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As a Teamster, he typically works in Hollywood transporting sets and props and sometimes even the stars.
Wouldnt it be a trip, I asked him, If I interviewed Judge Lola from the slammer?
He asked Missick if shed talk to his buddy in Sing Sing who became a journalist.
Sure, she said, she was down to talk!
What if judges had the ability to take a second look?
When I watchAll Rise, I feel like theres a lot of Simone Missick in Judge Lola.
Lola is definitely the kind of judge I would want to be.
I come from a very active family politically, especially around union organizing.
The show informs audiences of the issues that we face in the criminal justice system.
To quote Lola, The DA sets the terms of who gets charged.
Can you unpack this message for the audience a bit?
District attorneys are people who determine, as Lola says, the rules of the fight.
They determine who gets charged and with what.
Its the one where she discounts this guys sentence, and then he goes out and does something horrible.
Judge Lola is left with this moral grappling.
Can you tell us about working on that episode?
Yeah, so a young man was accused of stealing a car.
The mother of his girlfriend was adamant: you better lock this young man up.
Hes stolen from me, hes going to steal again.
All you might do is what you might do.
For Lola, that cant change.
It made me think of a lot of things, that episode.
The lawyer knew the judge and said, This kid needs a shot.
She gave me a drug program, and I blew it.
And so, part of me is like, Wow, I wish I had a Judge Lola.
Then its like, but you did.
I think that it is complicated.
How many kids lives are changed and irreparably damaged by being put in, essentially, jail?
All of that deserves to be discussed and examined by us as a society.
Hes suggesting a second look, like, Okay, this guy got the message.
What has he done with his life?
If they let him out, would he be a law-abiding citizen?
Its close to $70,000 to keep guys like me in prison.
In Sing Sing, we have guys walking around with masters degrees.
I would love to see Judge Lola looking at guys and gals that would come before a second-look panel.
I think itd be an interesting show.
I would love to see that, too.
We do not give people in this country that are not wealthy the best opportunity to succeed.
Its not going down that path.
I thank you for finding that journey along the way.
Thank you, Simone.
To lighten it up a bit, whats up with the DA Mark?
What do we have in store?
Personally, I dont think Mark can handle Lola, but thats another story.
[Laughs] Im gonna have to agree.
I dont think he could either, but thats just me.
John J. Lennon is serving 28 years to life in Sing Sing Correctional Facility.
He is a contributing editor atEsquireand a contributing writer forThe Marshall Project.
He also hosts the podcastThis Is a Collect Call from Sing Sing.
you could follow his work at@johnjlennon1on Twitter.
