Eleanor Matheson

2L, University of Virginia School of Law

I wanted to participate in The Humanity Project because I wanted to have the opportunity to speak to people whose voices are rarely heard and share their experiences with a wider audience. As I began to speak with people, however, I realized there were many things I didn’t know. Before working with The Humanity Project, I took many of the ways to protect myself from the coronavirus for granted – I had access to PPE, cleaning supplies, hand towels, and reliable information about COVID-19. After hearing the stories from the Humanity Project, however, I learned that incarcerated individuals do not have access to most of these things. They are at the mercy of jails and prisons to decide how much information they receive and how many precautions to take. Well into the pandemic, they were living in the jail without access to Personal Protective Equipment, the ability to social distance, and effective cleaning supplies. I was surprised to learn how long it took jails and correctional facilities in Memphis to implement procedures to lessen the likelihood that incarcerated individuals would contract COVID-19.

After working with The Humanity Project, I hoped that criminal justice reform was something that would come eventually. After hearing the experiences of incarcerated individuals during the Coronavirus pandemic, I realize that criminal justice reform cannot wait for some future conversation – it is something that we should be talking about now. As for myself, I was inspired to take action. I reached out to a local organization in my town to provide cleaning supplies and PPE to vulnerable members of society, included those recently released from jails or prisons. 

I hope people experiencing incarceration and families of the incarcerated know that their stories matter and can help change the criminal justice system. I hope the procedure of reducing the numbers of people in jails and prisons spurred by the pandemic continues. I hope that people will see that incarcerated individuals are people with families who deserve to be treated as humans with dignity.