Warrior of Freedom: Author Pivoted from Prosecutor to Passionate Advocate for Innocent Inmates

“Carceral feminist” is the phrase Valena Beety used to describe her old self, when she was a law student and prosecutor. The author of the forthcoming criminal justice book Manifesting Justice believed in the power of locking people up to “stop cycles of violence,” as many perpetrators of violent offenses are repeat offenders. She believed in her victim advocate work.

Valena Beety is a professor at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and the deputy director of the college’s Academy for Justice. She is looking more deeply at how we can transform our criminal legal system and reexamine what we see as wrongful convictions. She notes that more people are wrongfully convicted and in prison than those we can prove are factually innocent because the standard is incredibly high to prove innocence.

To talk more about Griner’s case and some of the issues surrounding it, The Show spoke with Valena Beety, a professor of law and deputy director of the Academy for Justice at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

Valena Beety, a law professor and deputy director of the Academy for Justice at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, tells Texas Standard that while the Russian government says Griner was arrested for having vape pods containing hashish oil, the country also has a history of planting criminal evidence on activists or high-profile people it wants to detain for political purposes.

“In Russia, once you’re charged, there’s a 99% likelihood of being convicted, so we’re really into this situation where I hope diplomatic measures will work in finding the truth and bringing Brittney Griner home,” said Valena Beety, a law professor at Arizona State University that has written books about wrongfully convicted women. Beety believes Griner’s identity and race placed a role in the drug charges against her.

It’s been a world-changing month since Russian police detained WNBA Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner…As diplomatic relations between our two countries plummeted, Griner’s value as a political pawn increased. Op-ed by A4J Deputy Director Valena Beety.

Publishing true crime can be a delicate proposition: satisfy the reader’s appetite for thrills, drama, and bad guys being brought to justice, but also present the story factually and conscientiously. PW spoke with editors about forthcoming books that reach for nuanced portrayals of real-life crimes. A4J Deputy Director Valena Beety’s forthcoming book, Manifesting Justice, was featured in this article

Academy for Justice Deputy Director Valena Beety spoke with AZ Family’s Javier Soto about the recent arrest of Phoenix Mercury player Brittney Griner and how the political situation makes the situation difficult for the WNBA star.