Press Releases

Piper Kerman, Author Who Inspired the Show Orange is the New Black, to Testify

On July 16, 2019 at 10 a.m., the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security will hold a hearing on women and girls in the criminal justice system. This hearing will address the expanded percentages of women entering the criminal justice system nationwide, and the issues faced by women at all stages of the criminal justice process, including pretrial, sentencing, and post-conviction in the federal and state systems.  The hearing will examine issues that pregnant women in prison face and will explore why reforms across the nation have appeared to affect male, but not female, prison populations, and how future reforms must include a focus on the specific issues women face in the system.  

Witnesses:

·         Piper Kerman, author of “Orange is the New Black”

·         Cindy Shank, featured in HBO documentary “The Sentence”

·         Jesselyn McCurdy, Deputy Director, American Civil Liberties Union

·         Aleks Kajstura, Legal Director, Prison Policy Initiative

·         Patrice Lee Onwuka, Senior Policy Analyst, Independent Women’s Forum

Date:               July 16, 2019

Time:               10:00 a.m.

Location:         2141 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington D.C.

Livestream:     The hearing will stream live here.