Meet Judith. She’s a mother of two, and a wife, sister, daughter, and friend to the many people who supported her while she was incarcerated. In 2011, Judith was sentenced to 35 years in prison for a first-time white collar offense. Last year, President Trump commuted Judith’s sentence and she was released from prison in February 2020. However, she still had to serve a 3-year term of supervised release.

The strict conditions of federal supervised release made her feel like she was still incarcerated in her own home. Swipe → to hear her story in her own words, and follow this series this week to learn why we need to REFORM Federal Supervision.

When Judith was placed on supervised release, she felt more fear than freedom. People on Federal Supervision must follow conditions imposed by the court as part of their sentence, including seeking permission from their supervision officer to travel, switch jobs, or move to a new residence. Violating any of these conditions could result in incarceration.

One condition that worried Judith was having to avoid contact with people convicted of felonies. She had formerly incarcerated neighbors, so every trip to the supermarket felt like she was putting herself at risk of going back to prison. Judith decided the safest thing to do was stay home… for months.

“I didn’t want to mess up.” Judith didn’t want to risk accidentally breaking one of the dozens of conditions she had to abide by while on supervision, so she stayed home for months. But even in her own home, she didn’t feel completely safe.

Judith was extremely grateful for organizations that advocated on her behalf to receive clemency, so she wanted to “pay it forward” and become an advocate for criminal justice reform. However, her supervision restrictions limited her from achieving her newfound dream until her supervision was terminated in December 2020.

Now, Judith has dedicated her life toward advocating for prison reform.

Judith believes Federal Supervision should help people “get back into society quickly, healthy, and mentally well.” \

We agree. Supervision should help people become productive citizens and their best selves—not hold them back from success.

Join us to help REFORM this system and help thousands of Americans like Judith: https://action.reformalliance.com/a/judith