Women in Prison News: Maryland's Second Chance for Women Sounds Off on Distress for the Women Inside

Women in Prison Committee Co-Chair, ALJ Brenda Murray, serves on the Advisory Board of Second Chance for Women, an organization dedicated to preparing inmates for successful parole board hearings. Second Chance Second Chance operates in the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCIW) and was founded in 2009 by Mary Joel Davis. The group recently created their first newsletter which includes a letter from Executive Director Mary Joel Davis describing the horrific conditions in which the women in prison live due to the Governor’s ‘stay-at-home’ order:

They are now on lock-down for twenty-three (23) hours a day. They eat their meals in their cells on trays. They have just one hour per day to get out, take a shower, and make that phone call to home or a friend.  There is no longer access to a library, there are no programs, and all the jobs have been canceled.  SCW is making all of its contacts by mail rather than in person, which is extremely time consuming. MCIW’s warden has been doing the best she can under these unprecedented circumstances, with 700 women living in double cells. The stress for all is almost unimaginable.

You can learn more about Second Chance for Women, and subscribe to their newsletter at the bottom of their website.