Shackled

Crystal gave birth to her youngest child shackled to a bed. She lay chained, bound to the world of prison with limited treatment and scarce access to resources. Although her daughter is now growing up safely with her siblings and father, Crystal remains trapped in prison, severed from her family and friends. Disconnection is systematically created by the prison system in a self-perpetuating cycle. As Crystal explains, the separation with her family only widens over time as they grow up, and grow accustomed to her absence.

Ten years ago, what 28 year old Crystal thought might be probation, or a 3 year sentence at most, turned into a 20 year prison sentence for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. On the day of her sentencing, Crystal’s life was irrevocably altered, as she was put behind bars and fully disconnected from the outside world, where she remains today.

The physical walls of the prison are only the beginning of the barriers that stand between Crystal and the life she desires. For Crystal, this aching separation is reflected through her interactions, or lack thereof, with any loved one or family member. On the rare occasions on which her two children and husband are financially able to come visit, “they wait outside the prison gate for hours, and then again inside at the main control to get processed anywhere from 1- 3 hours.” And between visits, Crystal must take advantage of the minimal phone time she is given. She plans her calls down to the minute, spending 5 with each of her two daughters and her husband on rushed calls that are never enough. Due to strict limitations placed on prisoners’ access to phones, Crystal is unable to speaks with any friends outside of prison, and rarely speaks with any other family members.

The separation and loneliness that permeate Crystal’s life come at a high cost for Crystal, her family, and the rest of the world beyond the bars. Post-pregnancy life for Crystal remains inhibited by the prison system, where bad-quality menstrual supplies often run low, and must be purchased with personal money at the commissary. Research has repeatedly shown that although prison may not change the fate of a woman’s life after she leaves, it definitively disadvantages her children’s lives. Children with parents in prison are more likely to experience behavior and performance issues, increased risk of living in poverty, as well as subsequent trauma, shame, and stigma.

When the entirety of one’s life is cut off from the outside world, from family and friends, and even from the luxury of giving birth unrestrained, how can one expect prisoners to fare when they are finally released? Over 75% of women will be reincarcerated within five years of release, perpetuating the cycle of isolation and affliction for the women and their loved ones. Nationally, there are 8 times as many women in prison as there were in 1980. Less than 20% of crimes committed by women are violent crimes, and, as evidenced by Crystal’s situation, the war on drugs is a key factor in the surge of women in prison.

With a constructive vision, our criminal justice system could educate and prepare Crystal to be a caring medical assistant in an oncology clinic, or a paralegal at a downtown law firm when she is released; but, instead, our criminal justice system offers solitary confinement, childbirth in shackles, and five minute phone calls to family. We have set up a system for which disconnection is the means to “correction.” But with empathy, compassion, and education, we can begin to reform and instill humanity within our criminal justice system.