Ramona with her two sons
Ramona Brant is the centerpiece of an excellent article in Fusion. She embodies how brutal our current criminal justice system exploits women who are already victims of domestic abuse by tossing them into a conspiracy indictment that will hold a spouse responsible for everything their abuser has done – and more. CAN-DO President, Amy Povah worked with Fusion reporter, Casey Tolan who wanted to interview one of the women on the CAN-DO Top 25 Women Seeking Clemency. Ramona Brant was a perfect fit. She is currently detained in the Federal Detention Center in Brooklyn because the women’s correctional facility in Danbury closed, displacing many female prisoners. Casey lived conveniently close and was able to visit Ramona and conduct interviews with her family members. After reviewing court transcripts and documents, Casey called Amy and said, “I can’t believe no one had reported on Ramona’s case in over 20 years!” Amy explained to Casey that Ramona’s story is not the exception – it’s the norm.”
When Ramona Brant tells someone that she’s serving life in prison without the possibility of parole, the first question she gets is almost always the same: “Who did you kill?”
“I’m like, ‘I didn’t kill anybody,’” Brant told me. “They say, ‘So what did you do?’ ‘Well, I was in a relationship with a guy who dealt drugs.’ And they’re like, ‘That’s it?’”
Yes, according to Brant, that’s basically it. She’s spent the last 21 years of her life behind bars on a first-time, nonviolent drug conspiracy charge. Prosecutors said she was part of a Charlotte, N.C. drug ring run by her boyfriend at the time. Read the rest of the story…
