On a spring day earlier this year, the prison gymnasium at the Maryland Correctional Institution for women, about 25 minutes outside Baltimore, was decorated in blue and yellow balloons and flowers. State officials and teary family members gathered with a group of incarcerated people to mark a historic moment: The state’s first ever college graduation ceremony at a women’s prison.
Janet Johnson, one of the two graduates, was bubbling with emotion. She said she waited over 10 years for this moment.
“I feel like this opens a door for me.”
