We are calling on governors around the country to reconsider the cases
of women and girls who need it most.

[ [link removed] ][IMG]

Demand your governor take action using their clemency power.

[ [link removed] ][IMG]

Dear John, 

It’s time to free the thousands of Black women and girls who are behind
bars. In partnership with the National Council for Incarcerated and
Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, we are calling on governors around
the country to grant clemency to women and girls who need it most.

The impact of mass incarceration on Black women and girls cannot be
overstated -- locking up Black women and girls for decades at a time
devastate families and by extension destabilize entire communities while
costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. And the women and
girls who are most impacted are often survivors of violence
themselves. This includes the stories of women like Tondalao Hall, Liyah
Birru, and Natalie Pollard.

Tondalao is a Black mother who suffered at the hands of her abusive
boyfriend for years. After her abuser pleaded guilty to physically harming
her children, Tondalao was prosecuted and later sentenced to 30 years in
prison for "failing to protect" her children.^1 Tondalao's abuser, Robert
Braxton, walked free after two years in prison. Liyah is a Black woman who
immigrated from Ethiopia. She was incarcerated for defending herself
against her abusive husband and now faces deportation.^2 And Natalie is a
Black mother who was sentenced for manslaughter for defending herself
against a boyfriend who viciously attacked her while pregnant.^3 All of
these stories demonstrate a painful reality -- Black women are often
forced to decide between living under the threat of physical violence or
spending the rest of their lives in prison. But with your help, we can
urge governors to use their clemency power to begin to right these
terrible wrongs and set free the thousands of Black women and girls who
are still behind bars.  

John, if you join us in demanding governors exercise
their clemency power then we will be one step closer to freeing the
thousands of Black women and girls who are in cages.

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition: Join us in demanding that your governor use their
power for good.

Clemency is an effective tool for reducing mass incarceration that so few
governors actually use. Both Democratic and Republican governors alike
have fallen short of utilizing their clemency powers to benefit our
communities. In New York, Gov. Cuomo pardoned 22 immigrants who faced
deportation because of previous state convictions, but with almost 200,000
New Yorkers within the criminal justice system, this isn't enough.^4 In
California, Former Gov. Jerry Brown commuted 283 by the end of his term,
which was significant compared to the usual 1-2 people commuted per term
by past governors.^5 It was only through the work of groups like the
California Coalition for Women Prisoners and Survived and Punished CA that
we have seen this shift.^6 The current Gov. Gavin Newsom could restore
dignity to the roughly 10 percent of the prison population that is dying
or elderly simply by initiating this clemency process.^7 To date, he has
only pardoned seven people.^8 

And the truth is: the impact of incarcerating a Black woman is oftentimes
two-fold. Most women in prison are mothers or the primary caregivers of
their children -- deepening poverty and wreaking havoc on the physical,
emotional and mental wellbeing of both mother and child.^9 In places like
NY, 75% of imprisoned women are mothers, and most lived with a minor child
before prison.^10 As a result of incarceration, children are literally
taken away from their mothers. We owe it to these women to call on
governors to do their part. 

[ [link removed] ]John, you can urge your governor to end this criminalization
by freeing our women and girls.

A prison will never be a place for rehabilitation. Hundreds of thousands
of women and girls are currently incarcerated as a result of
criminalization for what should be addressed as public health issues
stemming from violence, poverty, mental health problems, and drug
addiction. And Black women are even more vulnerable. Black women are the
fastest-growing segment of the prison population in the United States --
making up 29 percent of the incarcerated population but only around 7
percent of the total population.^11 

That's why there is a growing number of supporters who are organizing
statewide coalitions demanding their governor to free Black women and
girls from cages. We are urging governors to exercise their power to
grant clemency and seriously consider commuting the sentences of women and
girls who are survivors of violence, often imprisoned for defending
themselves, their children, or their loved ones, those who are enduring
sentences of more than 10 years, elderly women who can barely walk, and
lastly those living with long-term or life-threatening illnesses. The
truth is, these women deserve to go free. Join us in making sure the
stories and lives of these women are heard.

[ [link removed] ]John, will you call on your governor to exercise
their clemency power?

Until justice is real, 

--Clarise, Rashad, Arisha, Scott, Erika, Malachi, Marybeth, Marena,
Leonard, Madison, Tamar and the rest of the Color Of Change team

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 References:

 1. "OKC Woman In Prison For Child Abuse Is Closer To Receiving Reduced
Sentence." News 9 Oklahoma.
[link removed]
 2. #FreeLiyah. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
 3. "Sentence is ‘bitter pill’ for mom claiming self-defense in fatal
stabbing of boyfriend, attorney says." Twin
Cities. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
 4. "Why Aren’t Democratic Governors Pardoning More Prisoners?" The New
Republic.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 5. Ibid.
 6. "Commutations Campaign." Survived and
Punished. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
 7. "Why Aren’t Democratic Governors Pardoning More Prisoners?" The New
Republic.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 8. "In a rebuke to President Trump, Gov. Newsom pardons refugees facing
deportation."[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 9. ACLU.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
10. "The Gender Divide: Tracking Women's State Prison Growth." Prison
Policy
Initiative. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
11. ACLU.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]


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[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. [ [link removed] ]Help
keep our movement strong.

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