"These circumstances surrounding her arrest lead me to believe that this is a deep systemic issue that highlights the privilege and power embedded in the criminal justice system at every level. In U.S. law, killing in self-defense is not a crime."

How did Vanessa find this story?

"I love that Vanessa found this story by questioning the accuracy behind Orange Is the New Black. [She told us:] 'I was just in the office at Refinery29 doing some research. I was thinking about Orange Is the New Black, which the new season was just about to come out, and I was doing research about women in prison. Because I thought, How accurate is this show, right? So I eventually found myself looking at women on death row. And a lot of the stories about women on death row are similar — pretty grotesque crimes. But I got to Michelle’s case, and it just seemed so different.'"