Women’s Justice

Three years ago, I traveled from Austin to Sacramento, California, to attend Survivors Speak—an annual event hosted by the Alliance for Safety and Justice (ASJ), which brings together the largest gathering of crime survivors in the United States. The event allows crime survivors to share stories, honor loved ones, and advocate for change. 

If you’re familiar with our “Justice for Women” campaign, then you probably already know that Texas incarcerates more women than any other state in the country. You might also know the number of women in Texas’ criminal justice system has grown 908% since 1980.

On Friday, the Texas Board of Criminal Justice unanimously voted in favor of a new phone contract that will cut the cost of calls for inmates and their families by 77 percent, from 26 cents per minute to 6 cents per minute. The new contract will also extend the length of calls from 20 minutes to 30 minutes. Effective September 1^st, a 30-minute phone call will cost around $1.80, instead of $7.80.                            

On Saturday, July 19, TCJC and the ACLU of Texas hosted a town hall at the Texas Capitol. It was one of 26 simultaneous town halls across the country – all part of The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls’ national convening, which brought together women impacted by the criminal justice system and leaders committed to engaging in gender-responsive reform efforts.

The Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC), the Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts, and the California Lawyers for the Arts invited TCJC to participate in their Texas Art for Justice Forum on July 14 at the HMAAC.

When TCJC launched our Justice for Women campaign in March, we never expected this much momentum! In the past four months, we’ve accomplished a lot.

We released two full-length reports and a “quick guide” on the challenges facing women in Texas’ criminal justice system:

My mother is a survivor of domestic abuse and sexual assault. Her method of coping with the trauma she experienced was to never stop moving. Literally. When I was growing up, we moved over and over again—14 times during my high school years alone. If, instead, her method of coping had been to self-medicate with alcohol or drugs, there is no doubt in my mind that she would be in prison.

Over the weekend, thousands of people took to the streets of Austin for the 2018 Women’s March. One of those marching was Lauren Johnson. Lauren is many things. Among them, she is a mother, an advocate, and a formerly incarcerated woman.

On very short notice, Lauren agreed to speak at the Austin Women’s March on behalf of the more than 12,000 women currently incarcerated in Texas. Because those women could not be there to march or speak for themselves, Lauren spoke for them.

Here is an excerpt from Lauren’s speech: