Portia is a formerly incarcerated woman and mother. She explains that despite the many privileges she had with socio-economic status and race, court proceedings, being incarcerated, and re-entry were still emotionally difficult. She touches on the hardships that come with motherhood in the carceral state, her strong emotional support systems, and the amazing women she met while incarcerated. She also mentions how the criminal legal system, specifically court proceedings as well as daily life as an incarcerated individual, functions to dehumanize and ostracize people.

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A child of an incarcerated parent herself, Shari founded COIPP, an all-volunteer organization that works to support families that have been affected by the criminal legal system. Shari speaks about her experience working with incarcerated parents, children of incarcerated parents, and the caregivers of those children.

Zach details his experience with law school and why he chose to study the law. He also talks about his relationship with his Incarcerated brother.

Rachel describes her brother’s journey in and out of the criminal justice system. She also describes the impact it had on her and her family. She also speaks about her interactions with the U.S. legal system as someone living abroad.

Valerie speaks about her experience as a visitor to prisons and a family member of incarcerated individuals. She speaks about the punitive nature of the prison system and how she hopes for reform.

A formerly incarcerated individual describes how he served many years in federal prison because of a drug-related offense. He missed out on seeing his children grow up and now advocates for reform within the prison system.

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Eric discussed community health and individual health impacts of incarceration and policing in the neighborhood.

Tevin discussed the impacts of incarceration on the community and how detrimental the carceral system is to community health. Particularly, Tevin shared his insight into the ways in which the carceral system takes mothers and fathers out of the community. Children grow up with limited guidance and lack structure. In turn, the criminal justice system attempts to fill the void created by incarcerated parents. He also discussed the lack of healthcare in prison. He emphasized Covid-19 and how prisons don’t take proper precautions to prevent the spread of the disease. Tevin felt that the prison system does not value the life of people in prison.

Ayoola works in a jail and does criminal justice advocacy. She spoke of working “on the front lines” of mass incarceration and “in the trenches.” Her interview addressed the lack of health care and the poor quality of existing health care within prisons. Ayoola spoke to the lack of visibility for those experiencing mental and physical illness due to incarceration. Many people both in and out of prison do not receive proper treatment. Those in prison are denied or made to wait for treatment because prison staff believes the individual is malingering. Those formerly incarcerated individuals have deteriorated health upon release and receive inadequate health care. Ayoola mentioned how working in prisons has an impact on the mental health of her family. Additionally, her interview touched on the effects that working in incarceration has on her health. She spoke of migraine headaches that she believes have to do with the constant exposure to stress in the prison environment. Ayoola wished that the country would acknowledge the parallels between incarceration and slavery.

In this interview, the interviewee discusses her contact with the criminal justice system as a young adult who had an incarcerated parent and worked at a public defender’s office, to now as a full-time lawyer and volunteer with Prisoner Visitation and Support. She often visited her father in prison and believes it is important for people experiencing incarceration to have outside connections. She also shares how difficult it is for family members to visit their loved ones in prison right now, compared to her familial visits in the 1980s. The conversations that occur when she visits include politics, concerns about life after release, and personal troubles within the prison. While it is challenging to keep certain thoughts to oneself, she states that the role of a prison visitor is to listen and be supportive rather than transforming people’s principles. Unfortunately, since the pandemic, prison visitors have had little to no communication with people they once regularly visited.