Join us Tuesday, August 25th on social media for a concentrated push in demanding Governor Bill Lee grant Mindy Dodd clemency.

Artwork by Sarah Imran

Mindy Dodd is a survivor of child sexual abuse and domestic violence from Hendersonville, TN who has served 19 years of a life sentence in prison for the death of Henry Dodd, her stepfather and husband who started sexually abusing her when she was six years old.

On January 30, 2020, the Tennessee Board of Parole voted unanimously to recommend that her sentence be commuted to immediate parole eligibility and their recommendation is currently before Governor Bill Lee.

Mindy should not spend one more day in prison for surviving child sexual abuse and domestic violence. Governor Lee has the constitutional authority to go further and commute her sentence to time served, ordering her immediate release.

For more about Mindy’s story and actions you can take now, visit: bit.ly/freemindy

#FreeMindy #LeadwithMercy #FreeThemAll

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we join with community organizations across the state in calling for the release of as many people as possible from Tennessee jails and prisons, especially the elderly and immunocompromised. We also call for the release of criminalized survivors who, as studies have shown, often have weakened immune systems as a result of trauma. 

In addition, we have started a commissary fund for incarcerated survivors to help with hygiene supplies and other necessities. Please consider donating and helping us move resources inside.

Finally, we’re keeping a running list of COVID-19 resources for prisoners including self-care which can be accessed here.

Join us Thursday, April 9 at 6PM CT for a webinar on Defending Criminalized Survivors, as we join Survived and Punished and other defense campaigns across the country to discuss the campaign to Free Shantonio and actions to take to #FreeThemAll. Register: bit.ly/DefendingSurvivors2020

• Survived and Punished NY Website Launch (4/5 @6PM ET)
• Twitter Convo: Carceral Feminism, COVID19 and the Nonprofit Industrial Complex (4/6 @ 1PM ET)
• #FreeSurvivors: Make Art for Abolition (4/6 @ 6PM ET)
• Twitter Convo: Carceral Feminism & Social Distancing (4/7 @ 2PM ET)
• No New Women’s Prison in Thurston County, WA (4/8 @ 1PM ET)
• #MeTooBehindBars Twitter Convo and Teach-In (4/8 @ 2PM ET)
• For more info, visit: bit.ly/SAAMFreeThemAll
• Book Discussion on Beyond Survival (4/8 @ 6:30ET)
• #FreeThemAll: Defending Criminalized Survivors (4/9 @ 7PM ET)
• #ClemencyNow: Gov Newsom, #FreeLiyah and #FreeThemAll (4/10 all day)
• Moving at the Speed of Trust: Disability Justice and Transformative Justice (4/10 @ 4PM ET)
• #SocialBridging for COVID-19: Virtual Letter Writing Event (4/11 @ 3PM ET)

Accessibility Information

The event is free. Food and drinks will be provided.
Transportation & Parking: McGruder is accessible by bus routes 22, 25, and 42. Parking is available in the open lot to the right of the front entrance. There is additional parking on the street.
Childcare: Childcare will not be provided, however, children are welcome in the space and coloring supplies and games will be made available.
Restrooms: There are gendered and gender-neutral bathrooms.
Wheelchair Access: There are a few steps to the front entrance and no ramp. There is a lift that can be accessed from a side entrance, however, it is not reliable. There are no steps to get to the room or gendered bathrooms once inside but there are steps and a lift to get to the gender-neutral bathrooms.
Fragrances: McGruder is not scent-free. If you can, please avoid wearing perfumes, colognes or essential oils.

If you have any dietary restrictions or any additional accessibility questions or needs, please contact: songnashville@gmail.com

The Love and Justice Project is an initiative of Free Hearts, a Nashville-based organization led primarily by formerly incarcerated women in support of incarcerated mothers and their children.

Through this initiative, Free Hearts is continuing our work advocating for criminalized and incarcerated survivors in Tennessee. As Victoria Law’s recent Rewire.News article highlights in its very title, “Cyntoia Brown Will Go Free in August, But there are More Survivors Behind Bars Who Still Need Help.”

One of those incarcerated survivors is Shantonio Hunter, a survivor of domestic violence from Nashville, Tennessee who was prosecuted by the Davidson County DA’s Office for the death of her three-year old son because she was unable to control the violence of her abuser. On September 22, 2017 she signed a plea deal for 28 years in prison.

We continue to advocate for Shantonio’s freedom and that of other incarcerated survivors and we invite you to join us in answering the call of Survived and Punished to #FreeThemAll.

Stay tuned for ways to get involved!