Shot entirely in New York, Life Outside’s first episode tells the story of Rosalie Cutting as she navigates the world at age 71 after serving a 27-year sentence. Throughout the video, Rosalie narrates her journey grappling with her time inside the prison walls of Bedford Hills and Taconic, where she ultimately received her GED, bachelor’s and master’s degrees, whilst developing educational programs to help other women who are incarcerated to achieve the same. “People do change,” said Cutting. “And they change because it’s a choice.”
The series is the first collaboration between the Center for Justice and MIL. “The Lab is thrilled to collaborate in this important series,” adds Frances Negrón-Muntaner, director of the Lab and the series. “Through these stories, we aim to amplify the voices of formerly incarcerated people as part of a larger dialogue about the necessity of shifting from a punitive to a transformative paradigm of justice. Coming home should not be this hard. ”