On June 14th, 1991 at 2:15am, five armed teenagers broke into a home in Salinas, CA, believing there was a safe with cash inside the house. For 48 minutes, they tortured a mother, a father, and their 17 year-old daughter. When the family did not produce a safe, they began raping the daughter, causing her father to resist and fight. The father was shot and killed.

Twenty years later, I sat in a prison visiting room with one of the five inmates and witnessed his attempt to make amends to the mother. And I witnessed her forgiveness.

In this episode, I am reunited with the mother, Cheryl Ward-Kaiser for a powerful interview about the true meaning of restorative justice, and the power of forgiveness and accountability.

You can access The Staff Assistant Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or Audible Podcasts.

Links:

https://www.theunion.com/news/local-news/this-victim-chooses-forgiveness/article_bfd8c820-d9b4-5737-b638-b06dea70acbb.html

https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/publications/121416-aclu-parolereportonlinesingle.pdf

https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/earning-freedom/55263

https://casetext.com/case/people-v-drayton-121

https://www.amazon.com/Being-Delivered-Through-Hard-Times-ebook/dp/B0CKHN31Z8

In this episode, I interview Valentino and Irma Rodriguez, the parents of Correctional Officer Valentino Rodriguez, Jr.

Val Jr. worked as a correctional officer at both San Quentin State Prison and California State Prison Sacramento for over five years before he died of a fentanyl overdose in 2020. We discuss his family history, how Val Jr.’s death impacted their family, and get to know Val Jr. posthumously through the eyes of his parents.

We also discuss the familiar topics of harassment, work place retaliation, suicide, addiction, and bullying.

In this episode, we interview Tyler Caffee, the brother of Correctional Officer Jami Bowechop. Jami worked at the California State Prison, Corcoran for nine years before she died by suicide in 2016. Tyler shares about their family history, how Jami’s death impacted their family, and reasons why he believes Jami took her own life: Jami reported a use of force incident as a whistleblower and kept a detailed journal about the harassment and retaliation she experienced at work. After being fired for a separate allegation, she took her own life at the age of thirty.

You can access The Staff Assistant Podcast on Apple, Spotify, Audible or Google Podcasts.