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Writer's pictureJudith D Collins

The Sing Sing Files

One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice

Narrator: Dan Slepian

Narrator: 9781250366535

ISBN: 9781250366535

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Publication Date: 09/10/2024

Format: Audiobook

My Rating: 5 Stars (ALC)


The author's podcast, Letters from Sing Sing, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.


This program is read by the author and features sound design and original archival sound recordings from Sing Sing maximum-security prison, including letters written to the author. It also includes commentary from formerly incarcerated men.


An NBC Dateline producer's cinematic account of his two-decade journey navigating the broken criminal justice system to help free six innocent men


In 2002, Dan Slepian, a veteran producer for NBC’s Dateline, received a tip from a Bronx homicide detective that two men were serving twenty-five years to life in prison for a 1990 murder they did not commit.


Haunted by what the detective had told him, Slepian began ans investigation of the case that eventually resulted in freedom for the two men and launched Slepian on a two-decade personal and professional journey into a deeply flawed justice system fiercely resistant to rectifying—or even acknowledging—its mistakes and their consequences.


The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice is Slepian’s account of challenging that system. The story follows Slepian on years of prison visits, court hearings, and street reporting that led to a series of powerful Dateline episodes and eventually to freedom for four other men and to an especially deep and lasting friendship with one of them, Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez. From his cell in Sing Sing, JJ aided Slepian in his investigations until his own release in 2021 after decades in prison.


Like Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy, The Sing Sing Files is a deeply personal account of wrongful imprisonment and the flaws in our justice system, and a powerful argument for reckoning and accountability. Slepian’s extraordinary book, at once painful and full of hope, shines a light on an injustice whose impact the nation has only begun to confront.


A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.





Praise


"I’ve said many times that every wrongful conviction deserves its own book. I’ve read a hundred of them and, as fascinating as they are, I thought I had reached the point of being shock-proof. But The Sing Sing Files stopped me cold. It’s an unforgettable account of one man’s uphill journey to free the innocent and expose many of the serious problems in our criminal justice system. It should be read by every rookie cop, brand new prosecutor, and first year law student. And it should be read by you. Hold on!"

—John Grisham, #1 New York Times bestselling author, lawyer, and former member of the Mississippi House of Representatives


“A remarkable, moving account about the lives of people who have been too easily discarded, forgotten, and condemned. These compelling narratives help us understand why we should do better when it comes to punishment and justice in America.”

—Bryan Stevenson, New York Times bestselling author of Just Mercy


“Slepian’s a master storyteller with a passion for his subject. This is a page turner with stories that will open your mind and heart, and might even change your life the way they changed his.”

—John F. Hollway, Executive Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at Penn Law


"Dan Slepian has written a book that is as informative as it is enraging. In these gripping case studies of innocent men wrongfully convicted, you learn how and why the truth often does not prevail in the American justice system. You also get a glimpse of the strength of the human spirit and of heroic efforts to right these wrongs. The stories are inspiring and so is the author. He has spent a career 'given the buried voice sound,' as one incarcerated man put it. This volume is on full blast with this tour-de-force. This is a must-read for anyone who cares about criminal justice, mass incarceration, or humanity."

—Rachel Barkow, author of Prisoners of Politics: Breaking the Cycle of Mass Incarceration and Professor at NYU, School of Law


"This passionate, gripping, and moving chronicle of a skeptical journalist’s twenty year journey investigating injustice leads him, remarkably, to six innocent men, close friends, and a nuanced understanding of the humanity, resilience, and limitless potential of those we imprison, guilty or innocent. Dan Slepian’s engrossing insider’s narrative lays bare the infuriating incapacity and willful blindness of New York prosecutors, police, defense lawyers, and judges to recognize and correct wrongful convictions. The Sing Sing Files is a vitally important book that inspires hope that we can and will do better."

—Barry Scheck, Co-Founder and Special Counsel, the Innocence Project


“While recounting his heroic efforts to free six wrongfully convicted men, Dan Slepian uncovers the tremendous obstacles to truth and justice that plague our criminal legal system. He shows that the problems are both systemic and personal, as institutions and actors protect their own reputations rather than fix the egregious mistakes and wrongdoings that have ruined the lives of countless people and their families. The Sing Sing Files should inspire readers to create a new generation of leaders who will genuinely pursue justice.”

—Marc Howard, director of the Prisons and Justice Initiative at Georgetown

University


“Twenty years, hundreds of visits to prison, thousands of hours investigating to fight for a few men’s freedom. Dan Slepian’s uncommon determination, willingness to believe, and refusal to look away leaps from these spellbinding pages. But is the miracle of Slepian’s obsessiveness required to unmask the brute force of the criminal justice system’s machinery, the moral corruption, and the malign negligence that often lubricates it?


I am grateful to Slepian for bearing witness, but I am also shocked and enraged by the story he tells. I would—as I know he would—trade this Olympian effort for one in which thousands of others activate to fight not just for the innocent, but for all the souls who are unnecessarily ground down by what we call the criminal justice system. For those who yearn to be part of this army, this is required reading.”

—Nicholas Turner, president and director of the Vera Institute of Justice


"Dateline producer Slepian debuts with a riveting account of his crusade to free six wrongfully convicted men from New York State’s Sing Sing prison... Slepian tells his subjects' stories with rigor and compassion, and persuasively argues that America’s justice system is “designed to easily imprison the innocent” in the name of closing cases quickly. This is difficult to shake."

—Publishers Weekly


“A gripping, highly effective true-crime synthesis… an excellent addition to the body of work documenting a pervasive societal injustice.”

–Kirkus, Starred Review







About the Author

Photo Credit: NBC





Dan Slepian is a distinguished, award-winning investigative journalist at NBC News, a leading authority on the criminal justice system, and a seasoned public speaker. For nearly three decades at NBC’s Dateline, Dan has spearheaded dozens of documentaries and hidden camera investigations, earning a reputation for his pivotal work regarding wrongful convictions and mass incarceration. His podcast, Letters from Sing Sing, was a 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist and debuted at #1 on Apple’s top charts.


Dan’s deep knowledge about the criminal legal system is seen in nearly all of his work, from conducting a TEDx talk at Sing Sing to conceiving and producing groundbreaking televised events, including the first ever town hall from inside a maximum-security prison, where he and anchor Lester Holt brought the voices of the incarcerated to a national audience. Known for his tenacious, relentless pursuit of truth and his empathetic storytelling, Dan is a respected figure in both journalism and the fight against injustice.


In addition to being a Pulitzer Prize finalist, Dan Slepian has received more than a dozen Emmy nominations, four Edward R. Murrow awards, a Sigma Delta Chi, and has been honored by multiple justice organizations across the country.


His new book, The Sing Sing Files, chronicles his 20-year journey to exonerate six wrongfully convicted men. READ MORE





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