Often, when people talk about the criminal justice system, they talk in big numbers— the millions of people serving time, the billions of dollars mass incarceration costs each year, the hundreds of thousands in jail at any given moment. But talking in big numbers sometimes obscures the fact that we’re discussing real people on this show—human beings, not statistics. On this episode, we discuss who these people really are and how this system affects not only their lives but the lives of their friends and family, particularly their partners and children. In particular, we explore look at how mass incarceration hurts women with loved ones involved in the system.
Our guest this episode is Gina Clayton, the Executive Director of Essie Justice Group, who joins us to discuss the phenomenal organization she has built focused on women with incarcerated loved ones.
For more:
Essie Justice Group’s website is here. Please check out the incredible work they are doing. And you should absolutely spend some time looking at their new report, Because She’s Powerful.
This report from the Economic Policy Institute, Mass Incarceration and Children’s Outcomes, gives more information about how parental incarceration affects kids.
The story we discuss of the biological mother whose three children were taken from her and later killed by their adopted parents is here. Roxanna Asgarian, the journalist who covered the story for The Appeal, also appeared on The Appeal Podcast with Adam Johnson. You can hear that episode here.
The report “Who Pays?” looks at how the criminal justice system affects not only those incarcerated, but their family and loved ones. It was produced by Ella Baker for Human Rights, Forward Together, and Research Action Design, with support and collaboration from many other organizations.
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