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The California Report: How a Hollywood Producer Became an Advocate for Juvenile Offenders

Ben Lear2022-02-15T20:15:29+00:00August 15, 2015|

Scott Budnick, producer of The Hangover series, put his Hollywood career on hold to start the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC). It's a non-profit that helps formerly incarcerated young men and women transition back to life on the outside. Listen to the full radio interview by clicking play below.

NY Times Highlights ARC Ride Home Program

Ben Lear2022-02-15T20:15:29+00:00August 1, 2015|

When California voters amended the state’s harsh three-strikes law in 2012, they ensured that nonviolent third offenses would no longer lead to life sentences. Significantly, they made about 3,000 people serving those life sentences suddenly eligible for release. Since then, more than 2,000 have emerged after years in prison into worlds dramatically transformed from those they left behind. This Op-Doc video profiles one of them. Stanley Bailey was a lifer until he was released earlier this year. Carlos Cervantes, a former prisoner himself and part of a “ride home” program founded by the Stanford Three Strikes Project and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, picks[...]

The Guardian: Scott Budnick, Hollywood Blockbuster Producer, Gave It All Up To Reform Prisons

Ben Lear2022-02-15T20:15:29+00:00July 22, 2015|

As he sits in the airport waiting for a flight, 22-year-old James Anderson talks about his life before, during and after incarceration with breathtaking candidness. He runs through his teenage years spent in and around the San Fernando valley, revealing a catalogue of drug addiction, brutal physical abuse by his father, suicide attempts, being sucked “in deep” into gangs and repeated criminal activity that eventually saw him locked up. “By the time I was 17 years old I was facing 35 to life. I had lost all hope,” he explains. “I had so much hate and anger in my heart. I saw[...]

Watch the 9-min doc of TEDx at Ironwood State Prison!

Ben Lear2022-02-15T20:15:29+00:00July 14, 2015|

What were Richard Branson, Sean Stephenson, and the Jabbawokeez doing inside Ironwood State Prison? Be part of the experience and watch the short 9-minute documentary here! https://youtu.be/yog403ksGqk

John Legend and ARC Member James Anderson Discuss 2015 Survivors Speak Conference

Ben Lear2022-02-15T20:15:29+00:00April 21, 2015|

Singer John Legend got behind the microphone at the Sacramento Convention Center on Monday, not to perform, but to advocate for social change. "I don't want to live in a nation that criminalizes addiction and poverty," Legend said. He's using his voice to call for less punishment for crime and more crime prevention. He addressed the audience at "Survivors Speak", a conference that served as a forum for people like James Anderson. "By the time I was 17 years old, I was facing 35 to life," Anderson, now a member of Anti-Recidivism Coalition, said. Raised in a broken home, by his teenage[...]

Newt Gingrich: A Second Chance for Youth Offenders

Ben Lear2022-02-15T20:15:29+00:00April 13, 2015|

by Newt Gingrich Last month, I was honored to co-host an amazing and genuinely bipartisan summit on criminal-justice reform, along with my friends Van Jones, Donna Brazile, and Pat Nolan. Nearly 600 citizens from both parties came together to discuss real solutions for our country's failing incarceration system. The day surfaced an extraordinary range of good ideas, but one in particular stuck out for me because it highlighted the very attitude that has caused us to spend so many billions of dollars on corrections each year without doing much to actually correct offenders. It is that failure of the corrections system to[...]

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Rose Brown

In my journey inside, nothing could really prepare me for what was to come. Everyone’s journey is different & I’ve learned these basic things in my re-entry and transition:Be patient (Especially with yourself), don’t compare yourself to others (Your path is yours alone), and continue climbing the mountain (Obstacles will come, just keep climbing). Being in the trenches of re-entry & working with an organization that focuses on re-entry made me realize what my purpose really is-to give back. Surviving Board, paroling, discharging from parole…I’ve climbed that mountain. My focus today is to make a positive difference to the community I’ve harmed and the inside community I’ve left behind.

J’Mel Carter

There were so many things that contributed to me making the poor choice to live a criminal and gang lifestyle. I don’t mention these facts to justify my despicable actions. With the help of good men and women and through education and hard work, I was able to change and transform the person I was into the person I was meant to be.

Pamela Thompson

When I was sentenced to 33 years to life under the third strike law, I thought my life was over and lost hope. 17 years into sentence, I got tired of feeling hopeless and decided to start attending self-help groups. Soon enough, I was the one leading them. After serving 24 years I was resentenced and released under 1170 (d)(1). I am now enjoying my freedom by giving back to my community through the work with ARC and different local organizations. As a life coach, I help ARC Members by lending my lived experiences to help guide and mentor them as they navigate their own reentry journey.

Rodney Bryant

Understanding all that CA offered me a chance to start fresh; however, I soon realized that even though the landscape changed, those old childhood issues still persisted. In 1990 I found myself making impulsive & irrational decisions whenever stressed. That year, I was sentenced to serve an indeterminate term of 15 years-to-Life. I spent more than 28 years of my life in correctional facilities; however, with hard work, persistence, & divine intervention my life was transformed. I spent a considerable amount of time on self-improvement, earning a High School Diploma, various vocational trades, and self-help certifications. Wanting to help make a difference, I became a Peer Literacy Tutor, Recreational Coach, and Youth Mentor, as I continued to seek self-help through self-improvement.

Angel Zubiate

It had been a rocky experience each time that an employer would ask “why are you being tracked like an animal?” Or the confused public eye that would question the same thing. My inability to swim in a pool or beach with family, friends, and loved ones because the monitor would glitch causing for my parole officer to panic that a registered gang member was on the loose. Now that I am completely free to travel and swim, work where I choose, wear shorts in the summer with out feeling judged, I could tell you that today I am as blessed as can be.

Jose Santana

US Forestry Service Fireman

I’m doing fire work now because it has given me self confidence and self worth that I feel I used to lack. Nowadays I hold my head up high and take pride in everything I do because what I do has value that I truly appreciate. I’m no longer hurting the community, I’m giving back to it. I’m constantly humbled when I see my friends, family and strangers and they thank me for my service. I get a bit embarrassed by it to be honest.