Women Working with Women in Prison

By Mary Lu Mendonça

Female inmates make up only about 6% of the population in our jails and prisons.  This is perhaps a lucky break for the Massachusetts Department of Correction, which claims to spend a disproportionately large amount of money on them – nearly $10,000 more per female inmate than is spent on men. But despite the extra resources, legal service providers have observed that women in prison get nowhere near what they need.  Many of the people advocating for female prisoners are themselves women – attorneys, legal workers, and law students.  And their work, of course, often gets less attention than it deserves.

Fifteen local attorneys do pro-bono work through the Framingham Project for Incarcerated Women of the Women’s Bar Foundation of Massachusetts.   The project organizes and trains attorneys to provide civil legal help for women currently or recently incarcerated in Massachusetts.  Though the bulk of clients are housed at MCI Framingham, Project volunteers also provide counseling at the South Bay House of Correction, the Boston Rescue Mission’s Kingston House, and Aid for Incarcerated Mothers.  Much like the Guild’s Street Law Clinic program, the project sends small groups of two or three attorneys to conduct informational workshops – or “educationals,” as they are known – on a wide range of topics.

“CORI-sealing is a popular topic right now,” says Sarah McClean, a Boston-based solo practitioner who volunteers for the Project.   McClean got involved with the Framingham Project soon after it began around 1990.  “Members were responding to a lot of requests for help from women in Framingham,” she recalls.  “This is a population in genuine need,” says McClean.  The women’s bar responded by organizing this project so we could provide counseling, referrals, and direct representation.  In 1994, the Project was recognized by the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations for their success in seeking clemency for the “Framingham Eight,” a group of women convicted of murder for killing their abusive partners.  “We collaborated with several other organizations,” says McClean, “and it did a lot to raise consciousness about domestic violence at the time.”

Current co-chair Elizabeth Brusie believes that the recent economic downturn has led to a shortage in volunteers.   Even so, she says, they are able to provide free legal assistance to women prisoners seeking help with clearing criminal warrants, health care, and child custody. “We have attorneys from all walks of the industry who volunteer – people from the big firms as well as legal services.”  Brusie has had difficulty finding volunteers willing to travel as far as Framingham, but notes that no particular area of expertise is needed to get involved.  “When we send out volunteers, we try to assemble attorneys in multidisciplinary teams – for example, I can talk about domestic violence issues while another person may have a lot of experience with housing.”

Over the years, the Project has moved away from offering direct representation and now focuses its efforts on education.  Brusie sees an ongoing and significant need for assisting clients in the area of family law and in dealing with the Department of Children and Families:  “When you take someone away from her child, there is a very visceral reaction.  And many women are incarcerated after being in an abusive relationship.   The problems that come out of family relationships take over and extend to every area of their lives.”

With 80% of female inmates reporting histories of domestic violence, conditions in prison can lead to even more stress.  Bonnie Tenneriello, a staff attorney at Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services (d/b/a Prisoners’ Legal Services), has seen the repercussions of this abuse in her role as liaison to MCI-Framingham.  “Privacy is an ongoing concern,” says Tenneriello.  “Many of the women are not comfortable having male guards in the housing units, where there’s a chance they may be seen undressed.  Women who have been abused in the past are particularly traumatized by this.”  Over the past two years, she notes, Framingham stepped up security efforts in the wake of two inmate suicides and several suicide attempts.

Some advocates believe that prison conditions have improved for women in recent years.  Despite the budget crunch affecting most areas of state government, the DOC has increased counseling and educational programming in Framingham.  In 2005, the stories of Framingham inmates got nationwide attention when they were chronicled by author Christina Rathbone’s, A World Apart: Women, Prison, and Life Behind Bars.  And in 2009, the Department of Correction revised their mission statement on female offender management to include “providing gender specific programs which address the unique female offender population utilizing ‘trauma-informed models’.”  But regardless of shifts in public perception, advocates like the women profiled here are rarely recognized for their work.  Brusie, McClean, and Tenneriello already have earned the gratitude of their clients and the respect of colleagues in the progressive legal community.

Mary Lu Mendonça is Executive Director of Suffolk Lawyers for Justice, a group that oversees the appointment of counsel to indigent defendants in Boston.