(co-authored with Olive Lu for the New York Review of Books website.)

Nationwide, the number of people booked into jail each year is dropping—down by more than a fifth. But these declines apply only to men. As many women are locked into jail cells each year as there were in 2008, around 2.5 million per year. As of 2016, women make up nearly 1 in 4 of the people sent to jail each year. Almost two out of every three women in jail have not been convicted of a crime, and are awaiting resolution of their cases. In many parts of the country, women remain in jail primarily because they are unable to afford bail. Bail exacerbates inequality by turning the gender pay gap into a gender jail gap. Many places are responding by building new jails, but in Los Angeles, the fight against the plan for a women’s jail and for real alternatives shows a different way.

Covered by the Los Angeles Times editorial board and PBS NewsHour; recommended by The Marshall Project and The Atlantic.