Andrea James, Founder & Executive Director of The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls and host of the FreeHer Podcast, breaks down how conspiracy charges, mandatory minimums, and the drug war have devastated women, families, and entire communities. This conversation connects lived experience to policy: why prisons dehumanize, what abolition actually means, and what “accountability without cages” can look like.Links mentioned/referenced in the episode:The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and GirlsFreeHer Campaign (National Council)The New Jim Crow (Michelle Alexander) (book referenced in discussion)FCI Dublin closure context (referred to in episode) ⏰ Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:56 Who Andrea James is 06:57 “Upper bunkie” + what prison looked like11:04 Sentenced while breastfeeding + the court’s callousness14:20 Conspiracy charges + mandatory minimums (why women get 10 years)18:52 “Fight for dignity” inside women’s prisons22:10 The New Jim Crow + the roots of mass incarceration25:24 Abolition ≠ no accountability27:32 Decriminalizing drugs as public health29:22 “Closest to the problem, closest to the solutions.”32:42 Language shift: “incarcerated mother” vs “inmate.”36:14 Where “FreeHer” came from + movement originFollow the FreeHer Movement on InstagramLearn more about the movement 🔗 Learn more

Most of what we’re told about crime, public safety, and policing is shaped by police and media propaganda. In this episode of the FreeHer Podcast, civil rights lawyer Alec Karakatsanis breaks down how the police and media manipulate our fear of crime, who actually benefits, and what real community safety looks like.This conversation exposes the deeper harms like pollution, wage theft, and corporate crime that never make the news.Alec Karakatsanis is the founder and executive director of Civil Rights Corps and author of Propaganda: How the Police and Media Manipulate Our News. Hosted by Andrea James, founder of the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls.🌐 Learn more about Alec’s work:Civil Rights Corps: https://www.civilrightscorps.orgRight to Hug Campaign: https://righttohug.orgStop LAPD Spying Coalition: https://www.stoplapdspying.org📚 Books by Alec Karakatsanis:Propaganda: How the Police and Media Manipulate Our NewsUsual Cruelty: The Complicity of Lawyers in the Criminal Injustice System📲 Follow Alec:@EqualityAlec on social mediaFollow the FreeHer Movement on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/thecouncilus?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==Learn more about the movement 🔗 Learn more: https://www.nationalcouncil.us | freehercampaign.org

Cash bail isn’t about safety it’s about money. In this FreeHer episode, Andrea James sits with Jasmine Borges (Massachusetts Bail Fund) and Rena Kafa Johnson (FWD.us) to break down how pretrial detention punishes poverty, why “dangerousness hearings” expand incarceration, and what actually keeps communities safe. We talk real numbers, real harms, and real solutions, including bail funds, clemency, and bringing our people home.Massachusetts Bail Fund: https://www.massbailfund.org/Families for Justice as Healing: https://www.justiceashealing.org/Learn about the FreeHer Campaign: https://www.nationalcouncil.us/clemency-works

At 17 years old, straight-A student Michelle Pearson was sentenced to life without parole and spent 34 years in prison.

In this episode of the FreeHer Podcast, Andrea James talks with Michelle and Dr. Raf about juvenile life without parole, the science of the adolescent brain, and why the U.S. keeps sentencing Black children, especially Black girls, to die in prison.We talk about Miller v. Alabama, reentry after decades inside, and what it really means to say, “We’re not free until we’re all free.”🔗 Learn more: https://www.nationalcouncil.us | freehercampaign.org

In this powerful episode, Andrea James speaks with law professor Cortney Lollar, author of Empty Pockets and Empty Promises, and justice advocates Tanya Pierce and Mary Kay Rogers about how federal restitution law traps women in lifelong debt even after they’ve served their time.

💡 Learn more about the FreeHer Campaign:🔗 https://www.nationalcouncil.us/clemency-works

In this episode of the FreeHer Podcast, Andrea James speaks with a formerly incarcerated woman who shares her powerful story of survival, injustice, and transformation.At 24, she was arrested, charged with operating a drug production facility, and held on $500,000 bail despite being innocent. She ultimately pleaded guilty to go home.This conversation exposes the broken systems of incarceration, bail, and reentry—and why the FreeHer Campaign is fighting for real change.📢 We don’t need more prisons. We need justice.🕯️ Learn about our upcoming 3-day vigil and how you can get involved: https://www.freehercampaign.org

Is artificial intelligence and surveillance reshaping the future of justice and abolition? And is it already impacting our freedom? In this episode of the FreeHer Podcast, Andrea James sits down with Nick from the Fund for Guaranteed Income to unpack the truth about We talk about bias in AI tools, surveillance threats, data ethics, and why abolitionist communities must shape the future of these technologies before they’re used against us.📢 The future of AI is not set in stone. We deserve a say.🧠 Learn how grassroots organizers and formerly incarcerated leaders can influence AI, and how you can use tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude to empower—not oppress—your work.🔗 Mentioned in the episode:https://www.f4gi.org (Fund for Guaranteed Income)https://collectiveintelligenceproject.org

At 14, Fatiha (aka Bam Bam) was a basketball star with dreams of Tennessee. By the age of 17, she was serving a 10-year prison sentence. In this powerful episode of the FreeHer Podcast, she shares how trauma, abuse, betrayal, and a broken system stole her childhood and how she’s now reclaiming her voice. This is a story about survival, injustice, and the fight to be heard.⏱️

Timestamps

00:00 A Troubled Beginning

00:19 The Turning Point

00:41 A Father's Influence

00:58 The Descent into Violence

01:19 Life in the System

01:59 Introducing Bam Bam

02:37 A Tale of Two Lives

04:20 The Double Life

09:37 The Gang Life

11:12 The Setup1

3:56 Facing the Consequences

16:01 Legal Troubles

17:24 A Troubled Youth and Legal Struggles

17:55 A Relationship Turns Violent

20:58 Facing the Consequences

22:25 Life in Prison and Finding Support

25:17 Reflections and Personal Growth

29:18 Advocacy and Future Goals