Michelle West is finally free after serving 31 years of an unjust double life sentence plus 50 years for a nonviolent drug conspiracy charge. Her clemency is a hard-won victory, led by The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, and a testament to the power of relentless advocacy and collective action. […]
Governor Newsom Called On to Release Elderly Incarcerated Women
The Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, is facing pressure to release elderly and vulnerable incarcerated women amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. As of May 2020, 3,200 incarcerated people have tested positive for coronavirus, and 16 incarcerated people have died. LA County recently reported the first death of a pregnant woman related to the virus. The county […]
COVID-19 Cases Increase at Women’s Prison in Florida
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 at a Florida women’s prison totaled 73 on Monday, a jump from the previous day’s total of two. Seventy percent of tests administered at Homestead Correctional Institution so far have come back positive and 616 tests are pending results. The spike in confirmed cases comes after weeks of the facility’s shuffling […]
Former Lowell Correctional Institution Inmates Protest after Woman is Brutally Beaten
Two weeks after guards at Lowell Correctional Institution — the largest women’s prison in Florida and the second largest in the nation — brutally beat a woman with mental and physical disabilities, former inmates from the women’s prison protested the inhumane prison conditions they have experienced for more than a decade, including physical and sexual […]
Study Finds About 4 Percent of Women Are Pregnant When Jailed
A study published in The American Journal of Public Health on Thursday found that about 4 percent of women who were currently incarcerated in state prisons in the United States were pregnant when they were first admitted. While overall prison rates have declined, the number of incarcerated women has been increasing at about a rate […]