By Grace Cowell
The Free Her policy platform, spearheaded by Families for Justice as Healing and the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, consists of four MAPA-supported bills in the state legislature, proposing critical criminal legal reforms to ensure safety and healing for women and families impacted by incarceration. Two of these four bills – The Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium and The Massachusetts Survivor Act – have been heard in their respective committees in recent weeks.
The Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium implements a five-year pause on any new prison or jail construction, while not restricting necessary repairs to existing infrastructure. Just this week, the state announced plans to build a $360 million dollar new women’s prison, a price tag seven times higher than the $50 million plans the Free Her campaign has opposed since 2019. This prison would replace MCI-Framingham, which has a population of around 200 women. Advocates for this bill argue that despite the need for structural repairs, stronger programming, and overall reform, a new prison is not necessary and there is no such thing as reimagining corrections. This money should instead be used to reduce prison and jail populations through implementation of programming, reentry services, and alternative sentencing, as well as being used in communities to fund necessities such as healthcare, treatment, and housing.
This bill was heard by the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight on May 13th, receiving powerful testimony from incarcerated women and men at MCI-Framingham and MCI-Shirley, as well as from formerly incarcerated individuals, those directly impacted in other ways, and allies.
This is not the first time the bill has been filed – in the 2021-2022 legislative session, the Moratorium was passed by the legislature before being vetoed by former Governor Baker, and was moved favorably by this same committee in the 2023-2024 session. Now, the Moratorium has until July 12th to be moved favorably out of committee, meaning it is important to urge the committee chairs to do the right thing once again. To contact Governor Healey and your legislators to express your opposition to the building of this new prison, visit the Free Her Action Toolkit at Bit.ly/FreeHerMA.
On June 17th, the Massachusetts Survivors Act was heard by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. This bill would establish processes for courts to use diversion, alternative sentencing, and sentencing relief for survivors of sexual and domestic violence whose arrest or conviction is related to the abuse they survived. The Survivors Act is vital for protecting survivors, who constitute the majority of incarcerated women, from re-traumatization and further trauma that is perpetuated by incarceration.
Incarcerated individuals, formerly incarcerated women, survivors, and allies offered incredibly emotional and powerful testimony, many sharing their personal stories to emphasize just how critical the legislation is for supporting survivors of such violence. What survivors need is not incarceration, a system that only serves to repeat cycles of trauma, but rather programs that offer individuals spaces and support for healing. For more information and to take action visit the Survivors Act toolkit.
While these are the only bills that have had hearings, the Free Her campaign still has two more bills focused on clemency and drug decriminalization. I encourage you all to learn more about these bills by visiting the Free Her policy platform and to advocate for an end to incarceration for women and girls.
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Grace Cowell is a MAPA legislative intern and a student at Northeastern University.