Addiction
Blakinger struggled with addiction and her mental health. However, instead of getting her mental health treatment and treatment for her addiction, Blakinger is sentenced to prison for possessing an illegal substance.
The Prison System
The prison system is meant to deter those who have committed crime to never commit crime again. However, services are not offered for prisoners to improve things like their mental health or their issues with addiction, thus lessening the chance prison would have an effect.
Skating
It was some of the great qualities that made Keri great at skating that enabled her to become addicted to drugs and made her downward spiral much easier.
Cornell
Keri attended Cornell, a highly prestigious institution, despite being plagued by demons and battling addiction, which would have prevented them from attending college, let alone a school like Cornell.
Prisons
Prisons are supposed to be run by and paid for by the public to ensure fair and equal justice; yet, there are for-profit prisons which make money off unfair and unequal justice. As a reporter focusing on the "prison industrial complex," Blakinger consistently seeks to call for the reform of the prison system and the destruction of the for-profit system.
