Women and the Prison Industrial Complex

The notoriously draconian Rockefeller drug laws have been filling New York Prisons and inciting widespread condemnation by everyone from judges to prisoners to prosecutors for over thirty years. Just last week, hundreds rallied for their repeal as Governor David Patterson of New York moves to "drop the rock," or at least reform its worst elements.

An often overlooked story is the impact of the Rockefeller drug laws on female prisoners and their families. 

Recently, I had the chance to talk with two artists, Liza Jessie Peterson and Hazelle Goodman, and formerly incarcerated activist Vivian Gonzalez of the Women’s Prison Association, about the issues that women face in US prisons.