“On December 31, 2006, 2,258,983 prisoners were held in Federal or State prisons or in local jails – an increase of 2.9% from yearend 2005, less than the average annual growth of 3.4% since yearend 1995…the number of women under the jurisdiction of State or Federal prison authorities increased 4.5% from yearend 2005, reaching 112,498, and the number of men rose 2.7%, totaling 1,458,363.”
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/prisons.htm
“For the first time in history, more than one in every 100 American adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report…Using updated state-by-state data, the report said 2,319,258 adults were held in U.S. prisons or jails at the start of 2008 — one out of every 99.1 adults, and more than any other country in the world…The report said the United States is the world’s incarceration leader, far ahead of more populous China with 1.5 million people behind bars. It said the U.S. also is the leader in inmates per capita (750 per 100,000 people), ahead of Russia (628 per 100,000) and other former Soviet bloc nations which make up the rest of the Top 10.“
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/28/prison.population.ap/index.html
“In examining the increase in female prisoners, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that about 1 in 3 women were likely serving time for a drug offense as compared to 1 in 8 in 1986 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1999). The Bureau of Prisons reports that almost 80% of their female population is incarcerated for drug-related offenses. This compares to only 26% of the 1981 female federal prison population that was held for drug offenses…While men too have suffered as the United States continues its imprisonment binge (Austin & Irwin, 2001), there has been a measurable gender-based difference in the rates of this increase. This difference is most apparent among women of color (Bush-Baskette, 1998)…A study by the Sentencing Project (Mauer, Potler & Wolf, 1999) found that, between 1986 and 1995, drug offenses account for about one-third of the rise in male prison population but fully half of the increase in the female prison population… Compared to white women, women of color are also more likely to be arrested, convicted and incarcerated at rates higher than their representation in the free world population.“
http://www.drugpolicy.org/communities/women/womeninpriso/
“There are 148,200 women in state and federal prisons. In federal women’s correctional facilities, 70% of guards are male. Records show correctional officials have subjected female inmates to rape, other sexual assault, sexual extortion, and groping during body searches…Guards threaten the prisoner’s children and visitation rights as a means of silencing the women. Guards issue rule infraction tickets, which extend the woman’s stay in prison if she speaks out…Women inmates suffering from treatable diseases such as asthma, diabetes, sickle cell anemia, cancer, late-term miscarriages, and seizures have little or no access to medical attention, sometimes resulting in death or permanent injury. Instances of failure to deliver life-saving drugs for inmates with HIV/AIDS has also been noted…48-88% of women inmates experienced sexual or physical abuse before coming to prison (as many as 90% in New York and Ohio prisons), and suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. Very few prison systems provide counseling. Women attempting to access mental health services are routinely given medication without opportunity to undergo psychotherapeutic treatment.“
“Over a five-year period, the incarceration rate of African American women increased by 828%. (NAACP LDF Equal Justice Spring 1998.) An African American woman is eight times more likely than a European American woman is to be imprisoned; African American women make up nearly half of the nation’s female prison population, with most serving sentences for nonviolent drug or property related offenses…Although 2/3 of crack users are white or Hispanic, defendants convicted of crack cocaine possession in 1994 were 84.5% African American.”
http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/womeninprison.html
“The majority of women prisoners are incarcerated for non-violent crimes such as prostitution, fraud or drug offenses. Only 36% of arrested women are arrested for violent offenses.”
“Poverty is one of the most significant factors in women’s involvement in the criminal justice system. In 1994, 80% of women in prison reported incomes of less than $2000 in the year before their arrest, and 92% reported incomes under $10,000.”
“Women who are violent offenders are even more likely to have been abused and to be incarcerated for responding to that abuse violently. As many as 90% of the women in prison today for killing men had previously been battered by those men.”
“Once in prison, many women are subjected to further violence at the hands of prison guards. In 2004, allegations of staff sexual misconduct were made in all but one state prison in the U.S. and in 41% of local and private jails and prisons. Prison guards accused of sexual misconduct often go unpunished. In 1997 only ten prison employees in the entire federal system were disciplined for sexual misconduct.”
“Amnesty International declared that the shackling of pregnant women prisoners during labor is a human rights violation. This is a widespread practice in U.S. prisons… A 1999 report by the Justice Department indicates that approximately five percent of female prisoners, or about 2000 prisoners annually, arrive pregnant. Shackling during labor may cause complications in childbirth, such as hemorrhage or decreased fetal heart rate.“
http://www.aclu.org/womensrights/violence/25829res20060612.html
“Current statistics cite about 92 percent of incarcerated persons are serving time in prison on drug-related charges. Of that population who is female, 75 percent are mothers, who, before they were incarcerated, were their children’s primary caretaker. Children pay the price for their parents’ crimes. In addition to suffering emotionally from having had their mothers taken from them, children are sometimes separated from all family at the time of their mother’s incarceration, when they are placed into foster care.“
http://www.womenandprison.org
” There are no criminals here at Riker’s Island Correctional Institution for Women, (New York), only victims. Most of the women (over 95%) are black and Puerto Rican. Many were abused children. Most have been abused by men and all have been abused by “the system.”
There are no big time gangsters here, no premeditated mass murderers, no godmothers. There are no big time dope dealers, no kidnappers, no Watergate women. There are virtually no women here charged with white collar crimes like embezzling or fraud. Most of the women have drug related cases. Many are charged as accessories to crimes committed by men. The major crimes that women here are charged with are prostitution, pick-pocketing, shop lifting, robbery and drugs. Women who have prostitution cases or who are doing “fine” time make up a substantial part of the short term population. The women see stealing or hustling as necessary for the survival of themselves or their children because jobs are scarce and welfare is impossible to live on. One thing is clear: amerikan capitalism is in no way threatened by the women in prison on Riker’s Island.
Most of the guards are black, usually from working class, upward bound, civil service oriented backgrounds. They identify with the middle class, have middle class values and are extremely materialistic. They are not the most intelligent women in the world and many are extremely limited.
Most are aware that there is no justice in the amerikan judicial system and that blacks and Puerto Ricans are discriminated against in every facet of amerikan life. But, at the same time, they are convinced that the system is somehow “lenient.” To them, the women in prison are “losers” who don’t have enough sense to stay out of jail. Most believe in the boot strap theory – anybody can “make it” if they try hard enough. They congratulate themselves on their great accomplishments. In contrast to themselves they see the inmate as ignorant, uncultured, self-destructive, weak-minded and stupid. They ignore the fact that their dubious accomplishments are not based on superior intelligence or effort, but only on chance and a civil service list.
Many guards hate and feel trapped by their jobs. The guard is exposed to a certam amount of abuse from co-workers, from the brass as well as from inmates, ass kissing, robotizing and mandatory overtime. (It is common practice for guards to work a double shift at least once a week.) But no matter how much they hate the military structure, the infighting, the ugliness of their tasks, they are very aware of how close they are to the welfare lines. If they were not working as guards most would be underpaid or unemployed. Many would miss the feeling of superiority and power as much as they would miss the money, especially the cruel, sadistic ones.
“…The guards are usually defensive about their jobs and indicate by their behavior that they are not at all free from guilt. They repeatedly, compulsively say, as if to convince themselves, “This is a job just like any other job.” The more they say it the more preposterous it seems. “
http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/texts/assata_wip.html
“In the United States felons often face additional consequences, such as the loss of voting rights in many states; exclusion from certain lines of work and difficulty in finding a job in others; prohibition from obtaining certain licenses; exclusion from purchase and possession of firearms, ammunition and body armour; and ineligibility to run for or be elected to public office. In addition, some states consider a felony conviction to be grounds for an uncontested divorce. These, among other losses of privileges not included explicitly in sentencing, are known as collateral consequences of criminal charges. Finally if a felon is not a U.S. citizen, that person may be subject to deportation after sentencing is complete.“
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony
,
Racism,
Sexual Violence,
Silenced Women,
Violence against women,
Women's Health,
Women's Mental Health,
poverty
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on May 6, 2008 at 12:05 pm and is filed under Double Standards, Racism, Sexual Violence, Silenced Women, Violence against women, Women's Health, Women's Mental Health, poverty.
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