Ten years ago on May 20, 2009, Marcia Powell died as a result of being held in an outdoor cage at Perryville Women’s Prison in extraordinary heat for four hours in the in the Arizona sun. She’d been serving a 27-month sentence for prostitution. If you don’t remember this story, you can read about it here. You can also learn more by watching No Human Involved, PJ Starr’s documentary about this horrifying violation of human rights through state violence.
Today, though, what I want you to know is that the women of Perryville Women’s Prison still remember Marcia, and they recently held a protest in recognition of her death at the hands of the state. The letter below describes their protest and details some of the conditions which still haven’t changed. I received this letter from Starr, and she said that the women who sent it to her asked that it be widely shared.
Elizabeth Anne Wood, Ph.D. 