Federal judge Frederic Block on second chances -- and 'who deserves it'
On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti
WBUR
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 10 March 2025
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1997, Walter Johnson was given five life sentences for robbery and drug offences. Decades later, he was released by the same judge who originally sentenced him. A conversation with that judge about the power of second chances.
*** Thank you for listening. Help power On Point by making a donation here: wbur.org/giveonpoint
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Support for this podcast comes from All About Change, a podcast with firsthand stories from |
| 0:05.9 | activists who are changing the world like Coda actor Troy Kotzer, V. Aaron Brockovich, and |
| 0:12.0 | disability activist Shane Burkaw. Listen to stories that give us all hope on All About Change, |
| 0:18.5 | wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:25.8 | Support for this podcast comes from Is Business Broken, a podcast from B.U. Questrum School of Business. |
| 0:27.5 | Are CEO pay packages too complex? |
| 0:30.4 | Stick around until the end of this podcast for a segment from Is Business Broken about what latest research has to say on executive pay? |
| 0:39.3 | WBUR Podcasts, Boston. |
| 0:46.3 | This is on point. I'm Magna Chakrabardi. |
| 0:49.6 | Walter Johnson had a ritual. |
| 0:52.6 | Whenever guys that I knew went home, I will walk guys to the door at this institution |
| 1:00.0 | named Otisville. |
| 1:01.0 | It's in New York, upstate New York, and been them farewell and, you know, wish him luck, |
| 1:08.0 | and just tell them that, you know, you can do it. |
| 1:11.5 | You know, stay out there. |
| 1:12.6 | The longer you stay out there, the better chance guys that's here have of going home. |
| 1:19.6 | Otisville is more formally known as Otisville Correctional Facility, a medium security federal prison. |
| 1:29.4 | While some of his friends got out, |
| 1:37.3 | Walter Johnson was never going home. In 1997, he was given five concurrent life sentences for robbery, cocaine possession, and witness tampering. Johnson was sentenced under the 1994 federal |
| 1:43.9 | three strikes law, which required that repeat offenders serve mandatory life sentences. |
| 1:49.9 | I was really, really, really hurt because I felt that one life sentence is enough to wake somebody up. |
| 1:57.7 | But I also felt that he gave me those life sentences because he wanted to set |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WBUR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of WBUR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.