1. MAYHEM
"Everybody who works at Hickman's, get up! Pack your stuff-you're being moved today!"
Corrections officers swarmed the Santa Rosa Unit at the Perryville women's prison in Goodyear, Arizona, barking orders and handing out trash bags for belongings. Many women were alarmed. We're being moved to Hickman's? How?
The officers weren't sharing a lot of details. The women would be loaded into vehicles, that much was apparent, then dropped off at one of the company's properties not far from the prison. Those who refused to go would automatically lose their jobs at the commercial egg farm, officers said. There was vague talk of other disciplinary action too, a frightening possibility.
It was March 25, 2020, and the world outside was plunging into crisis. COVID-19 was a deadly new pandemic. At Perryville, lockdowns were rapidly taking effect. First, visitors were barred from entering the grounds. Then came rumors that prison officials would be shutting down all jobs beyond prison walls-jobs on the fire crew, jobs in a state hospital kitchen. All the outside jobs, that is, except for those at Hickman's Family Farms, one of the Arizona prison system's biggest clients.
Many women at Perryville needed their jobs to pay for basic necessities-things like regular soap and toothpaste and to help build a financial cushion for after their release. Working for an outside client paid better than working for the prison itself, where you might make 25 cents an hour as a groundskeeper. Still, even the highest-paying outside jobs paid far less than minimum wage after deductions by the prison, and some gigs were more grueling and dangerous than others.
This story is from the Issue 01, 2023 / February - March 2023 edition of Cosmopolitan US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Issue 01, 2023 / February - March 2023 edition of Cosmopolitan US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
sabrina carpenter
The singer, actor, and miniskirt enthusiast just wants to chat.
Y'all Better Not Be Sleeping on Canada
It’s so much more than Niagara Falls, okay? And it’s literally right there points up*) waiting for you and your next epic vacation.
We Need to Talk About Secondary Infertility
With reproductive medicine under political attack, this long-overdue conversation is more necessary than ever.
Young Love ON THE Streets OF Mexico City
OUR COUPLE SPOTTING SERIES HEADS SOUTH TO BRING YOU MORE DELIGHTFUL PAIRINGS.
Is Speed Dating...Back?
Hear us out: one outfit, one makeup application, multiple dates.
You're About to See Vacation Everywhere
Sunscreen. But, like, fun.
LOOKING FOR TONI LANE
She was crypto's It Girl, the young woman onstage at the conferences hyping blockchain as a way to radically reshape an unjust world. The young woman at the industry parties schmoozing with wealthy venture capitalists to get them on board. The young woman at the spiritual retreats seeking endless ways to self-improve. People loved her. And then she disappeared. What happened to Toni Lane Casserly-and what does her tragic death reveal?
Higher Power
There will be no \"I just can't believe it!\" sentiments in this story. Twenty-two-year-old pop sensation Tyla isn't interested in being a wide-eyed ingenue-she always knew she'd get here.
COQUETTE
You know it. Tarot actor Avantika knows it. Having gotten a much-needed update, bows are absolutely inescapable right now. Here, we humbly suggest a few ways you can wear them without looking like everyone else.
What It's Really Like to Cut Off Your Parents
More and more young people have entered their family estrangement era, for better or worse. But mostly for better.