At every turn of her unlikely story, she gives unique insights into the inequities built into our institutions. After her release, she attended law school at night, became a public defender, and ultimately staged a highly publicized campaign for Congress. But rather than give in to despair, she decided to fight for change. As a young Black woman falsely accused, prosecuted, and ultimately imprisoned, Haynes suffered the abuses of our racist and sexist justice system. Her boyfriend had asked her to sign for some packages-packages she did not know were filled with marijuana. Keeda Haynes was a Girl Scout and a churchgoer, but after college graduation, she was imprisoned for a crime she didn’t commit. I hope she succeeds politically and brings new ideas and energy to rebuild that foundation.A searing exposé of the profound failures in our justice system, told by a woman who has journeyed from wrongfully accused prisoner to acclaimed public defender She needs to be at the centre of change and I admire her for seeing the problem and trying to find solutions rather than just burying her head and ignoring the injustice. Ms Haynes is a tremendous spokesperson and deserves to be heard. 'What I was slowly learning was that the system hadn’t actually failed me - because it was never designed for my success in the first place.' As a Black woman in the South - especially since my arrest - I had lived and seen firsthand just how much the system depended on that foundation.' The entire criminal legal system was built on a foundation of systemic racism. That it was more than even the limits of the law itself. 'I knew from my own experiences, and by hearing the stories of so many others, that the disadvantage was more than a corrupt cop or prosecutor or judge.

She trained as a lawyer and got stuck in to help people like her who suffered injustices.

The systemic racism of the US courts - even though it’s fairly well known - is shocking when told in first person in such detail.īut Ms Haynes didn’t get bitter or turn away from the law and the system. A law abiding woman gets caught up in a nightmare and finds herself in jail.

Several points when I was reading it I thought author had gone too far into incredulity, then remembered it’s a biography and all true.

Bending the arc keeda haynes