Paying for My Freedom

In the first episode of the series, learn more about the gender wealth gap and its connection to incarceration. We meet Jamila W. Harris (she/her), author, activist, and editor of Prison Health News. Jamila discusses her long-standing battle against criminal justice debt related to her incarceration, and we learn how legal financial obligations thwarts economic stability for previously incarcerated women. Later in the episode, WOMEN’S WAY GWI Program and Data Manager Aathira Chennat talks to LaTonya Myers of the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund to learn about their efforts to provide aid to folks who are unduly burdened by bail fines and fees.

Sources:

-On Legal Fees and Incarceration Costs https://finesandfeesjusticecenter.org/articles/who-pays-true-cost-incarceration-families/

-On Women and Reentry: https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/five-things-know-about-women-and-reentry

-On the Movement to end Cash Bail: https://www.phillybailfund.org/