Victoria Law's Blog, page 3
March 11, 2014
Waiting for Season 2 of Orange is the New Black? 5 Books to Read in the Meantime
So you binge-watched Orange is the New Black when the first season was released, and maybe you even read Piper Kerman's memoir that inspired the series. Season two’s June 6 launch date gives you plenty of time to read more about women's prison experiences, but where to begin? Here are five books that offer good starting points:
Read my entire list (with summaries) on The Airship Daily. Add your reading recommendations to their comments section.
Read my entire list (with summaries) on The Airship Daily. Add your reading recommendations to their comments section.
March 7, 2014
my latest on Truthout: Will MA Build a New Jail or Explore Alternatives to Bail?
This actually went up on Truthout a few days ago and I forgot to re-post here.
You can read the full story at:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/22142-...
Norma Wassel recalled a woman who was arrested for stealing a winter coat. Not only did she not have a winter coat, she also lacked $50 to post bail. Without that $50, she would have remained behind bars until her case was heard.
Stories such as this are fairly frequent in Massachusetts and across the country. Women often are incarcerated pretrial not because they are a risk to themselves or their communities but because they cannot afford to post bail. Those arrested in several counties are sent to the Awaiting Trial Unit (ATU) at MCI-Framingham, the state's women's prison. According to the Massachusetts Department of Corrections' weekly count sheet, the ATU was at 472 percent capacity, with 302 people, as of February 3, 2014. Its original design capacity was for 64 people.
A study by the Massachusetts Women's Justice Network found that:
- The ATU consistently operates at 330 percent capacity.
- 56 percent of women in the ATU had bail of less than $1,000.
- The average length of stay is 77 days.
- 60 percent of women detained pretrial eventually had their cases dismissed or continued without a finding.
- Although women make up 7 percent of state prisoners, they make up 33 percent of the Department of Corrections' pretrial detainees.
In January 2013, Rep. Kay Khan introduced H1434, a bill to build what she calls a "women's pretrial facility" in Middlesex County, which begins just west of Boston. In an interview with Truthout, Khan insisted, "This is not about building jails. It's about getting people detoxed, getting them treatment and getting people awaiting trial to the services that they need." She noted that many women are arrested for substance-abuse-related issues and that the prison does not provide substance abuse treatment for those awaiting trial.
You can read the full story at:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/22142-...
March 3, 2014
Diversity in YA giveaway!
Got a YA reader in your life who would appreciate more diversity in their books? Or maybe you'd appreciate more diversity in your bookshelves?
To celebrate the (approximate) 1-year anniversary of Diversity in YA’s launch on tumblr, we’re giving away all these books! Thank you for celebrating diversity in young adult books with us and continuing to engage in dialogue and increasing awareness!
(To view a document listing all the titles, see here.)
This is how it works:
We’ve divided these books into 4-packs of diverse awesomeness. Don’t worry, series titles will all be kept together, so you won’t end up getting a middle book or a third book in a trilogy without the others.
We have multiple copies of some titles, so some of them will go into several prize packs.
We’ll select 17 winners, each of whom will receive a prize pack of 4 books!
Because of the large number of titles and the cost of international shipping, we’re only able to ship to U.S. mailing addresses. International folks may enter as long as they have a U.S. mailing address.
Teachers and librarians get an extra entry!
The deadline to enter is March 31, 2014. Go here to enter: http://diversityinya.tumblr.com/post/...
To celebrate the (approximate) 1-year anniversary of Diversity in YA’s launch on tumblr, we’re giving away all these books! Thank you for celebrating diversity in young adult books with us and continuing to engage in dialogue and increasing awareness!
(To view a document listing all the titles, see here.)
This is how it works:
We’ve divided these books into 4-packs of diverse awesomeness. Don’t worry, series titles will all be kept together, so you won’t end up getting a middle book or a third book in a trilogy without the others.
We have multiple copies of some titles, so some of them will go into several prize packs.
We’ll select 17 winners, each of whom will receive a prize pack of 4 books!
Because of the large number of titles and the cost of international shipping, we’re only able to ship to U.S. mailing addresses. International folks may enter as long as they have a U.S. mailing address.
Teachers and librarians get an extra entry!
The deadline to enter is March 31, 2014. Go here to enter: http://diversityinya.tumblr.com/post/...
February 24, 2014
Why Do People in Prison Go on Hunger Strike?
Two weeks ago, women incarcerated at Estrella Jail in Phoenix, Arizona staged a hunger strike. Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who runs the jail, told media that the women were striking over the all-vegetarian meals being served. His direct quote was actually: "They ought to shut up and eat what they have, they happen to be in jail and I'm the sheriff and I'm the chief chef I decide what they eat.” Spinning the women's protest as just a knee-jerk response to having to eat vegetarian food helps turn a serious hunger strike into a punchline.
But the women's issue is more than the lack of meat—they charge that the food served is spoiled and moldy and that the people in charge of their care (like the charming Sheriff Arpaio) don’t seem to care about their valid concerns.
On Thursday February 13th, the hunger striking women were joined by 90 people in the jail's male unit who refused dinner. That action drew media attention—the Arizona Republic published a short piece on the hunger strike, interviewing two of the men (but none of the women) involved. One man told the Republic that he had been motivated to participate in the hunger strike as an act of solidarity with the women: “If a woman does it, I’m gonna do it. That’s what men are supposed to do.”
People who want to change unjust policies have some effective tools at their disposal: social media, public meetings, the ability to take to the streets. But in jails and prisons, the tools of protest are severely limited. In an environment where the ability to organize and speak to both family and media is greatly limited, refusing to eat is one of the few things people can do to draw media attention to prison conditions and speak up for themselves in mainstream media. Prisoners have staged numerous hunger strikes in recent memory. Last year, hunger strikes in Guantanamo Bay and California's Pelican Bay Supermax made repeated headlines across the nation. This past January, people at Illinois's Menard State Prison launched a hunger strike to protest their open-ended placement in solitary confinement. Now four weeks into the strike, they have also declared a liquids strike.
Read more on http://bitchmagazine.org/post/why-wou...
Please note: neither Bitchmedia nor I are responsible for the typo in the FOX10 caption that accompanies the photo.
But the women's issue is more than the lack of meat—they charge that the food served is spoiled and moldy and that the people in charge of their care (like the charming Sheriff Arpaio) don’t seem to care about their valid concerns.
On Thursday February 13th, the hunger striking women were joined by 90 people in the jail's male unit who refused dinner. That action drew media attention—the Arizona Republic published a short piece on the hunger strike, interviewing two of the men (but none of the women) involved. One man told the Republic that he had been motivated to participate in the hunger strike as an act of solidarity with the women: “If a woman does it, I’m gonna do it. That’s what men are supposed to do.”
People who want to change unjust policies have some effective tools at their disposal: social media, public meetings, the ability to take to the streets. But in jails and prisons, the tools of protest are severely limited. In an environment where the ability to organize and speak to both family and media is greatly limited, refusing to eat is one of the few things people can do to draw media attention to prison conditions and speak up for themselves in mainstream media. Prisoners have staged numerous hunger strikes in recent memory. Last year, hunger strikes in Guantanamo Bay and California's Pelican Bay Supermax made repeated headlines across the nation. This past January, people at Illinois's Menard State Prison launched a hunger strike to protest their open-ended placement in solitary confinement. Now four weeks into the strike, they have also declared a liquids strike.
Read more on http://bitchmagazine.org/post/why-wou...
Please note: neither Bitchmedia nor I are responsible for the typo in the FOX10 caption that accompanies the photo.
February 15, 2014
My Challenge for 2014: Read 50 Books by Writers of Color
Last year, I decided to read 50 books by writers of color.
This idea got started when I read an interview with speculative fiction author Nalo Hopkinson (author of The Chaos). At the time, I was writing a blog series about race and gender in dystopian young adult novels and I was stuck by how Hopkinson talked about how books by people of color tend to be overlooked. It is easy to read primarily or exclusively books by white authors without realizing it. She challenged people to read at least 50 books by people of color. I decided to take her up on that challenge.
I started late in the year and, by December, was struggling to hit 50. This year, I'm starting early and have already drawn up most of my reading list. Now, I'm not promising only to read books by women of color. I'd promptly break that vow once the final books in Karen Sandler's Tankborn or Dan Wells' Partials trilogies come out. Instead, I'm pushing myself to read at least 50 books by writers of color with an emphasis on women of color.
So who's on my to-read list so far?
Read more on my Bitch blogpost.
For those of you on twitter, I'll be tweeting my reading as I finish it under #50booksbyPOC. Or you can just follow my reviews here on goodreads.
This idea got started when I read an interview with speculative fiction author Nalo Hopkinson (author of The Chaos). At the time, I was writing a blog series about race and gender in dystopian young adult novels and I was stuck by how Hopkinson talked about how books by people of color tend to be overlooked. It is easy to read primarily or exclusively books by white authors without realizing it. She challenged people to read at least 50 books by people of color. I decided to take her up on that challenge.
I started late in the year and, by December, was struggling to hit 50. This year, I'm starting early and have already drawn up most of my reading list. Now, I'm not promising only to read books by women of color. I'd promptly break that vow once the final books in Karen Sandler's Tankborn or Dan Wells' Partials trilogies come out. Instead, I'm pushing myself to read at least 50 books by writers of color with an emphasis on women of color.
So who's on my to-read list so far?
Read more on my Bitch blogpost.
For those of you on twitter, I'll be tweeting my reading as I finish it under #50booksbyPOC. Or you can just follow my reviews here on goodreads.
February 13, 2014
my latest on Solitary Watch: 7 Months After Historic Prison Hunger Strike, Opponents of Solitary Confinement...
I forgot to post this earlier, but better late than never!
Seven Months After Historic Prison Hunger Strike, Opponents of Solitary Confinement in California Prepare for a Hearing and Gauge the Pace of Change
You can read the entire article at:
http://solitarywatch.com/2014/02/10/s...
Seven Months After Historic Prison Hunger Strike, Opponents of Solitary Confinement in California Prepare for a Hearing and Gauge the Pace of Change
Tomorrow, California lawmakers will hold a hearing about the use of solitary confinement inside its state prison system. February marks seven months since people incarcerated throughout California embarked on the mass hunger strike that has drawn legislative attention to prison conditions. Just under two weeks ago, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) released new proposed regulations around its gang policies, and it points to changes already made. Accounts from former hunger strikers and their allies on the outside, however, suggest that change is slow in coming...
...On Friday, January 31, 2014, CDCR unveiled new regulations around its gang policies. Under these draft regulations, validated gang associates and members can have the designation removed from their records if they avoid gang activities for approximately six years (for associates) or elevent years (for members). This only applies to people who have been released from the SHU into Step 5 of the Stepdowm Program or into general population. The regulations are an extension of CDCR’s Stepdown program, which was unveiled in Fall 2012, one year after the first round of prisoner hunger strikes.
In Fall 2012, CDCR unveiled its Stepdown program. The program evaluates prisoners with indefinite SHU terms for release into general population. Both prisoners and their advocates have criticized the program, noting that even those who have spent years in the SHU may still be required to spend two to three additional years in solitary confinement under this program. The debriefing program remains in place. In addition, criteria that was formerly used to prove gang association—such as possessing certain art or literature, exercising with others or even saying hello to another prisoner—can now be used to prove gang membership.
You can read the entire article at:
http://solitarywatch.com/2014/02/10/s...
January 25, 2014
Women In Solitary Confinement: Buried Inside the Federal Prison System
This past September, in response to continued criticism around its use of solitary confinement, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) began an internal audit of its “restricted housing operations.” As noted earlier by Solitary Watch, no women’s prisons are listed in the Scope of Work provided by the team hired to conduct the Special Housing Unit Review and Assessment. The BOP’s Public Information Office was unable to comment on this apparent omission.
Although they are absent from the audit, each women’s prison has its own Special Housing Unit (SHU) where people are locked into their cell 23 ½ to 24 hours each day. In some cases, women are confined because of behavioral problems or rules violations. But the BOP also has a recent history of isolating people based solely on their political beliefs.
In 1986, the BOP opened a segregated unit specifically for women political prisoners. It was built in the basement of the federal prison at Lexington, Kentucky. “I looked around and was overcome by the sheer whiteness of the space,” recalled former political prisoner Susan Rosenberg in her memoir An American Radical: A Political Prisoner in My Own Country. ”It was a bright, gleaming artificial white, the kind of white that with any lengthy exposure could almost sear your eyeballs. It was the kind of white that can make you go mad.” Rosenberg and Alejandrina Torres, a member of the Puerto Rican independence movement who had been sentenced to 35 years for plotting the bombings of U.S. military bases, were the first two women transferred to the unit. They were later joined by political prisoner Silvia Baraldini and two women not convicted of political actions, Debra Brown and Sylvia Brown. They had no contact with the rest of the prison population.
Prison officials labeled this a High Security Unit. Rosenberg described conditions in the High Security Unit:
Human rights advocates, attorneys, family members and outside supporters launched a campaign to shut the unit down while the women filed suit. In 1988, following Rosenberg’s testimony in court, a judge ordered the unit closed immediately. The women were transferred to other federal prisons.
While the High Security Unit was shut down, the practice of solitary confinement continues inside every women’s prison. The Federal Medical Center at Carswell, Texas, opened in July 1994 with an Administrative Maximum Unit for women who are labeled “special management concerns” because of escape attempts, violence or other behavioral problems. But, as in the High Security Unit, women imprisoned for their political actions, such as war resister Helen Woodson, eco-activist Chelsea Gerlach and Pakistani national Dr. Aafiyah Sidiqui, have also been confined there. Not much is known about the unit other than that the women are entirely separated from the larger prison population and are often subject to lockdowns.
You can read the rest of my article here:
http://solitarywatch.com/2014/01/24/w...
Although they are absent from the audit, each women’s prison has its own Special Housing Unit (SHU) where people are locked into their cell 23 ½ to 24 hours each day. In some cases, women are confined because of behavioral problems or rules violations. But the BOP also has a recent history of isolating people based solely on their political beliefs.
In 1986, the BOP opened a segregated unit specifically for women political prisoners. It was built in the basement of the federal prison at Lexington, Kentucky. “I looked around and was overcome by the sheer whiteness of the space,” recalled former political prisoner Susan Rosenberg in her memoir An American Radical: A Political Prisoner in My Own Country. ”It was a bright, gleaming artificial white, the kind of white that with any lengthy exposure could almost sear your eyeballs. It was the kind of white that can make you go mad.” Rosenberg and Alejandrina Torres, a member of the Puerto Rican independence movement who had been sentenced to 35 years for plotting the bombings of U.S. military bases, were the first two women transferred to the unit. They were later joined by political prisoner Silvia Baraldini and two women not convicted of political actions, Debra Brown and Sylvia Brown. They had no contact with the rest of the prison population.
Prison officials labeled this a High Security Unit. Rosenberg described conditions in the High Security Unit:
Every day was filled with confrontations between us and the COs [correctional officers] over every human need: getting hot water for a cup of instant coffee, taking a shower, going outside, getting medical attention, getting a book. We were allowed to come out of our cells and talk with each other but stayed locked on the tier, not allowed beyond the gates. There was a camera at each end of the tier and three gates between the end of the tier and a hall that led to the rest of the unit. Our cells had windows we could see out of only by standing on tiptoe on the bed; the view was of shrubs at ground level in the main inner courtyard of the prison.
Human rights advocates, attorneys, family members and outside supporters launched a campaign to shut the unit down while the women filed suit. In 1988, following Rosenberg’s testimony in court, a judge ordered the unit closed immediately. The women were transferred to other federal prisons.
While the High Security Unit was shut down, the practice of solitary confinement continues inside every women’s prison. The Federal Medical Center at Carswell, Texas, opened in July 1994 with an Administrative Maximum Unit for women who are labeled “special management concerns” because of escape attempts, violence or other behavioral problems. But, as in the High Security Unit, women imprisoned for their political actions, such as war resister Helen Woodson, eco-activist Chelsea Gerlach and Pakistani national Dr. Aafiyah Sidiqui, have also been confined there. Not much is known about the unit other than that the women are entirely separated from the larger prison population and are often subject to lockdowns.
You can read the rest of my article here:
http://solitarywatch.com/2014/01/24/w...
January 19, 2014
My Mom is Badder Than Yours
Co-written with amazing photographer Meg Escude, "My Mom is Badder Than Yours" examines the treatment of mothers and children incarcerated in the United States and Argentina. It discusses the strategies of resistance, activism and advocacy adopted by imprisoned mothers in both countries and, as a result of their actions, the subsequent changes in law, policy and practice.
You can read the entire article on-line at: http://appweb.cortland.edu/ojs/index....
For a pdf (which is easier on the eyes, or at least my eyes), go to http://appweb.cortland.edu/ojs/index....
In the United States, prison policy separates an incarcerated mother from her newborn baby less than 48 hours after birth. Some prisons have children’s centers where incarcerated mothers can live with their infants for the first 18 to 24 months, but such programs are few and far between. In Argentina, incarcerated mothers are allowed to raise their children in prison until the children are at least two years old. They live together in separate wings with slightly better conditions, and there are education and recreation programs for the children.
Over the last few years prisoners and their visitors have held hunger strikes in prisons throughout Argentina demanding improved conditions for mothers and children behind bars. In 2003, approximately 300 women rioted for nine days, demanding that the prison provide a pediatrician. This year a national law was passed, giving incarcerated mothers priority in consideration for house arrest until the child is five years old (Buletín Oficial de la Nación, 2009).
Mothers incarcerated in the U.S. have also challenged and resisted penal policies and, in some cases, collectively organized to create programs. In New York, incarcerated mothers formed the Foster Care Committee. Their advocacy led to new legislation granting prisoners with children in foster care the same rights and responsibilities as parents who are not incarcerated, including the right to monthly visits.
This piece will examine the treatment of mothers and children incarcerated in Argentina and the U.S., as well as their actions demanding that their needs as mothers be recognized and met.
You can read the entire article on-line at: http://appweb.cortland.edu/ojs/index....
For a pdf (which is easier on the eyes, or at least my eyes), go to http://appweb.cortland.edu/ojs/index....
January 7, 2014
My latest on Truthout: How Dede Adnahom Didn't Get Deported
Last year, Giday Adnahom was fighting deportation. As reported earlier in Truthout, Adnahom, or Dede to those who know her, came to the United States as a child with her adult sister in 1993. Under the 1980 Refugee Act, the family was granted permanent residency. Three years later, Dede was removed form her sister's home because of abuse and placed in foster care. The agency severed all ties between Dede and her sister.
When she turned 18, Dede aged out of foster care. Unable to afford her own place, Dede was caught selling $20 of crack cocaine the following year. She took her case to trial and, in 2005, was found guilty of controlled substance delivery. She was sentenced to nine months in a work-release center, served six months, then began rebuilding her life.
In 2006, shortly after Dede gave birth to her first daughter, the U.S. Board of Immigration and Appeals began deportation proceedings against her. Although an immigration judge ruled in her favor the following year, the board appealed, and deportation proceedings reopened in 2012. Recently, after a grass-roots mobilization effort by her friends and supporters, an immigration judge ruled in Dede’s favor, granting her permanent residency.
Read the whole amazing story at http://truth-out.org/news/item/20965-...
When she turned 18, Dede aged out of foster care. Unable to afford her own place, Dede was caught selling $20 of crack cocaine the following year. She took her case to trial and, in 2005, was found guilty of controlled substance delivery. She was sentenced to nine months in a work-release center, served six months, then began rebuilding her life.
In 2006, shortly after Dede gave birth to her first daughter, the U.S. Board of Immigration and Appeals began deportation proceedings against her. Although an immigration judge ruled in her favor the following year, the board appealed, and deportation proceedings reopened in 2012. Recently, after a grass-roots mobilization effort by her friends and supporters, an immigration judge ruled in Dede’s favor, granting her permanent residency.
Read the whole amazing story at http://truth-out.org/news/item/20965-...
December 22, 2013
A Personal Response to #NotYourAsianSidekick
Last Sunday, activist and writer Suey Park started #NotYourAsianSidekick, a Twitter conversation originally meant to discuss problems within the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, issues with white feminism, and the voices of those usually excluded from more mainstream AAPI discussions, such as people who are queer, disabled, mixed race and/or sex-positive. Very quickly, #NotYourAsianSidekick exploded, with nearly 34,000 tweets using the hashtag that first day.
There went my plans for vacuuming and organizing my house. I spent a good portion of Sunday afternoon glued to my computer screen, both following (or attempting to follow) and participating in the discussion.
Although following the rapid-fire conversation was remarkable, what excited me most were the tweets which dug deeper into Asian Americans' participation in liberation and social justice movements.
For my response, that includes links and images, see this week's post at Bitchmedia:
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/not-you...
There went my plans for vacuuming and organizing my house. I spent a good portion of Sunday afternoon glued to my computer screen, both following (or attempting to follow) and participating in the discussion.
Although following the rapid-fire conversation was remarkable, what excited me most were the tweets which dug deeper into Asian Americans' participation in liberation and social justice movements.
For my response, that includes links and images, see this week's post at Bitchmedia:
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/not-you...
