Survived and Punished members participated at the 2019 #DROPLWOP Strategy Session, organized by California Coalition of Women Prisoners, Families United to End LWOP, Californians United for a Responsible Budget, and Felony Murder Elimination Project. In the two-day convening of organizers from across California, as well as New York, Pennsylvania, and D.C., we discussed both national and statewide campaigns to end life imprisonment, hearing from panels of movement experts, including S&P members Colby Lenz, Kelly Savage, and Romarilyn Ralston.
Take Action:
- Visit the official Drop LWOP campaign website to learn more about the movement to secure sentence commutations for all serving Life Without Parole in California.
- Sign the Drop LWOP letter to Gov. Newsom, urging him to commute LWOP sentences and to eliminate LWOP from the state penal code.
- Donate to California Coalition of Women Prisoners and support their work with the #DropLWOP campaign.
- Share this powerful video “What is Life Without Parole?” created by the California Coalition for Women Prisoners and A Living Chance partner with BAVC Productions
Learn more about #DropLWOP:
The following is an excerpt from the Drop LWOP Fact Sheet:
90% of people in California women’s prisons serving LWOP were sentenced as “aiders and abettors” and/or under the Felony Murder Rule. This means they were NOT the main actor/perpetrator of the crime and may have been forced to be present when their abuser committed a murder.
The majority of people serving LWOP in California women’s prisons are:
- Survivors of abuse (intimate partner violence, child abuse, sexual violence, and trafficking).
- People with no prior convictions.
People of color are disproportionately sentenced to LWOP.
