“Key Issues for MA Prison Reform Work” with Atty. Elizabeth Matos

Elizabeth Matos will discuss timely issues in prisoners’ rights work in the Commonwealth today such as protecting those incarcerated from the ongoing threat of COVID, ending the use of solitary confinement, officer brutality behind the walls, and barriers to rehabilitation and reentry like the cost of prison phone calls and lack of access to family visitation.

• Elizabeth Matos has been working at PLS since 2011 and has been the Director since 2018. She has litigated cases on behalf of prisoners with disabilities, transgender prisoners, and against the use of solitary confinement. Prior to working at PLS, she litigated cases involving the school-to-prison pipeline, access to housing, and immigration matters. Prior to law school Elizabeth worked at the MIRA Coalition on undocumented immigrant rights issues and with grassroots human rights organizations in Mozambique.