Incarcerated women in Massachusetts have an advocate in Professor Erin Braatz. The professor co-authored an opinion piece in CommonWealth magazine advocating against a proposal to build a new state prison for women to replace Massachusetts’ 144-year-old MCIFramingham correctional facility.
In the piece, Braatz argues along with Susan Sered, a sociology and criminal justice professor, that building a new prison, which will require state funding, would use state resources inappropriately when there are alternatives to improving outcomes for women convicted of crimes.
“Rather than spending taxpayer money on a prison construction,” they write, “the judicial, executive, and legislative branches should work to further reduce the number of women in prison by fully implementing the Primary Caretakers Act, eliminating mandatory minimum sentences that give prosecutors too much leverage, making greater use of compassionate release for elderly and terminally ill people, and commuting sentences or granting clemency for women convicted of violent acts against abusive intimate partners.”
Image by Michael J. Clarke
By Katy Ibsen
Law Briefs
Return to Table of Contents
By Katy Ibsen
LAW BRIEFS
Incarcerated women in Massachusetts have an advocate in Erin Braatz. The professor co-authored an opinion piece in Commonwealth Magazine, advocating against a proposal to build a new state prison for women to replace Massachusetts’ 144-year-old MCI-Framingham correctional facility.
In the piece, Braatz argues along with Susan Sered, a sociology and criminal justice professor, that building a new prison, which will require state funding, would use state resources inappropriately when there are alternatives to improving outcomes for women convicted of crimes.
“Rather than spending taxpayer money on a prison construction,” Braatz co-writes, “the judicial, executive, and legislative branches should work to further reduce the number of women in prison by fully implementing the Primary Caretakers Act, eliminating mandatory minimum sentences that give prosecutors too much leverage, making greater use of compassionate release for elderly and terminally ill people, and commuting sentences or granting clemency for women convicted of violent acts against abusive intimate partners.”
Return to Table of Contents
Suffolk Law Professor Erin Braatz