What happens when a prison sentence ends, but the barriers to belonging, opportunity, and full civic participation remain? In this episode of Democracy on Fire, Kay Brown speaks with Marcus Jackson, founder and executive director of Advocacy Based on Lived Experience (ABLE), about his journey from incarceration to becoming a leading voice for criminal justice reform in Kentucky.
Jackson shares how relationships, advocacy, and lived experience transformed his life—and why people closest to the criminal justice system should have a meaningful role in shaping its future. They discuss voting rights, reentry, rehabilitation, the stigma facing formerly incarcerated people, and the importance of building communities rooted in trust, participation, and shared responsibility.
At its heart, this is a conversation about second chances, civic belonging, and the belief that justice is something we build together.
