Dr. Jamila T. Davis can hardly contain her excitement.
Hours before former New Jersey governor Phil Murphy was set to leave office, he signed into law two bills, both concerning domestic violence abuse and sentencing reform for victims of domestic violence abuse. Both laws were the focus of “Set Her Free: Exposing the Trauma to Prison Pipeline,” a documentary Davis served as executive producer for, under the Survivors Justice Act.
“What it means is our voices matter, Davis exclusively told theGrio. “As someone who’s a survivor of domestic violence and someone who is a survivor of incarceration, our voices have been buried for so long, and people just don’t really understand why women go to prison, and we offend for very different reasons than men. And it’s often related to trauma.”
She added, “When we are convicted, we are villainized. So we get these draconian sentences. So for me, just like people hearing us, kind of understanding the story of trauma, understanding the why, and actually, the bill was saying, ‘Hey, these women’s stories count.’ They matter and they need to be heard. And please take a second look at their sentences so that they can come home. The ones that have, you know, done a substantial amount of time. They could see now they have a second chance at justice.”
Of the women spotlighted in Davis’ film, the outgoing Governor had granted three clemencies, and a fourth, Natasha White, had her sentence commuted. White, a first-time offender, was sentenced in 2009 to serve 44 years in prison for the killing of her ex-boyfriend. Her story personally touched Davis as White has earned several degrees and continued to help people while incarcerated.
“She is coming home and if I can’t be excited about anything else? Oh my god, I’m so excited about that,” Davis said.
Dawn Jackson, who appeared in the film, shared her thoughts on the law’s enactment.
“This law marks a pivotal moment for justice and healing, offering hope to countless justice-impacted individuals, both women and men,” she said. “We extend heartfelt thanks to the dedicated individuals and organizations that made this possible, including Dr. Jamilah T. Davis, Dr. Donna Hylton, Senator Angela McKnight, ACLU-NJ, NJRC, Reform Alliance and NJCEDV. We also honor the women and men who have been pardoned or commuted, whose journeys inspire this progress.”
Even with the statute now codified into law in New Jersey, Davis says her work is not done, with aims of the Survivors Act becoming a national model for other states to emulate.
“I just finished speaking with the New Jersey domestic violence coalition, which is a group that advocates statewide,” she began. “First, we have to educate the people who are eligible to know that they’re eligible. Then we have to help them with their applications and help them get back in front of a judge. So that’s what happens with most bills. There are a lot of times bills get passed, but then they don’t really get enacted because the people aren’t on the ground keeping that same energy to make sure that people are released. So we will be involved in the efforts to help the women get released.”
She added, “Second, we have a trauma-informed care piece that is a big part of the work that we do. Meaning that women who are victims of domestic violence are traumatized by the trauma they encounter. So we got to help them heal from that trauma. So we have a whole trauma-informed care piece statewide that we’re trying to make sure gets done so that people who are now getting released can get the healing. So other people could see, this is what happened in New Jersey. Elected officials got with folks who were justice-impacted, who got together with coalitions and entities that normally never sit at the table together, and collectively, we were able to make change. So that’s very different. It’s usually one side, the other, and that’s how ours actually moved so quickly because we were all at the table making it happen.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. You can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or visit thehotline.org for confidential support.
