Clark, Raiford Interview – Podcast May 3, 2021

Democratic Perspective

Smart On Crime. Not Tough On Crime. Democratic Perspective co-host Hava Derby welcomes Charity Clark, a defense attorney who reached out to Hava following her arrest during last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests in Phoenix. Clark also took on the cases of other protesters to make sure the Constitution is protected. As for the outcomes, Clark says, “I got dismissals on all of them. They were just wrongful arrests – an organized attack on free speech.” She notes that the District Attorney’s office dismissed the cases as they should have. “You have to give them kudos for doing the right thing.”

Unfortunately, as a result of the BLM protests, the Arizona House has passed a bill (HB-2309) which is aimed at stopping protests. Clark opposes the bill as unconstitutional and asks people to call Governor Ducey to veto the bill, explaining, “Legislators don’t know how these bills work in practice and all of their implications. We really do have to be careful about protecting the 1^st Amendment.”

Later in the show, Clark discusses the implications of Prop 207 legalizing recreational marijuana and Jacob Raiford joins the conversation to discuss NOCAP (Neighborhood-Organized Crisis Assistance Program), first responders for noncriminal and nonviolent dispatches.