Lex Fridman: belief

Transcript context

…And now we’re at Adele. Yeah. I mean, you mentioned also there, I’ve seen commutations where it’s an opportunity to step in and consider the ways that the justice system does not always work well like in cases when it’s nonviolent crime and drug offenses, there’s a case of a person you mentioned that received a life sentence for selling weed. And it’s just the number… It’s like hundreds of thousands of people are in the federal prison, in jail, in the system for selling drugs. That’s the only thing. With no violence on their record whatsoever. Obviously, there’s a lot of complexity. There’s the details matter, but oftentimes, the justice system does not do right in the way we think right is, and it’s nice to be able to step in and help people indirectly. They’re overlooked and they have no advocate. Jared and I helped in a small way on his effort, but he really spearheaded the effort on criminal justice reform through the First Step Act, which was an enormously consequential piece of legislation that gave so many people another opportunity, and that was amazing. So working with him closely on that was a beautiful thing for us to also experience together. But in the final days of the administration, you’re not getting legislation passed and anything you do administratively is going to be probably overturned by an incoming administration. So how do you use that time for maximum results? And I really dug in on pardons and commutations that I thought were overdue and were worthy. And my last night in Washington, D.C., the gentleman you mentioned, Corvin, I was on the phone with his mother at 12:30 in the morning, telling her that her son would be getting out the next day. And it felt really… It’s one person. But you see with Alice, the ripple effect of the commutation granted to her and her ability and the impact she’ll have within her family, with her grandkids. And now, she’s an advocate for so many others who are voiceless. It felt like the perfect way to end four years, to be able to call those parents and call those kids in some cases and give them the news that a loved one was coming home.…

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