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Female Prisoners Could Benefit From Criminal Justice Measure

NPR: “David Greene talks to Topeka K. Sam, who spent more than 3 years in prison and is a leading voice on overhauling the criminal justice system. She played a pivotal role in a landmark Senate bill.

DAVID GREENE, HOST: A bipartisan criminal justice bill is close to becoming law. The Senate passed the measure this week. President Trump has signaled he’ll sign it if it passes in the House. This bill, among other things, would support one of the fastest-growing populations in American prisons. That would be women. According to the nonprofit The Sentencing Project, between 1980 and 2016, the number of women in U.S. prisons has gone up by more than 700 percent. Topeka K. Sam experienced this firsthand. She served more than three years for a nonviolent drug offense. After her release, she founded The Ladies of Hope Ministries, which supports women as they re-enter society after prison. She was one of the activists pushing on Capitol Hill for this new legislation, and she joins us this morning. Welcome to the program…”

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