I haven't read all of the article yet, but I wanted to start commenting on it now. I don't feel bad for any of these women, or their conditions. I feel like she tries to play on the readers sympathy, saying things like, "these women were abused" or "male guards touch us daily and I don't like it" without focusing on the fact that every single person in that prison is there for a reason. The United States is probably one of the best places in the world to be incarcerated, prison is not a trip to a Hilton hotel. I see no reason why any criminal deserves to have possessions, lengthy phone calls. You don't get the luxury of things like that anymore, and its hard to feel bad for this woman trying to explain to me the plight of women behind bars when the fact of the matter is, they broke the law, they made a choice no matter what happened to them as children or young adults, they made a choice to violate the rules society set down for us, and there are consequences.
It's sad that a lot more minorities are being shuffled through, since typically lower income people from poor areas turn to crime, but the fact of the matter is, anyone from any back ground can become anything.

So...thanks for the read...but I am a criminal justice major...and I believe in the system, and the people who are there deserve to be.
Cheers

-mb