Mary DeWitt Painting
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PARDON MARIE SCOTT​
How is it possible that this 71 year old woman, intelligent, visionary, justice-driven, is still trapped in prison for 52 years? Sentenced to life without parole- for a murder she did not commit- at the age of 19? It is because the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons is severely broken.

Break the Vicious Chain of Intergenerational Incarceration,
narrative around the panel, acrylic on canvas,
Marie Scott, 1995.
This ceiling panel was written and designed by Marie Scott in 1995. It was exhibited in Philadelphia's City Hall Courtyard in a tent installation collaboration with eight life-sentenced women and me. The installation was titled: "I FACE MYSELF/I FACE YOU" in 1996.

Marie Scott, acrylic paint on grommeted canvas, 5'x8', 1995
currently on exhibit at the Pardon Garden.
Narrative on the Marie Scott Portrait:
“I’ve suffered more as a woman than as a black..”
Shirley Chisolm
“And I know through being in that law library every night, all you see is men’s cases, back to back that had life-sentences… and those are the ones that’s getting reversed and remanded back for a new trial, but nobody here is… so I said start making the women look into their cases. The hope that they gave you through the commutation process - they’ve taken that away. So you have to turn some place else to get hope, or lose yourself.Somebody has to look at this… my lawyer, all he had to do was explain to them…a and let them take the stand…that’s my constitutional right. Marie Scott SCI Muncy, 1995
Twenty three years ago, Marie Scott, 19, experienced the legal system for the first time. She was issued a life without parole sentence for being with someone who unpremeditatedly murdered. Review of her case and the work of her court-appointed attorney reveal ineffectual representation.
Extensive investigative work in 1992 by reporter Fredric Tulsky exposed the tragic injustices involving some judges’ appointments. "Court-appointed attorneys are likely to be politically connected-and sometimes, say experts, woefully inadequate.” Fredric tulsky 9/92. Philadelphia Inquirer.
In April of 1993, the special defense unit of the Public Defenders (12 lawyers) became the homicide unit (with help from 3 criminal specialists.) They represent one out of five court-appointed homicide cases. And now Philadelphia is the only county in Pennsylvania with minimum standards for court-appointed attorneys

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Hand-made and high-fired tile mural portraits of Betty Heron and Cyd Berger, 2024. Both were sentenced to life in 1982 and 1980 respectively. Severely battered women, they have endured over 40 years of incarceration. Victims' families continue to object to their freedom.

The portrait of Rose Dinkins is on the right. Dinkins has been incarcerated since 1972, 52 years. She describes how she and Sharon Wiggins, left, now deceased, grew up and grew old together in prison. This tile portrait of Rose Dinkins is a duplicate, made in 2002. Funded by Leeway Foundation, the original is installed on 44th and Locust Streets in West Philadelphia.

This portrait was painted in 2003, with narrative added in 2024. Sharon Wiggins, beloved by staff, prisoners and anyone who was fortunate to know her, died in prison after applying for commutation 13 times. A video of her describing her grandmother's memory can be viewed here.

Cyd Berger, hand-made 6"x6" tile, 2022