Photo courtesy of www.carbonatedtv.com

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Nancy Mullane, on the blog she co-founded, The Life of the Law, interviews
Veronica Martinez at Folsom Women’s Prison in California, which you can listen to or read to see how she was shackled during birth and had to give up her baby after three days—luckily to her family; but Martinez also points out the amazing support of the other women in the jail where she was at the time:

“My bunkie had a collage of babies pasted. She had pasted it with toothpaste, cause that’s what we used. In the county jail, you don’t have tape or glue or any of that so she took toothpaste and she pasted all these pictures of cutout magazines and baby feet and babies and stuff. And she made a little sign, ‘It’s a Girl’ on my bunk.” Martinez, like so many women echoed this sentiment about the cohort of women behind bars: “Everybody comes together in stuff like that cause women, we do understand. It’s not an easy thing to just give up your baby like that.”

Rachel Roth, activist and reproduction rights expert, wrote on the blog, Mom’s Rising, “Just in Time for Mother’s Day, Minnesota Bill Against Shackling Pregnant Women Heads to Governor.” Roth pointed out that Minnesota becomes one of nineteen states that now have “some type of statute limiting the situations in which a pregnant woman can be shackled.”

Deborah Jiang Stein who was born in prison to a pregnant incarcerated and addicted mother wrote her story in Prison Baby. She knows first-hand how, instead of prison, addicted mothers need “family support, community health care, wellness alternatives, and access to community resources,” for what Jiang Stein calls “a positive path to wholeness, health and full citizenship.” She presents facts on her website The unPrison Project, and they are compelling, although she doesn’t site where the stats come from. While I have heard 70-80%, she says that 85% of women in prison are mothers. She also says that

From my research, when I wrote about holidays behind bars for Boston Magazine, I thought how sad it is that children must manage when parents are incarcerated, which according to Pew Research Study is not as rare as you might think: one in 28 kids has a parent in prison, nationwide.

Andrea James, now Executive Director of Families for Justice as Healing, wrote what it was like to leave small children and go to jail in her book Upper Bunkies Unite: And Other Thoughts On the Politics of Mass Incarceration. In a recent article on Huffington Post, James made the point that the so-called War on Drugs is responsible for separating so many non-violent women from their children, clearly calling for other ways to deal with behavior that needs “correcting.” Victoria Law also wrote about Families in her article for Waging Non-Violence, and brought up that the group of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women is organizing a FREE HER rally in Washington, D.C. on June 21st, an idea that emerged while James was serving time. Per James: “We wanted to have a huge public event to raise our voices and raise awareness of all the women inside who are separated from their families and their communities… We also want to let the legislative and executive branches know that people are paying attention. These are people we care about.”

In my experience teaching at Framingham, I remember Mother’s Day in prison and the heartbreak of women having to see their children in the Visiting Room for a few hours, or the more poignant heartbreak of their children not being able to get transportation to the one state prison for women in Massachusetts. The connection was so strong between mother and child that even time and distance could not, in most cases, sever that bond.

One of the most touching experiences I had around that issue was when we produced plays in prison. We taped the play—these were home videos, mind you, always with a see-saw effect of an amateur holding camera, but generously filmed by a dear soul in the Education department at the prison who believed as I do in theatre as transformation. We then sent these tapes home to the families of the woman so they could be proud of their work—in perpetuity. I began a tradition of allowing each participant to have a few moments on tape to talk to her mother, father, grandparents, lover, or to her children. The women would tell their kids “If Mami can do this, then you can too,” or “See, Mommy is in school, just like you!”

The women looked forward to these video moments. They were so simple but so important, and ultimately, when they received letters back or talked to their family during coveted phone time, they shared with me how proud they were that their parents and their kids were proud of them. This is not to say that they should have been in prison, but that they did something to make use of their best selves while they were there.

Members of Jobs Not Jails in front of the State House including Steve O’Neill (left) and other members of Ex-Prisoners and Prisoners for Community Advancement (EPOCA).

Senator James Eldrige (Acton) on the left and Rep. Tom Sanncandro (Ashland) flank JNJ volunteers Lily Williams (left) and Brenda Dejarnette, both volunteers for Jobs Not Jails. Below Rep. Sannicandro signs the petition and a copy of the petition itself with what JNJ is standing for.

 
Also at the rally was Jason Lydon of Black and Pink and Barb Dougan of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (right, second pic).

The day included other volunteers who showed up as well, holding signs, passing out water and taking photos.

Jarmahl Crawford from Blackstonian.

Jobs Not Jails also reminded passer-bys and supporters to call their legislators and support bills that aim to stop mass incarceration. See my post below for more about the slate of criminal justice bills that are in process this year.

12:30  Music from the Second Line Brass Band
1:20    MC Cassandra Bensahih, Ex-Prisoners & Prisoners Org. Comm. Advancement
1:23    Sunni Ali,  Boston Workers Alliance,
1:27    Viraphanh Douangmany, Innocence Commission
1:31    Andrea James, Bail Reform
1:35    Ivan Richiez, Stop and Frisk
1:39    Donnelle Wright – Jobs Not Jails
1:43    Maura Healey, Candidate for Attorney General
1:48    Music from Antonio Ennis

****APRIL 30 LOBBYING PRIORITIES FOR JNJ:
2:00    Mandatory Minimums 
2:04    RMV Collateral Sanctions – EPOCA
2:08    Addiction Funding – Massachusetts Org for Addiction Recovery

2:12    Music by Revolutionary Snake Ensemble
2:32    Keturah  Brewster, Youth Jobs Coalition
2:36    Manny Gines & Rocky Thompson, Carpenters’ Union on  Minimum wage
2:40    Cassandra Bensahih, CORI Reform
2:50    Larry Turner, math teacher and father of a murder victim
2:55    Warren Tolman, Candidate for Attorney General
3:00    Music by Tem Blessed
3:15    CeCe McDonald, activist/trans woman incarcerated in men’s prison
3:20    Rev. Paul Robeson Ford, Union Baptist Church
3:25    Shackling
3:30    Black and Latino Legislative Caucus speaker -kicks off April 30th Action
3:35    Music
****INSTRUCTIONS FOR APRIL 30th LOBBYING
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Yesterday, at the State House, three fantastic panels testified to the Judiciary Committee on issues that they would like to see addressed. While JNJ has certain legislative priorities, and is approaching lobbying in their own way, these panels were activism in action. People spoke eloquently about other bills, but the organization and effort put into these panel testimonies was most impressive.

FAMM or Families Against Mandatory Minimums led by Barb Dougan in Massachusetts spoke passionately to do away with mandatory minimum sentencing, represented by two bills, H1645 and H1646.Dougan said “Too many people go to prison,” and sentences “are not proportionate with criminal history.” Two recovering addicts talked about how they transformed their lives but that they could have begun much earlier if they had immediately had alternatives to mandatory sentencing. Both other panelists, Maryann Frangules from Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery, and Jerry Madden, former Texas House Corrections Chairman and senior fellow at Right on Crime, rounded out the panel from very different ends of the spectrum: but both said drug treatment was the answer not incarceration.

Barb Dougan, center, flanked by panelists and members of FAMM, standing

A panel sponsored by the Pretrial Working Group (PWG) knocked it out of the park. It began with Lois Ahrens of the Real Cost of Prisons Project recommending elimation of money bail because of it not being a true determinant of dangerousness. As an alternative, she suggested statewide pretrial services and referrals to community based programs. Hope Haff of the National Association of Social Workers said the PWG was against  H1434 since it was about building a new jail for pretrial women: remaining in jail for two months caused loss of housing, custody, inability to pay rent and many other services. Additionally, Norma Wassel, Committee for Public Counsel, pointed out that a large scale study showed that those held in jail pretrial were four times more likely to be sentenced to jail and three times more likely to go to prison. Rachel Roth, reproductive justice scholar, pointed out the harm jails inflict on women’s health including “diet, risk of sexual assault, mental illness, and birthing issues.” She said, “Instead of building new jails we can reduce number of women in custody.” The expertise of all these women was quite wonderful.

Andrea James of Families for Justice and Healing was last, but certainly not least. She said as a “formerly incarerated woman, “I am often the missing seat at the table,” and immediately grabbed everyone’s attention. It cannot be emphasized enough, she added, that separating mothers from children causes grievous harm. She, along with the rest of the panel recommended community based health and treatment —not jail. Prison seldom rehabilitates,she said.

I don’t see us building more prisons in the near future, said Judiciary Committee Vice-Chair, Christopher Markey. That was a breath of really fresh air in a long afternoon in a hot room with little response from listeners—Not a criticism, it is their job to listen at this point before they make decisions. Let’s hope Markey can make sure the Legislature agrees!

The final panel that was an wonderful example of diverse voices speaking for a cause was on solitary confinement. The bill in question was H1486 and Attorney Bonnie Tenneriello at Prison Legal Services spoke eloquently on why adjustments to solitary are so needed in Massachusetts since as it is, without certain regulations, it is “bad for public safety.” Beth McGuire talked powerfully about her son held in solitary, very tortured by isolation: “I’m scared of being alone all the time…I really need some help…send me somewhere…I need something to occupy my time.” And most expertly, Kristin Dame, a former clinical coordinator from Cedar Junction testified on how infamous segregation confined people with no limitation, breeding violence. She said that being “deprived of human contact really can destroy a person,” and explained how in isolation, “People driven to self harm.” She recommended limiting solitary and incentives to help prisoners earn privileges such as time in the yard. Some important details of the bill: “Segregated housing should be for the briefest term and under the least restrictive conditions practicable….”

For anyone who wants to know about solitary confinement in the U.S., see Solitary Nation. Gruesome but eye-opening.

These panels were examples of how we must approach getting change, and examples of activism at its best. Let’s hope the continued momentum and added energy from Jobs Not Jails creates more people speaking out for justice.