MOmentum for Change: Voices of the Missouri Movement
Jul 1, 2026 · 1 hr 6 min · 12 segments
Send us Fan Mail Patty Prewitt spent almost 40 years in prison for a crime that she has always maintained she did not commit. One of Patty's…
Patty PrewittGuest
Nora MosbyHost
Jane Prewitt WatkinsGuest
But I do just want to talk a little bit about your time in prison because you did some very significant, many significant things while you were in prison, including really – working to stop sexual harassment that was happening from the guards.
And so I'd like to just spend a little bit of time talking about your work to address sexual harassment.
Can you tell us a little bit about what you and other women experienced when it came to sexual harassment in prison?
Well, unfortunately, just a few months after I landed in prison in 1986, there was a court case.
And in that case, they said that male officers could do the very same jobs as female officers.
So there was always—some of the male guards didn't want to, but some of the male guards decided they needed to pass searches.
And— Right after we got done being shocked to the max, we went to the law library, and I don't know how we did it, but we filed a class action suit and went to court.
In fact, we went to court several times, but our main focus was trying to get these lecherous officers to keep their hands off of us.
So you went to the law library and you filed this class action suit, which is very impressive.
What do you remember about that lawsuit going to court? I know it was a long time ago, but is there anything that stands out to you about it? Oh,
This sounds crazy, but we had a wonderful judge, Joe Stevens, and he, World War II era, and World War II men are my favorite because they're gentlemen.
He was a total gentleman and was shocked and appalled that these people, these guys were groping us.
But I do just want to talk a little bit about your time in prison because you did some very significant, many significant things while you were in prison, including really – working to stop sexual harassment that was happening from the guards.
And so I'd like to just spend a little bit of time talking about your work to address sexual harassment.
Can you tell us a little bit about what you and other women experienced when it came to sexual harassment in prison?
Well, unfortunately, just a few months after I landed in prison in 1986, there was a court case.
And in that case, they said that male officers could do the very same jobs as female officers.
So there was always—some of the male guards didn't want to, but some of the male guards decided they needed to pass searches.
And— Right after we got done being shocked to the max, we went to the law library, and I don't know how we did it, but we filed a class action suit and went to court.
In fact, we went to court several times, but our main focus was trying to get these lecherous officers to keep their hands off of us.
So you went to the law library and you filed this class action suit, which is very impressive.
What do you remember about that lawsuit going to court? I know it was a long time ago, but is there anything that stands out to you about it? Oh,
This sounds crazy, but we had a wonderful judge, Joe Stevens, and he, World War II era, and World War II men are my favorite because they're gentlemen.
He was a total gentleman and was shocked and appalled that these people, these guys were groping us.
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