Women Behind Bars Tuesdays at 10p|9c

Sharon Mabry


I am a "wrongfully convicted woman," serving time in New York State’s Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. My life in prison is hell. I am serving a prison sentence for a crime I didn’t commit. Most people wouldn’t be able to cope with prison life. My life in prison is a small community of 800 women. I live on a housing unit with 60 other women. I am subjected to women with different value systems, personalities, lifestyles and idiosyncrasies. Truly, it is very, very stressful. I am a loner and stay to myself. If anyone wants to know about prison and its experiences, all I can say is I am a changed person. I have to be on my guard against other prisoners. Generally, this small community is plagued with the pathology of seriously dangerous prisoners. The main focus of women here is food, finding love, proving themselves, wearing the latest trends, not to exceed $50 in value, and living for the moment. For me, there are tougher aspects of being a woman in prison. Being a woman here isn’t easy when you are trying to hold on to your femininity and self esteem, which could be shattered by the slightest jar from the male correction officers demeaning you as a woman, or referring to you as an inmate. There are a couple of decent correction officers who treat the women here like human beings. But, God forbid, when you run into a bad male officer who wants to abuse his authority, you could get unjustly locked in your cell based on an erroneous charge for not following the prison rules and/or subject to physical harm. That is what scares me most. I have enough mental scars and I don’t want any physical ones. While in prison, I have experienced some positive moments. I obtained my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology. And, I spend the majority of my time at the law library, re-litigating my "wrongful conviction" to the Courts, as an actual innocence case. The things I miss in my life before prison and my regrets are not visiting with family and friends, going shopping and going to the theatre or Central Park for music concerts. Earlier in my life, I regret being involved in prostitution and drugs. Later in my life, I also regret going to the Precinct, eventually being abused by the Police to admit my boyfriend’s murder through coercion. Going to the Precinct is the biggest mistake I made in my life. If I could leave prison for one day, I would take a nice hot bath and go to the New York Police Department archives, to retrieve the exculpatory evidence to exonerate me of my boyfriend’s murder. Then, I would take this information to a lawyer and/or criminal investigator for help to bring this issue before the Court for a second look at my "wrongful conviction." "wrongful convictions" have not only reached epidemic proportions, but they have become commonplace. A "wrongful conviction" serves as an underlying look at what goes on every day in the "criminal justice system." Often the errors are simple, not caught or even noticed - a Pandora’s box exposing all sorts of deep seated problems, with widespread corruption, unlawful practices, and systematic abuses that implicate whole departments stemming from the police, prosecutors, and judges. Like other “wrongfully convicted” prisoners, I am rotting in prison for a crime, I didn’t commit. Above all, "wrongful convictions" represent tragic and costly flaws in our States’ “criminal justice system” within our society. But they aren’t invisible, insignificant or nonexistent. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. And punishment of the innocent makes a mockery of the law." I am factually, actually and truly Innocent! For each "wrongful conviction" that surfaces, how many others are still unresolved? How long shall I wait until justice is served?