Kate Boccia is the founder of the National Incarceration Association. When her son was arrested for armed robbery despite not having a weapon, he was snatched into the machinery of the criminal justice system and she along with him. In her effort to bring him home from prison, she undertook a massive education in mass incarceration and began to relentlessly petition for more human communication among all involved: prisoners, COs, lawmakers, and families. In this conversation she shares her deeply personal experience of the toll that our current system takes on millions of families just like hers. From mandatory minimum sentencing to the criminalization of poverty, visitation room vending machines to prisons without air conditioning, Kate presents an aging and inefficient system that dehumanizes not only its inmates, but their families as well. Luckily she has a clear vision for how it can be transformed. Join her mission at JoinNIA.com. More podcasts where podcasts are found and at MauraJames.com.
[“We Got a Race to Run” - Staples Jr. Singers]