60 Days In season 2 participant Monalisa Johnson posted a video to Facebook in which she further explained her position on correctional and law enforcement officers.
The mother of an incarcerated daughter has received quite a bit of backlash via social media for her negative critiques of law enforcement during her appearances so far on the show. Here’s a couple of tweets that highlight a general consensus from viewers:
@AETV . MonaLisa hates cops because her daughter is a criminal?? That's what's wrong with this country! #60daysin
— Russell (@stevenrlaw30) August 30, 2016
Sick of hearing about Monalisa's daughter. She did something wrong to be in prison, so quit complaining about her treatment. #60daysin
— Linda Niczay (@LindaNiczay) September 1, 2016
Monalisa’s daughter. Sierra Marlise Wilson, was sentenced to 15 years for an armed robbery that occurred in Georgia in 2012.
On Monday, she posted the following video to a Facebook page she runs called Prison Moms. In the nearly 8-minute clip, Monalisa goes into detail about her thoughts in regards to the prison system and law enforcement without discussing her appearance on 60 Days In:
It’s apparent from this post that her experience with the show didn’t change her opinions. She said:
“I’ve been asked a lot, ‘Why do I have so much discontent towards law enforcement and toward correction officers?’ What I have to say here is quite simple… I have never said that I hate them… What I’m trying to say here is that we really consider there is no accountability measures at all put in place for law enforcement. Thank God in today’s times we have cellphones where we’re able to start documenting these things on the outside… Let’s face it, I’m not the only person feeling this way am I? The whole United States of America is saying this. It has nothing to do with whether my child is incarcerated or not. Yes, I will be honest with you, her being incarcerated did heighten my sense of awareness a little more, but prior to that I felt the same way about law enforcement.”
Monalisa asked why it’s necessary for law enforcement to wear body cameras and why they seem unwilling to come out against each other if there’s perceived injustices. She then switched to the topic of correctional officers:
“When you think about correctional officers there are no cellphones. Inmates are in there all by themselves, locked up, locked down, and they have no way of proving or telling the public or anyone for that matter that their human rights are being violated and that they’re being mistreated.”
She also explained herself in regards to her views on her daughter’s crime and punishment:
“I do not condone any type of crime. anything that breaks the law, I do not condone it. Do I think that my daughter should be serving time? The answer is yes. Do I think that the time she is serving is appropriate? The answer is no.”
She went on to explain that she has lost faith in law enforcement and that she’d be “petrified” to call the police in an emergency. She added that she does not see all law enforcement as corrupt.
