1/ The following persons I’ve met in prison have been in prison for several years, even decades. 37 yr old woman on death row. Married at 16 yrs, suffered severe daily domestic violence by husband for years. Complained to police who mediated, which only led to increased violence.

2/One day her mother intervened when she was being beaten & husband lunged at mother with crowbar. Woman took a club that lay nearby & hit him on head once to save mother. He fell down. She was afraid he might get up & kill her. So she hit him a few more times. He died.

3/Male on death row for killing his uncle when he was 18 yrs. Father left family & uncle who was supporting them assaulted boy’s mother & allegedly abused his sisters. They escaped domestic violence & lived elsewhere.

4/Uncle tracked them down, demanded money & assaulted them. This happened repeatedly. One day when uncle attacked the boy and his mother, the boy stabbed the uncle as he said he could no longer bear the violence.

5/Woman got married when she was 15 yrs old. Her husband was addicted to drugs and forced her into sex work so he could buy drugs. She too became addicted to drugs. She was convicted for a drug offence and is now in prison.

6/PTA detainee was arrested when 16 yrs old and was in prison for 23 yrs. Another PTA detainee with life threatening disease was detained for 13 yrs, with no evidence against him other than confession, which he stated was obtained through torture. He was acquitted in 2019.

7/The carceral state, i.e. institutions that constitute criminal justice system, including ideologies & practices related to incarceration, work in discriminatory ways. Persons could be discriminated by carceral state due to sex, ethnicity, religion, class, sexual orientation.

8/The persons mentioned above are from marginalized, poverty-stricken communities & hence criminalized and demonized. Why are they not deemed deserving of the empathy of society or assistance to re-build their lives? Who will sign a petition to release them?