'It is torture': Women in Maryland’s prisons have nowhere to turn

Pre-release and minimum security facilities connect incarcerated individuals to essential resources for re-entering society and to opportunities for work release, special leave, compassionate leave, and family leave. In the state of Maryland, there are nine separate pre-release and minimum security facilities for men; for women, there are zero. “At the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCI-W) in Jessup, Maryland,” as noted by the grassroots nonprofit Out for Justice, “as many as 1 in 10 women have achieved pre-release status. However, as many as 30% of the women on pre-release status have not been assigned to a work opportunity.”<br /><br />In this episode of Rattling the Bars, Eddie Conway and Charles Hopkins (Mansa Musa) speak with Nicole Hanson-Mundell, executive director of Out For Justice, about the Maryland Gender-Responsive Prerelease Act and the fight to add the construction of a standalone, community-based prerelease facility for women to the Department of Public and Correctional Service budget during their hearing on Feb. 17, 2022.<br /><br />Read the transcript of this interview: <a href="https://therealnews.com/it-is-torture-women-in-marylands-prisons-have-nowhere-to-turn" rel="noopener">https://therealnews.com/it-is-torture-women-in-marylands-prisons-have-nowhere-to-turn</a><br /><br />Pre-Production/Studio/Post-Production: Cameron Granadino<br /><br />Help us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: <br /><br />Donate: <a href="https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-rtb" rel="noopener">https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-rtb</a><br />Sign up for our newsletter: <a href="https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-rtb" rel="noopener">https://therealnews.com/nl-pod-rtb</a><br /><br />Get Rattling the Bars updates: <a href="https://therealnews.com/up-pod-rtb" rel="noopener">https://therealnews.com/up-pod-rtb</a><br /><br />Like us on Facebook: <a href="https://facebook.com/therealnews" rel="noopener">https://facebook.com/therealnews</a><br />Follow us on Twitt