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Article: FACES OF HOPE; Legal Aid brings jail to justice; Agency's mission to help poor put it into conflict with county
- Article from:
- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI)
- Article date:
- April 13, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2008 The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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It was Sheila Lynn Gibbons' first encounter with the criminal
justice system.
Arrested on a drug charge and sent to the Milwaukee County Jail,
she sat in a crowded holding room with dozens of men and women,
waiting for her name to be called.
Seconds, she said, turned to minutes, minutes to hours. But
before being booked on a felony count of manufacturing/delivering
cocaine, she and more than a dozen other women were moved, she said.
"They threw us all in one tiny cell. I couldn't move. I could
hardly breathe," she said. "There was no real protection. I was
frightened."
Gibbons is one of 450 former County Jail inmates who have stepped
forward to tell their stories to attorneys with the Legal ...