HABITUAL is a podcast from Colorado Radio for Justice, told by someone who’s survived it.

The series pulls back the curtain on one of the most powerful and least examined tools in the state’s criminal-legal system: Colorado’s three-strikes law. The statute labels certain people as “habitual criminals” and transforms their prison sentences to triple, quadruple, or even virtual life sentences. Over 500 people in Colorado prisons today carry that label, with their futures and their families still defined by it. 

Herbert Alexander was once incarcerated under this law. Then, he successfully fought to get out of prison. Now, as a Colorado Radio for Justice producer, Herbert shares his story, alongside CRJ co-hosts Seth Ready and Ryan Conarro. As they unfold Herbert’s singular journey through the habitual law, they take up a chilling investigation of the statute’s roots, consequences, and costs - from exponential sentences, to pressured plea bargains, to the shocking, little-known origin story of this law and others like it across the United States. 

Over five episodes, HABITUAL weaves firsthand accounts from people sentenced as habitual criminals; expert insights from legal scholars, legislators, and reform advocates; and raw, intimate conversations with families and communities living in its shadow. 

HABITUAL is the story of one man’s past, present, and future.

And it’s a story of prosecutorial power, extreme punishment, and people fighting for the possibility of change against all odds.

HABITUAL includes the following episodes:

1. Three Strikes

2. The Law’s Flaws

3. The Dark Truth

4. An Impossible Appeal

5. Past & Future: Going Back to the Bank