California leads the nation with 23 women on Death Row, but the condemned women are largely invisible and forgotten behind bars, and their stories rarely see the light of day. California has more than three times the number of condemned women in Texas (six on condemn) and in Alabama (five on condemn), according a Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) report. The women on California’s Death Row are housed in Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla. Until 1933, they were housed in San Quentin in the Women’s Ward. They … [Read more...] about CA leads nation in women on Death Row
Central California Women’s Facility
Raising awareness California’s ‘Life Without’
More than 100 advocates, family members and friends chanted, “Drop LWOP, drop LWOP, commute all 5,000!” at an Oakland town hall on March 24, denouncing California’s use of life without parole sentences, also known as LWOP. The California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP) hosted the event to educate the general public and raise awareness about the state’s LWOP policies. California has approximately 5,000 prisoners serving life sentences without the chance for parole, according to the CCWP press release. “We believe that all people in … [Read more...] about Raising awareness California’s ‘Life Without’
Folsom’s Insight Garden Project
California women prisoners are learning to go “green” as they gain skills in garden design and environmental education through the award-winning Insight Garden Program (IGP). Folsom Women’s Facility (FWF) and Central California Women’s Facility (also known as Chowchilla) have been added to the IGP’s long list of prisons that are finding rehabilitation through connecting with nature. “Folsom was officially the first garden we’ve ever built in a women’s facility,” said Beth Waitkus, who founded the program at San Quentin in 2002. “It was a … [Read more...] about Folsom’s Insight Garden Project