When I was a news reporter at WCSI in Columbus, Indiana, I watched defense attorney Niles Stanton argue a case. Jeff Rasley knew Stanton from a different vantage point. He worked as Stanton’s law clerk in the late 1970s, and that experience became the basis for his novel Justice Betrayed: The Rise and Fall of a Death Penalty Crusader.

Rasley, a retired Indianapolis attorney, joins me on the November 13 edition of Fridays With Larry. We recorded the interview on November 5, the day Indiana executed Jeffrey Weisheit at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. We talked about the years that can pass between a death sentence and an execution, and why it matters whether journalists are allowed to witness the procedure.

The conversation also turns to county jails. Rasley recalls working on lawsuits over jail conditions in central Indiana. He makes a point that can get lost in the debate over building a new jail. Many of the people held there are still waiting for their cases to be heard.

I open the episode with a commentary on how people outside elected office push for changes in the law. I close with a question for those of us in Fishers and Hamilton County who fly out of Indianapolis International Airport. When will we see the benefits of the FAA’s move to replace floppy disks and other aging air traffic control equipment?

Fridays With Larry is sponsored by Citizens State Bank.

Watch the November 13 edition of Fridays With Larry below at this link, or listen only using this link.