Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: teamfamm@mrss.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. – FAMM (formerly Families Against Mandatory Minimums) is honored to announce that Molly Crane has joined the nonprofit’s legal team as a 2024 Equal Justice Works Fellow as of Wednesday, September 4, 2024. 

Building on FAMM’s work to expand federal compassionate release, Crane’s two-year fellowship will focus on developing the nation’s first state-level compassionate release clearinghouse. Operating in select states, the clearinghouse will pair people with critical illnesses in state prisons with a network of lawyers and doctors to advocate for compassionate release. 

“I am committed to this work because I’ve seen first-hand the dire circumstances people with critical illnesses face in prison, and the healing impact of compassionate release on individuals and communities,” said Crane. “I hope this fellowship with FAMM can start to transform state compassionate release from broken and underutilized into a functioning path to decarceration.”

“FAMM is excited to have Molly Crane join us to help expand our compassionate release program,” said FAMM General Counsel Mary Price. “Clearinghouse efforts must expand beyond federal prisons to state prison systems as well, where we hear every day about cases that need illumination and justice. FAMM’s collaboration with Equal Justice Works is a momentous next step to advance a more fair justice system.”

The rise of mandatory minimum sentencing and mass incarceration has transformed many state prisons into “prison nursing homes” for elderly and critically ill individuals behind bars. Though compassionate release laws exist in almost every state, these laws are rarely used, and petitions are almost never granted. 

Crane graduated from Harvard Law School in 2023 and says her inspiration for this work is rooted in the human beings she has worked alongside: people in prison with health needs and at the intersection of racial, gender, and disability justice. Crane’s fellowship is sponsored by the Albert & Anne Mansfield Foundation through Equal Justice Works, a national nonprofit that creates opportunities for lawyers to transform their passion for equal justice into a lifelong commitment to public service.

Since FAMM’s founding in 1991, it has helped more than 500,000 Americans receive shorter, fairer prison sentences. FAMM and its advocates have also helped reduce the nation’s prison population by approximately 200,000 people and reduce racial disparities in sentencing, bringing the nation’s Black prison population to its lowest level since 1989.