CQR Women in Prison
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Published by CQ Press, an Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc. www.cqresearcher.com Women in Prison Should they be treated differently from men? he number of women in state and federal prisons has surged since 1978 by nearly 800 percent — twice the growth rate for men. Mandatory sen- tences for drug offenses enacted during the 1980s Tand 1990s have hit women particularly hard, many experts say. But some prosecutors and Republicans dispute the claim that the so-called war on drugs has disproportionately hurt women. They say mandatory sentencing has reduced crime, helped break up drug rings and ended sentencing disparities. Reformers hope states’ recent efforts to reduce prison populations and spend more on drug treatment will help women. But they say women still remain an afterthought in the penal system. For example, reformers say Women make up 7 percent of the nation’s prison population. Since 1978, the number of women in state and federal prisons has surged by almost courts and prisons rarely recognize women’s responsibility as 800 percent. Above, women in the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka, Ala. mothers or the factors underlying their participation in crime, such as domestic abuse. The justice system, women’s advocates say, I needs to think creatively about how to help female prisoners. THISREPORT N Meanwhile, in the juvenile system, girls often receive harsher THE ISSUES ....................195 S BACKGROUND ................201 punishments than boys who commit similar offenses. I CHRONOLOGY ................203 D CURRENT SITUATION ........208 E CQ Researcher • March 3, 2017 • www.cqresearcher.com AT ISSUE........................209 Volume 27, Number 9 • Pages 193-216 OUTLOOK ......................211 RECIPIENT OF SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS AWARD FOR BIBLIOGRAPHY ................214 EXCELLENCE ◆ AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SILVER GAVEL AWARD THE NEXT STEP ..............215 WOMEN IN PRISON March 3, 2017 THE ISSUES SIDEBARS AND GRAPHICS Volume 27, Number 9 EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Thomas J. Billitteri • Are harsh drug laws re- Prison Rates for Females [email protected] 195 sponsible for the high num- 196 Soared Since 1980s ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORS: Kenneth ber of women in prison? The incarceration rate for Fireman, [email protected], women rose sixfold from Kathy Koch, [email protected], • Have mandatory sentences Scott Rohrer, [email protected] unfairly punished women? 1978 to 2015. • Should women offenders be SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: treated differently from men? Minority Girls Over-repre- Thomas J. Colin 197 sented in Juvenile System [email protected] Native American girls have CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Marcia Clemmitt, BACKGROUND the highest detention rate. Sarah Glazer, Reed Karaim, Barbara Mantel, Chuck McCutcheon, Tom Price Incarceration of Women Prison Reform 200 Highest in Rural States SENIOR PROJECT EDITOR: Olu B. Davis 201 Early reformers debated how Oklahoma incarcerates EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Anika Reed female prisoners should be women at the highest rate. treated. FACT CHECKERS: Eva P. Dasher, Chronology Michelle Harris, Betsy Towner Levine, Return to Punishment 203 Key events since 1873. Robin Palmer 202 U.S. prisons focused on reha- bilitation until the 1970s. Advocates Want Courts to 204 Consider Domestic Violence 202 Crack Epidemic Evidence The “war on drugs” hurt Many women prisoners were women, some experts say. victims of abuse, studies find. An Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc. Sentencing Reform Double Standard Seen for 205 SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, With prisons overflowing, 206 Girls in Juvenile System states have begun reducing GLOBAL LEARNING RESOURCES: Girls are arrested more often Karen Phillips penalties for drug offenders. than boys for minor offenses. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ONLINE LIBRARY AND At Issue: REFERENCE PUBLISHING: CURRENT SITUATION 209 Should mandatory minimum Todd Baldwin sentences be repealed? Federal Actions Copyright © 2017 CQ Press, an Imprint of SAGE Pub- 208 Sentencing reform remains lications, Inc. SAGE reserves all copyright and other uncertain under the Trump FOR FURTHER RESEARCH rights herein, unless pre vi ous ly spec i fied in writing. administration. No part of this publication may be reproduced electronically or otherwise, without prior written For More Information permission. Un au tho rized re pro duc tion or trans mis - State Actions 213 Organizations to contact. 211 States are taking differing ap- sion of SAGE copy right ed material is a violation of federal law car ry ing civil fines of up to $100,000. proaches to sentencing reform. Bibliography 214 Selected sources used. CQ Press is a registered trademark of Congressional OUTLOOK Quarterly Inc. The Next Step CQ Researcher (ISSN 1056-2036) is printed on acid-free 215 Additional articles. Crackdown Feared paper. 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Cover: AP Photo/The Montgomery Advertiser/Albert Cesare 194 CQ Researcher Women in Prison BY SARAH GLAZER • State and federal laws imposing lengthy mandatory THE ISSUES sentences that don’t take into n 2015, Ramona Brant had account the personal circum- served almost 21 years of stances of women; I a life sentence for con- • Increasingly aggressive spiracy to distribute crack co- prosecution, and caine, even though she said • Lack of treatment for she was merely a bystander the root causes of crime, such in the dealings of an abusive as addiction. boyfriend. 1 The majority of women in Brant said her boyfriend, prison, according to researchers, k c i who authorities alleged had d have suffered some kind of u R been running a multimillion- trauma, such as domestic or a n dollar interstate drug opera- i sexual violence; many are ad- D tion, had beaten Brant so se- / dicts; and many suffer from e b 5 o verely that she had landed in l serious mental illness. “Prison G the emergency room numer- is a place where those things n o ous times. When Brant tried t generally will get worse — for s o to leave him, she said, he beat B mothers and their children,” e up her brother and threatened h says Georgia Lerner, executive T / to kill her mother. s director of the Women’s Prison e g Brant denied dealing drugs. a Association in New York City, m I She thought she had a defense: which helps women involved y t t the hospital records and police e in the criminal justice system. reports documenting the abuse G About half of the nation’s The nation’s female prison population has remained that forced her to accompany stubbornly high, but some researchers say prisons are 222,000 women behind bars her boyfriend during drug- not meeting the medical and psychological needs of are being held in local jails, dealing trips. However, her pub- female inmates. “The reproductive issues of women where the female population lic defender never presented make the provision of health care more complicated for has exploded in recent years, those records at the trial. women than for men,” said University of Massachusetts jumping fourteenfold since human services professor Sylvia Mignon. Above, a Under mandatory federal sen- pregnant inmate at the Western Massachusetts 1970. During that same period, tencing guidelines in force at Regional Women’s Correctional Center in Chicopee. the male jail population in- the time, the judge sent her to creased only fivefold, accord- prison for life, citing the amount of drugs didn’t wake up one day and say, ‘I ing to a recent report by the Vera Institute her boyfriend’s drug ring had sold. In want to sell drugs.’ We were in love of Justice, a research organization in December 2015, President Barack Obama with a man or we participated in some New York City, and the John D. and granted clemency to Brant, and she was minor way, but it was the man driving Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in released from prison on Feb. 2, 2016. 2 it, and we were held equally culpable Chicago. Jails detain people who are “There are a lot of Ramonas” still for their actions.” awaiting trial — often because they can- serving lengthy sentences, says Amy Since 1978, the female population not afford bail — or for low-level crimes Povah, who served more than nine in state and federal prisons has surged carrying a sentence of a year or less. 6 years of a 24-year sentence in federal by almost 800 percent, about twice Women are the poster child for prison in connection with the ecstasy- the growth rate for men, although “what’s wrong with America’s use and drug-selling activities of her husband women are only 7 percent of the na- misuse of jails,” especially when faced before receiving clemency in 2000. 3 tion’s prison population. 4 with women’s cumulative vulnerabilities, Povah is founder of CAN-DO, a non- Brant’s case exemplifies many of according to Laurie Garduqe, director profit in Malibu, Calif., that seeks clemen- the forces that experts say have helped of justice reform for MacArthur. As low- cy for prisoners serving long sentences drive this rise: income, single heads of households, for nonviolent drug offenses.