Kristal Lis is a self-described survivor, mother, daughter, avid reader, animal lover, college student, and advocate for justice who is currently incarcerated at York Correctional Institution in Connecticut. With her supporters outside, Kristal has created a blog where she will regularly speak out about the violence she is surviving at York CI and share her reflections on inside organizing, self-growth, healing, and true justice. To launch her blog, Kitty’s Corner, Kristal has shared her first post to be featured here. Please follow Kitty’s Corner here for updates!
Please write to Kristal by mail if you can:
Kristal Lis, #365845
York Correctional Institution
201 W Main Street
Niantic, CT, 06357
Please also support her post-release fund by purchasing small knit items that Kristal has made in solidarity with other folks inside (pay what you can!) or by contributing directly. Please send funds via Venmo to @Joshua-vanBiema. If you’d like to purchase one of Kristal’s knit works you can reach out to Josh, one of Kristal’s outside supporters, at jvanbiema0@gmail.com.
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[cw: abuse, sexual violence, suicide]
“Why I started this blog”
By Kristal Lis
“You have the right to remain silent, but I don’t recommend it”
-anonymous
I refuse to sit by any longer & not speak about all that has & does go on at York Correctional Institute the only female jail in Connecticut. I hope you follow my blog & share it with others as well so people can understand the injustice of what is called justice.
Before I go any further I admit to commiting the crime that got me here & by any means I am not saying that I do not take full responsibility or that I can commit a crime & there not be repercussions but I personally do not believe it is handled the right way. Before serving this 3 ½ years I’ve done so far out of my 5 year sentence I’ve been given, I believed jails/prisons were a place only bad evil people were sent to who had no respect for the law & that they were sent here to be corrected, like a child in time-out. Boy that was far from the truth as I am experiencing first hand myself.
First I was medically abused thinking & feeling like I was going to die ending up finally in surgery, then I was physically assaulted for trying to commit suicide, then I was given a controlled substance medication on accident for 10 days, & to top it off I was sexually assaulted by a marshal & when I reported it I was told I couldn’t even get counseling & I started receiving retaliation for reporting it. I have physical proof of all of this. The problem is people do not care because I am a poor woman who is a recovering addict, previous sex worker, & a convicted criminal so what I suffer behind these walls does not matter right?
Please if you don’t hear my voice find it in your heart to hear the voices of others going through abuse in prisons. I am not alone it happens more than you would believe.
Feel free to write me directly if you would like
Kristal Lis, #365845
York Correctional Institution
201 W Main Street
Niantic, CT, 06357
[Image Description: Original art by Kristal; People hold hands in a line in front of a prison wall topped with barbed wire. The words “We All Have Rights” cross the sky in red and black.]