. >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america >> in 1996, sonja marcus was sentenced to a maximum of life in california prison. >> i couldn't believe it. it did not compute, they're taking your life. i was 46 years old. >> her crime: possession of less than a gram of heroine. >> how do you call yourself a judge with the interest of justice and look at somebody and... tell somebody i'm going to take your life because you have an abuse problem against yourself? >> 18 years later, sonja is out because californians amended the state's notorious three strikes law. >> this was how much room there was between my bunk and my locker in prison. that's why i never walked in there. you have the physical freedom, but after so much time, it's almost like a burden. you have no idea how to function because you've been locked in a box. >> the us incarceration system has swept up hundreds of thousands of women like sonja. many of them spend years locked up for non-violent offenses. >>women are the fastest growing population in the criminal justice system. >> it's like a maze with tons of mice in it

>> 18 years later, sonja is out because californians amended the state's notorious three strikes law. >> this was how much room there was between my bunk and my locker in prison. that's why i never walked in there. you have the physical freedom, but after so much time, it's almost like a burden. you have no idea how to function because you've been locked in a box. >> the us incarceration system has swept up hundreds of thousands of women like sonja. many of them spend years locked up for non-violent offenses. >>women are the fastest growing population in the criminal justice system. >> it's like a maze with tons of mice in it that's being feed poison. >> in this episode of faultlines, we go inside california's jails and prisons and ask what keeps so many women behind bars. >> you just try to make it through each day the best wayt that you can. >> we're heading to the largest women's prison in the world. >> the facility was designed to have 4 people in a room, and it now has 8 people in each room. there is no men's prison that has as many people in one cell. >> this is the central cali

. >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america >> in 1996, sonja marcus was sentenced to a maximum of life in california prison. >> i couldn't believe it. it did not compute, they're taking your life. i was 46 years old. >> her crime: possession of less than a gram of heroine. >> how do you call yourself a judge with the interest of justice and look at somebody and... tell somebody i'm going to take your life because you have an abuse problem against yourself?

. >> in 1996, sonja marcus was sentenced to a maximum of life in california prison. >> i couldn't believe it. it did not compute, they're taking your life. i was 46 years old. >> her crime: possession of less than a gram of heroine. >> how do you call yourself a judge with the interest of justice and look at somebody and... tell somebody i'm going to take your life because you have an abuse problem against

sonja, thank you. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> wow. how about that?up next, now, we turn to tragedy, learning from tragedy. a graduate student wants to use what happened over the weekend to educate people about the sexual bullying towards women and our responsibility here as society. she started a group with specific solutions. we will talk to her live next. honestly, the off-season isn't i've got a lot to do. that's why i got my surface. it's great for watching game film and drawing up plays. it's got onenote, so i can stay on top of my to-do list, which has been absolutely absurd since the big game. with skype, it's just really easy to stay in touch with the kids i work with. alright, russell you are good to go! alright, fellas. alright, russ. back to work! now they're part of our 2 for $25 guest favorites!r one olive garden dishes. featuring your all time favorite creamy chicken alfredo and seductive shrimp mezzaluna. it's our most inspired 2 for $25 ever. at olive garden. humans. even when we cross our "ts" and dot our "i's", we still run into pro

after all, as supreme court justice sonja society owe mayor said recently in the michigan college admissions case, we must not -- let me quote, "we must not wish away, rather than confront, the racial inequalities that exist in our society. the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race." and i would add to act. to act. to eradicate the existence of still too persistent inequalities. and i want to assure you, as we ark this historic anniversary, that my colleagues and i remain as committed to this cause as ever before. while the number of school districts that remain under desegregation court orders has decreased significantly in just the past decade, the department of justice continues to actively enforce and monitor nearly 200, 200, desegregation cases where school districts have not yet fulfilled their legal obligation to eliminate segregation, root and branch. in those cases, we work to ensure that all students have the building blocks of educational success, from access to advanced placement classes, to facilities without crumb

. >> sonja, you want to go forward with this? >> yes. happened, how it happened and how is this going to be affecting other vets in the future. our veteransç deserve the health care that they fought for in this country. they deserve better. >> indeed. sonja and marc, we thank you both for joining us this morning early. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> it is exactly now 20 minutes after the top of the hour on this monday. next up on the rundown, playing politics with race. a democrat congressman slams senator tim scott for being black and a republican. is that over the line? a fair and balanced debate next. >>> it's one of the most anticipated movies of the season but what do hugh jackman and patrick stewart really think about getting back into their x men roles? they tell us coming up.ç ♪ can you hear it? ♪ fueling the american spirit. ♪ no matter when, ♪ no matter where, ♪ marathon will take you there. ♪ >>> quick headlines *fplt overnight tensions on a hair trigger in the ukraine. [gunshots] >> cameras capture the moment ukrainian sold