I Was Incarcerated At 19. Now As A Law Student, I’m Advocating For Probation Reform
Written by: Kaylin Guzman
This article was originally published on Her Campus.
I’m a third-year law student at the University of Miami, pursuing a career of criminal justice advocacy. But there was a time when I was on the other side of the justice system — accused of crimes at 19, incarcerated while awaiting trial, and placed on probation after accepting a plea deal. I’ve seen firsthand how the system works, and, critically, I’ve seen how it fails to achieve its goals of supporting prevention, rehabilitation, and public safety.
The path that led to my involvement with the system is regrettably common — poverty, homelessness, some poor choices. When I was first charged, my bail was set at $50,000, and I was locked up alongside other women who had never known what it was like to lead stable, secure lives. The conditions we faced, particularly as women, were inhumane. The facility routinely lacked female hygienic products, and we had to learn how to make our own tampons out of pads.