Lexi's Response to Public Secrets

Public Secrets takes us inside the massive prison - industrial complex in central California, not as tourists but as witnesses, following Sharon Daniel as she herself witnesses the testimonies of women incarcerated in the Central California Women's Facility. These women narrate their experiences inside the prison while also giving an account of the structural conditions that reduced them to bare life, life that is without political value, life that is exposed to death. Daniel's critical commentary and theoretical reflections frame these testimonies, granting each its singularity while also articulating the systemic (il)logic of incarceration.   

As the number of prisons increases, so does the level of secrecy about what goes on inside them. The secrets of the abuses perpetrated by the Criminal Justice System and Prison Industrial Complex. After a series of news stories and lawsuits documenting egregious mistreatment of prisoners in 1993, the California Department of Corrections imposed a media ban on all of its facilities. Women incarcerated in California are allowed visits only from family members and legal representatives. For the past three years, I have visited the Central California Women's Facility as a legal advocate. Daniel works with a non-profit, human rights organization, and Justice Now. Together we have been documenting conversations with women prisoners at CCWF, the largest female correctional facility in the U.S. in an effort to unmask the well known, yet still secrete injustices that result from our society's reliance on prisons to solve social problems. Given the ban on conversations with the media, I would not have had access to the women who have contributed to Public Secrets without the support of Justice Now. As a "legal advocate" Daniel is allowed to record conversations with the women prisoners and solicit their stories, ideas, and opinions.

I personally think that no matter who you are whether your a male or female your opinion DOES matter. I don't think that it is right to hide the true stories that is happening inside the prisons all across america not just this specific one. Yes there are some bad people in society and they deserve to be punished but that does not mean they are all bad, we are all human and make mistakes and deserve a second chance. I think that Sharon Daniel is doing something very good to hopefully change the way the prison system works in the near future.