LSPC Turns 25!

Statement from Co-Directors

Twenty-five years is such a long time! In 1978, when Ellen Barry founded LSPC, Annie Hall won the Academy Award for Best Picture and All in the Family won the Emmy for outstanding comedy series. Martina Navritilova won Wimbledon and Hotel California was record of the year. Jimmy Carter was President and Proposition 13 became law in California. The Supreme Court decided Bakke, the first major rollback of affirmative action. There were less than 1,000 women in California’s state prisons, 10,000 in the country.

While Ellen could not predict the explosion in the prison population of the 1980s, she did not hesitate to change tactics and move from directly representing a relatively small number of women to responding to the medical needs of a huge class of pregnant women who were not receiving the care they needed for themselves or their babies. From there, it was a small step to looking at the inadequate medical care that all women prisoners in the state received.

There have been days that have so painful that we found it difficult to move on. There are women we met in prison and who died when they should have been free. Their faces remain in our minds every day. There have also been days when our joy was unbounded – when deserving women were released and when their children were returned to them. The work that we do is extremely difficult, but it is also extremely rewarding.

We are so thankful to serve in the leadership of LSPC. There are days when we look at each other and can’t believe our luck in being able to do work that combines our passion for a cause with our love for the group of people who come to work with us every day. We are so thankful for the support we have received from so many individuals and foundations from across the country. We are grateful that so many of you are able to celebrate this 25th anniversary with us. Your support has meant everything to us. On behalf of our staff, our board and – especially – our clients, we say thank you.