. >> 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

. >> 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