戴着腳鐐參加葬禮 獄中生涯和重獲自由的感覺

Before she became a photographer, Sara Bennett was a public defender, so she thought she knew something about life in prison. But as she followed four women in their transition back to freedom in New York City, she realized she had a lot to learn. The women were all convicted of murder and served between 17 and 35 years, mainly at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County. “I didn’t know that if a loved one dies, you’re allowed to go to the funeral but you’re shackled,” Ms. Bennett said. “I didn’t know what it meant to be ill and grow old in prison.”

成爲攝影師之前，薩拉·貝內特(Sara Bennett)曾是一名公設辯護律師，因此她覺得自己對於監獄裏的生活多少有些瞭解。但當她開始跟拍四位女性，和她們在紐約市重新融入社會的過程後，她才意識到自己所知甚少。這些女性都曾被判定犯有謀殺罪，主要在威徹斯特縣的貝德福德山懲教設施(Bedford Hills Correctional Facility)服刑，時間從17到35年都有。“我以前不知道，如果家人或者愛人去世，你可以去參加葬禮，但必須戴腳鐐。” 貝內特說，“我以前不知道在監獄中生病或者老去意味着什麼。”

Ms. Bennett, 60, stopped practicing law full time more than a decade ago, and turned to photography. She accompanied the recently released women — Carol, Evelyn, Keila and Tracy, whose last names Ms. Bennett agreed not to reveal — as they found jobs and housing and reunited with family. She watched as they explored their new freedom and dealt with the lingering restrictions on it, from mandatory drug tests to curfews.

貝內特今年60歲，10多年前不再全職從事法律工作，轉向攝影。她陪同着這些近期被釋放的女性：卡羅爾(Carol)，伊夫林(Evelyn)，凱拉(Keila)和特雷西(Tracy)——貝內特同意不透露她們的姓氏。貝內特看着她們尋找工作和住處，與家人團聚，看着她們探索重新獲得的自由，適應仍然存在的限制，從強制性毒品檢測到宵禁要求。

Despite these prohibitions, the women relished the little things. “Carol basically lives on one block,” Ms. Bennett said. “She says: ‘This is great. No one is coming in and out. I can lock my door.’ ” Or as Tracy put it to her, “There are no bathtubs in prison.”

儘管有衆多限制，她們還是在新生活的細節中找到了樂趣。“卡羅爾基本就在一個街區內活動，”貝內特說，“她說：‘這特別好。沒有人進進出出。我可以鎖門。’或者就像特雷西對她說的那樣，“監獄裏沒有浴缸。”

Ms. Bennett said she hoped the series, compiled in the self-published book “Life After Life in Prison,” would prompt a re-examination of the criminal justice system, which repeatedly denied these women parole, though they had learned trades, earned degrees and had good disciplinary records in prison. “I was very specific about focusing on women convicted of murder,” she said. “I focused on people facing life sentences for violent crimes they committed a long time ago. I think that’s where we really need to focus our attention, because it’s a humanitarian issue; that’s who gets old in prison,” she added. “And they’re the ones least likely to commit crimes when they get out.”

貝內特將作品彙編成冊，自費出版了《鐵窗生涯之後的生活》(Life After Life in Prison)一書。她希望這個系列能夠促使人們重新審視刑事司法體系。這一體系中，女性往往很難獲得保釋，即便她們學會了手藝，獲得了學位，並且在獄中表現良好。“我非常強調要專門關注被判謀殺罪的女性這一羣體，”貝內特說，“我專注於面臨無期徒刑的人，他們距離當初犯下暴力罪行已經有很長時間了。我認爲這是我們最需要關注的地方，因爲這是一個人道主義問題；是這些人在監獄裏生活然後老去。”她補充道。“並且他們在出獄後重新犯罪的可能性是最低的。”