The thinking is - if you were a good mother, you would not have broken the law and gone to prison and risked being separated from your child. We don't have this thinking about fathers because we often don't think of incarcerated fathers, because of the ways in which we gender parenting, and the way support systems happen for mothers and fathers who go to prison.

Journalist Victoria Law examines the intersection of mass incarceration and child custody laws - from the Clinton-era law that stripped the most vulnerable parents of their custodian rights, to the class-based barriers preventing poor parents from engaging with the legal system - and explains how legal punishments extend beyond prison sentences, into children's lives.

Victoria wrote the recent article Double Punishment: After Prison, Moms Face Legal Battles to Reunite With Kids for Truthout.