“Hi, my name is Joy and I arrived in Perryville 2019 at the ripe old age of 78. I used a cane when I came in, and now I’m wheelchair-bound. I’m serving a 2-year sentence for a white-collar crime I did not commit.

Although I am a cancer survivor, I was in reasonably good health for my age when I got here. Incompetent health care is the reason, I believe, that I’m in this wheelchair suffering from TIA’S and high blood pressure.

In case you think I’m some homeless old lady, let me set you straight. I am the daughter of a minister, went to college and received my CPA license, and worked all my life in accounting. I was one of the people that thought my tax dollars were going to rehabilitate folks, restorative justice not punitive justice. I was wrong.

I’m in a section of women inmates that pose no threat to the public. We have many cancer patients here….two are terminal. They applied for end-of-life clemency so they could die among loved ones. Arizona’s track record for clemency is ZERO. Those two ladies will die here alone in prison. This is a minimum unit, low-level drug charges…..does that deserve death?

I was invited to contribute to this website because it tries to address the unique issues of incarcerated women. I advise all of you out there to seriously vote for individuals who champion prison reform.”