James P. Gray has been a trial judge in Orange County, California since 1983 and was the 2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President. In the first half, he discussed various reforms in the works for the criminal justice system that could help many Americans. As far back as 1992, he spoke out about how the US' drug laws and specifically marijuana prohibition was not working. With many states legalizing medical and now recreational marijuana, America has finally reached a crossroads, he noted. Canada recently legalized recreational pot, and inevitably America will end up regulating and controlling marijuana across the country, allowing each state to choose an approach, Gray predicted. He foresees a great boon in taking money away from drug cartels and street gangs with an upsurge in state money to fund needed projects and salaries.
Gray is also involved in pushing a nationwide movement on bail reform. "It's simply flat out wrong to punish somebody before they've been convicted of an offense," he remarked, noting that in his jurisdiction 60% of those charged with a crime are jailed because they can't raise the bail money. Instead, he advocates for cases to be evaluated on an individual basis rather than by a formula, and the release of some subjects with the requirement of wearing an electronic anklet. Regarding the immigration crisis, Judge Gray cited Gary Johnson's idea of liberally issuing work visas after a background check, but not providing welfare.
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In the latter half, astrobiology professor Charles Cockell speculated on what life on other planets may be like. The "soup of life" and various creatures on Earth are all composed of molecules based on carbon chemistry. "That's not because nature has randomly picked out an element from the periodic table," he explained. "There are physical reasons for that, and we would expect that if a living thing came into existence somewhere else, it would probably use carbon as the core...of its biochemistry and biology."
Eyes, which can be thought of as senses to pick up light from the environment, have been seen in countless creatures on Earth, and seem to be favored by evolution, he pointed out. Cockell believes it's perhaps not that remarkable that such "solutions" as eyes, mouths, and ears are repeatedly seen in creatures, as it shows that "life is being narrowed by pretty simple laws and ideas of physics." He also talked about his work on Antarctica, and how a human settlement on Mars might play out.
The last half-hour of the show featured a replay of George's interview with two International Space Station astronauts from 3/16/04.
News segment guests: John Curtis, Lauren Weinstein, Peter Davenport