform. Join Linda and Daniel, as we explore the history and current state of felon disenfranchisement in America, inspired by legal texts, historical documents, and contemporary analyses.

In our discussions, we question the "obvious" exclusion of certain groups, such as women, people with mental disabilities, and former slaves, from the right to vote. We examine the discriminatory practices that have disenfranchised felons and prisoners, perpetuating inequality and prejudice.

We uncover the origins of felon disenfranchisement as a tool to prevent African-Americans from voting, and the need for legislative action to address the racial discrimination inherent in this practice. We challenge the notion that past mistakes define a person's character or virtue, advocating for the restoration of voting rights as a means to break down injustice in the criminal justice system.

By highlighting the importance of voting rights, we expose the inequities and over-sentencing within the system, and the need for felons and prisoners to have a voice in shaping policies that affect them. We argue that the denial of voting rights violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution and perpetuates a corrupt and discriminatory system.

Join us as we uncover the injustices of the past and present, and explore the ways in which restoring the right to vote for felons and prisoners can lead to meaningful criminal justice reform. Subscribe to our podcast and blog at www.DefundDOC.net to stay informed and receive a free digital copy of one of Linda's books.

Additionally, we invite you to be part of a groundbreaking reality show, "LOVE AND PRISON ACTIVISM," which aims to humanize prisoners and their loved ones while driving prison reform. Audition for the show and join us on July 4th, as we launch this revolutionary movement for change.

To support our mission, browse our branded collections on our website, Cadmus Publishing, Etsy, and our TikTok store. All profits go towards advancing the cause of prison reform. You can also purchase the "Supporters Book Bundle" of all three of Linda's digital books for a limited-time offer.

Thank you for joining us on this journey to fight for justice and equality for all. Together, we can make a difference.

As June 26 approaches this year, and every year thereafter, many Americans across the Country will anticipate it as if it was any other day. Tragically that will not be the case for Megan Kolb, of the State of Wisconsin. For the rest of her families lives, that day will represent an atrocity. A Human Rights Crime. The day their patriarch was killed by the State of Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Megan's father, Dean Hoffman, a man with severe mental health bipolar disorder. For decades he took his prescribed medications to mitigate the symptoms of his mental illness. For years such treatment worked. On occasion he would regress. Overall however he was striving to be a functioning member of society, and a valued member of his daughter Megan's, growing family, despite his severe psychological battles. Nevertheless one fateful night he lost a battle with his disorder. He had a mental health crisis. One that drove him to enter into his ex-girlfriend's residence and bother her with his innermost mental anguish. Instead of treating Dean Hoffman at a mental health hospital the system criminalized him. The police arrested him, the prosecutor persecuted him, and the Courts vilified and sentenced him to an outrageously long term of twenty six years.

There was no mercy for being a first time offender, having a mental health disorder, or having a large growing family that desperately wanted him to grow old peacefully with them. The only thing on the minds of our contemporary corrupt U.S. Criminal Justice system was adding another prisoner slave to mass incarceration. Soon he was on the prison bus and arriving at Waupun Correctional Institution, Where they put him in an overcrowded small double cell. Being older, having mental health issues, and unfamiliarity of a first time offender, he was uncomfortable due to threats by his cellmate. He tried to peacefully refuse to return to the cell but the guards inhumanely put him in solitary confinement. In the process they breached numerous protocols and procedures that guaranteed a mental health breakdown. Needless to say, Dean Hoffman suffered the torture of solitary confinement while also enduring the torture of psychosis. The inescapable up and down, round and round, and around the clock mental anguish took an extreme toll. To escape the uncontrollable emotional rollercoaster he took a trip into the darkness. A darkness that lasts forever. The precarious case of Dean Hoffman is emblematic of the over-criminalization of the American people. How the government exploits our people's traumas and mental health problems to feed the beast of mass incarceration. Using crime as a pretext to enslave millions of our sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, and brothers and sisters. Over sentencing them to cruelly long sentences to extract their free labor for as long as possible. Be prepared to be shocked, appalled, and brought to tears as Megan heart wrenchingly describes the human being, Father, Grandfather, and patriotic American citizen that has unwittingly became a martyr in the treacherous Crime War.

In addition you can check out this blog for information on the Crime War which has been declared against you and your descendants: www.DefundDOC.net/

Have you ever questioned how we view criminals? This episode of Defund DOC challenges the status quo and explores the surprising role "criminals" have played in securing our freedoms.

Hosts Linda and Daniel J. Simms discuss:

• How acts of civil disobedience, once deemed criminal, paved the way for social progress (think alcohol prohibition and access to birth control).
• The disproportionate impact of mass incarceration on disadvantaged communities.
• Why a "tough on crime" approach fails and the urgent need for reform.
• Bipartisan solutions: reducing sentences, prioritizing rehabilitation, and dismantling prison slavery.

Looking for a more humane criminal justice system? Defund DOC.net has the answers. We advocate for:

• Treatment and career centers in place of prisons.
• Reduced sentences for non-violent offenses.
• Robust re-entry programs to help people rejoin society.

Join the movement!

• Subscribe to the podcast and blog for free resources and updates: https://www.defunddoc.net/podcast
• Learn about the upcoming reality show "Love and Prison Activism."
• Support the cause through merchandise purchases or book bundles.

Together, we can build a more just future.

Exceptional Presidential leader of the Asian Pacific Islander (API) Cultural Awareness Group, Michael Matol, illuminates his journey. From being a troubled impoverished gang member in San Diego, California. Losing friends to gun violence and Imprisonment. To a rap musician and producer. Revealing his immense gratitude at receiving an invaluable gift of mentorship that put him on a new path in the music industry. Ultimately he unveils how he found himself ensnared by the mass incarceration system. Without varnish he shared the truths of inequities and injustices that are destroying our people. Along with his views for Carceral State reform. With a delightful conversation on his vigorous advocacy for cultural awareness and the victims of mass incarceration (i.e. children of the incarcerated, trauma to prison pipeline, criminalized abuse victims, etc.).

Please join our community by subscribing and you will receive one of free digital books, Defund D.O.C.: Turning All Prisons Into Treatment and Career Centers, or, The Art of Living: Everything You Need to Achieve Success in Life and Business, I Learned in Prison. Subscribe today!

Remember you can be part of our upcoming reality show pilot, LOVE AND PRISON REFORM, which we hope to get distributed on major TV networks such as MTV, VH1, or A and E. We need people in every city and State. No experience necessary. Just join our community to stay apprised of developments. Our fund raising begins on July 4th to represent our Country's next key struggle for civil rights and freedom. It is time to end prisoner slavery, warehousing, and the countless injustices inflicted upon our imprisoned Americans."

The A.I. revolution unveils new technologies or applications each day. And each innovation surprises and astonishes us anew. Modest estimates predict that sixty percent of all jobs will be obsolete within the next twenty years. That is one adverse effect of the coming A.I. revolution that we must face. Historical data can help us ascertain what will happen when masses of Americans are unemployed and impoverished. Such mass layoff events occurred in the 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's. Millions of Americans lost their jobs due to free trade agreements that outsourced unprecedented amount of jobs to China, Mexico, and many other countries. What coincided with the mass layoffs? The explosion of mass incarceration. We believe this was by design. The government essentially funnelled the out of work impoverished bodies, or their sons or daughters, into the many beds waiting for them in mass incarceration. Ultimately from 1970's until 2000 mass incarceration skyrocketed six-hundred percent. And from 1999 until 2010 mass incarceration jumped another seventy six percent resulting in a 37 overcapacity. Accordingly if historically widespread unemployment and poverty led to over-incarceration then we can reasonably infer our future lies there too. Therefore we can logically conclude, due to immensely intelligent machines and software applications designed to surveil and inculpate us, in addition to historical data, that within the next fifty years half of the American population will be felons, jailed, imprisoned, or on mass surveillance. That means there will only be two classes of people in the next fifty years. The non-felon elite class and the felon underclass. It is a very bleak future that is virtually guaranteed unless we unite for criminal justice and prison reform. We must enact reasonable measures such as Universal Income, turn all prisons into treatment and career centers, end prisoner slavery, and reduce overly harsh sentences down to a maximum of eight years for all non-homicide offenses and twenty year maximum for homicide offenses. The government will be given an adequate amount of time to rehabilitate and restore our people. As we mature and grow as a society we must demand that our government stop enslaving our troubled people and stealing their wages. Our government should not be in the business of slavery. It should be in the business of saving and restoring our troubled sons and daughters. Without a doubt A.I. will wreak havoc upon the working and poor classes. The same classes preyed on by harsh criminal justice policies. Therefore it is time we examine a new solution that is not predicated on militaristic harsh and oppressive systemic theft of our people's labor.

Hosts, Daniel and Linda, interview Tyreek Smith, a remarkable U.S. military Veteran, follower of Islam, and serial entrepreneur that has been incarcerated sixteen years. Originally from Georgia he migrated to Tacoma, Washington, where he tragically was imprisoned. As a Veteran and Muslim he found his patriotism and faith coincide in the passion for the incarcerated community. Demonstrating his altruism and kindness through selfless giving. Ultimately he found immense joy and purpose in starting businesses. He will share his new business endeavor aptly named "The Love Business." How did he come up with such a name from such a violent and bloody world as prison? How does he stay focused on positivity and love when surrounded by so much negativity and hate? These questions and more are answered on this exciting new podcast episode.

Defund DOC Hosts, Daniel and Linda, invite Zachary Budrow to share his remarkable story of being adopted, neglected, and suffering mental health disorders related to anger and abandonment. Explaining how he worked hard at projecting a wholesome upstanding persona. Graduating from Skyview High School in Vancouver, Washington, with many friends and acquaintances. Going as far as being a leader in his youth church group at Real Life Foursquare. He was widely known for recording many music videos for Instagram. Despite the facade, in reality, he was suffering from severe mental health disorders. In particular his anger problem was growing out of control, it was so bad that his friends had encouraged him to get help, but before he did he snapped. Repeatedly stabbing his roommate without warning. The event caused him deep regret and sadness. While in jail he experienced violent altercations. Bloody and bruised he was moved into a cell with an older tattooed convict that perhaps saved his life? But would he also find his way back to Jesus? And how would other prisoners view him if he sought Christ? That question was answered at the notoriously violent Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla where he was attacked in the big yard after being manipulated into a vigorous workout. Would he make it out of the assault in one piece? That question and many more are answered in this profoundly vulnerable and honest episode.

Remember all new subscribers can receive a free copy of "DEFUND D.O.C.: TURNING ALL PRISONS INTO TREATMENT AND CAREER CENTERS, or, " THE ART OF LIVING: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS IN LIFE AND BUSINESS, I LEARNED IN PRISON."

Also if you have had horrible experiences in the criminal justice system or mass incarceration we would like to hear your story. We may use it in our social media videos or even interview you in an upcoming episode. You must be a subscriber to participate.

As Christians' celebrated Easter and Jews observe Passover our Hosts, Daniel and Linda Simms, bring Biblical and Torah truths in hopes of touching hearts and minds. With passion, conviction, and well researched scriptures Believers will be confronted with God's commandments towards treatment of prisoners. God calls on his people to relieve the suffering of those oppressed. The inhumane oppression of U.S. prisoners is perceived by many as Human Rights violations and Crimes Against Humanity. Throughout history many peoples have enslaved other groups. "A century before Britain became involve in the terrible business of slave-trading, whole Christian villages and towns in England, Ireland, Italy, Spain and other European countries were being depopulated by Muslim slavers who transported them to Africa where they were sold to the highest bidder" (See: The Forgotten Slave Trade: The White European Slaves of Islam. Simon Webb). The elites in U.S. government, Federal and State, have been using crime as a pretext to enslave our sons and daughters. Making the U.S. the largest Slaveholder and wage theft Kleptocracy in all of human history. God has clearly and unequivocally labeled the slave trade a sinful practice. Therefore the United States is operating in an evil and corrupt fashion towards the people. The unassailability of God's commandments requires Christians and Jews to make a decision. Will they remain indifferent and tacitly complicit in the slavery, barbarism, and cruelty that is prolific across the country in their names? Or will they stand with organizations like DefundDOC.net that are dedicated to changing prison culture and politics ensuring love, forgiveness, and restoration is at the forefront of penological policies. Will they be duped by partisanship, political punditry, and propaganda so badly that they refuse to follow God's commandments? Are their eyes and heart turned towards God in this country? These questions, and much more, are addressed with deep honesty and profound clarity. Encouraging listeners to conduct a sincere introspection on faith and partisanship. Don't forget to subscribe today to receive a free book. If you have a story about the criminal justice system please leave us a brief voice message describing it by calling 302-827-7746