Survived + Punished

California Freedom Petitions

TAKE ACTION in 3 STEPS!

Urge California Governor Gavin Newsom to decriminalize survival and COMMUTE THE SENTENCES of all survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

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1. SIGN FREEDOM PETITIONS

Petitions can make a difference in the decision to commute the sentences of incarcerated survivors sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, or those survivors who are constantly denied parole because of discrimination they face because they are trans, Black, immigrant, survivors of domestic/sexual violence, etc. Please sign the petitions below and share widely!
Handy url’s:

Update: Urgent COVID-19-related Calls for Clemency:

Join the California Coalition for Women Prisoners to call for the immediate clemency of Patricia Wright and Maria Aredondo, survivors who are particularly vulnerable in the pandemic:

Patricia Wright

Patricia is a 68-year-old Black mother and grandmother with terminal cancer and a survivor of domestic violence who is serving Life Without the Possibility of Parole (LWOP).  

MARIA AREDONDO

Maria is an elderly woman currently undergoing chemotherapy for stage 2 breast cancer. Maria’s battle with cancer and other health conditions makes her especially vulnerable to Covid-19. 

Sign now
Sign now

Brandy Scott

Brandy Scott is a Black transgender woman serving a 22 year sentence. Brandy was criminalized for defending herself against her abusive partner.

Rae Harris

Rae Harris is a transgender survivor who, in an example of the extreme and disproportionate sentencing of trans people of color, was sentenced to two life without parole sentences & two 25-to-life sentences.

Stacey Dyer

Stacey Dyer is an incarcerated survivor of child sexual abuse and severe domestic violence who has been in prison for 16 years.
Sign now
Sign now
Sign now

Tomiekia Johnson

Tomiekia Johnson is a Black mother and survivor a domestic violence who was sentenced to 50 years in prison for defending her life from her abusive husband.

Janetta Leiva

Janetta Leiva is 48-year-old Native American woman (Yokut and Yaqui Nations) & a survivor of domestic violence who was criminalized for actions taken while suffering from untreated paranoid schizophrenia and postpartum depression.

Liyah Birru

Liyah Birru is an Ethiopian immigrant survivor of domestic violence and will be deported for defending herself against her abusive ex-husband if she is not pardoned by Gov. Newsom.
Sign now
Sign now
Sign now

* THANK YOU! *

Your crucial support has helped secure commutations for the following incarcerated survivors: Tammy Garvin, Barbara Chavez, Kelly Ann Savage, Christina Martinez, and Gabriela Solano! Also, Tammy, Barbara, Kelly, and Lynn Noyes have all been granted parole! Your support was key in bringing these survivors closer to release and raising awareness about the criminalization of survivors and survival. You’re the best! Keep the love going and check out more opportunities to be in solidarity with survivors…

2. DROP LWOP!

Support the grassroots effort to end Life Without the Possibility of Parole (LWOP) sentencing in California! Survivors of violence are particularly vulnerable to being punished with this living death sentence. Please sign the petition hosted by the California Coalition for Women Prisoners!

3. SEND POSTCARDS & LETTERS

Urge California Governor Gavin Newsom to decriminalize survival and COMMUTE THE SENTENCES of all survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Download the postcard or send the sample text below to:

Governor Gavin Newsom
c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814

SAMPLE TEXT:

Dear Governor Newsom,

I join California residents urging you to commute the sentences of all criminalized survivors, and to end Life Without Parole sentencing.

The vast majority of people in women’s prisons, and many in men’s prisons, are survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Survivors are criminalized while attempting to navigate dangerous conditions of abuse and coercion. California prisons and detention centers perpetuate cycles of violence through the “abuse to prison” pipeline and because they are themselves sites of systematic gendered violence. This must end.

I call on you to boldly expand the historic increase in commutations and pardons. As an ally to survivors of violence, I urge you to recognize prisons and detention centers as forms of gendered violence and commute all survivors.

Sincerely,

Thank you very much! To learn more about commutations, visit the campaign page.