May 11th, 2017

FEATURING:

Anna Vasquez and Cassandra Rivera of the San Antonio Four, sharing their stories of wrongful conviction and exoneration.  In 1990s Texas, Anna and Cassandra were two of four young lesbian Latinas who were accused of a child sex abuse crime that never occurred: the assault of another of the women's young nieces during a week stay at their aunt's house. The women's trial and conviction were heavily influenced by homophobia, as they were in the process of coming out at the time, and happened amid the so-called "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s and 1990s, which played up paranoia that adults were performing satanic ritual abuse on children.  After spending over ten years in prison fighting the false charges, and sharing their story in a documentary film, all four were released from prison and were later exonerated in November 2016.  They're in Portland Thurs May 11th for the Oregon Innocence Project's This Is Innocence event.  (note: this podcast features an extended edition of our interview)

ALSO:

A piece by 5Q producer Jimmy Tardy, speaking to students at a May 9th rally led by youth activists outside of Portland Public School District's headquarters as part of a campaign to remove school resource officers from PPS schools and reform disciplinary policies.  

(Catch our recent interview with Portland Student Action Network member Lux Preciado-Solis about the campaign on April 27th's show)