Women Prisoners at Leavenworth Federal Peniteniary, 1900

Women Prisoners at Leavenworth Federal Peniteniary, 1900

Justice Matters
Newsletter of the Western Prison Project
Lizzie Cardish
Summer 2003
Vol. 5 No. 2
Mary Snowden
Mary Grayson
Women Prisoners at Leavenworth Federal Peniteniary, 1900
See article on “Women in Prison” Page 7
IN THIS ISSUE
Message to Readers
The Good, Bad & The Ugly
Regional News
Nevada Restores Voting Rights
Feature Article: Women in Prison
Prison Activism Now: Conference Report
Pg. 2
Pg. 3
Pg. 4
Pg. 6
Pg 7
Pg. 12
Prison Index
Resources for Activists
Join WPP
Take Action
Pg. 14
Pg. 15
Pg. 15
Pg. 16
Message to our Readers
As I sat down to write this, it hit me
that it was July 4th, Independence Day.
It’s a day to celebrate freedom from
tyranny, to celebrate liberty. After all, we
are the freest country in the world, right?
Well, that depends on where you sit, and
what you choose to look at. From where
I sit, I can’t hide from the fact that the
U.S. has built the largest penal colony in
the world. With less than 5% of the global
population, we lock-up nearly 25% of
all the prisoners in the world. And one
of the fastest growing segments of the
prison population is women. In our
region, we have above average
incarceration rates for women, and states
are passing laws that will result in even
more women going to prison (for a look
at the issue of women in prison, see our
lead article, starting on page 7).
So maybe we have so many people
in prison because we are the most dangerous, violent country in the world? A
country so unsafe that we have to incarcerate over 2 million men, women, and
yes, children. But wait – that’s not it.
According to a recent report (Criminal
Victimisation in Seventeen Industrialized Countries: Key findings from the 2000 International
Crime Victims Survey), the number of
people who were a victim of crime in
the U.S. was comparable to that of
people in Canada, Australia, or England.
And yet we lock up 7 people out of
every 1000, while the other three countries lock up, roughly, 1 person for every 1000. On this Independence Day,
let’s take a pause from the potato salad
and face facts: something is very wrong
with this picture. And for more facts
like these, consider ordering a copy of
our recent publication, The Prison Index—
Taking the Pulse of the Crime Control Industry (see page 14 for more information).
So what do we do about it, give up
hope? Absolutely not. Across the country
there is growing activism to confront the
lock-down mentality that has resulted in
America’s orgy of incarceration. In our
region, grassroots activists (many of them
former prisoners or family members of
prisoners) are doing incredible work with
limited resources: they are opening
transition houses to provide support to
prisoners coming home, organizing to
expose racial profiling, advocating with
legislators and the public for sentencing
reform, providing direct support and
assistance to prisoners and families of
prisoners, and building political power by
organizing former prisoners to vote. In
May, Western Prison Project was
honored to host our 4 th regional
conference for criminal justice reform –
a conference that brought together over
60 of these grassroots activists from our
region, representing over two dozen
organizations (see page 12). While
everyone at the conference was well
aware of the magnitude of the problems
we all face in changing the criminal
(in)justice system, they were clearly
committed to doing the long-term work
that will make a difference. And these
grassroots activists aren’t alone. We are
starting to see more people within the
system balking at the insanity of current
criminal justice policies. In Washington
this year, the legislature sped up
implementation of legislation that will
release hundreds of low-level drug
offenders from prison. In Nevada, a state
that up until recently denied ex-felons the
right to vote for life, the legislature took
a look at the voting rights bill from the
previous session and said, in effect, “this
isn’t good enough.” And they passed a
bill that made it much easier for ex-felons
to get their civil liberties back – including
the right to vote (see article on page 6).
There is a growing willingness to take
another look at the policies that led to
the incarceration boom in this country.
There is also formidable resistance. So
please, get involved, involve others, and
support the many groups around the
region and the country who are working
hard on this issue.
Brigette Sarabi
Director
2
Justice Matters is published quarterly by:
Western Prison Project
P.O. Box 40085
Portland, OR 97240-0085
(503) 335-8449
info@westernprisonproject.org
www.westernprisonproject.org
WPP Board of Directors
Jo Ann Bowman
David Rogers
Anthony Davis
Arwen Bird
Prisoner Advisory Committee
John Castro
Gary Eagle Thunder
Mark Wilson
Brigette Sarabi, Exec. Director
Kathleen Pequeño, Membership Director
Scot Nakagawa, ProgramDirector
Geoff Sugerman, Special Projects
Kiera Bethwiller, Intern
Logo Design by Bryan Potter Design
Newletter Staff:
Layout & Design: Jack
Contributors: Julia Lutsky, Rebecca Neel
Scot Nakagawa, Kathleen Pequeño,
Brigette Sarabi
The Western Prison Project is a sponsored project of the Western States
Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Portland, OR. We exist to
build and strengthen the criminal justice reform movement in OR, WA, ID,
MT, WY, UT, and NV.
The Good, The Bad &The Ugly
Cold Blooded Killers
Lawrence Jacobs, an African American,
was joined by defense lawyers in
claiming that a tie bearing the image of
the grim reaper, and two others
decorated with nooses worn by
prosecutors in his son’s (Lawrence, Jr.)
capital murder case, indicates an attitude
of racism in the Jefferson Parish,
Louisiana District Attorney’s office. Mr.
Jacobs pointed out “Who else gets strung
up?” The prosecutors responded by
saying the ties are funny. Mr. Jacobs, Jr.
said of the situation “I mean, these guys
with their ties act like death is a
joke…And that’s what’s crazy. They’re
the ones calling me a cold-blooded
killer.” Jefferson Parish is the mostly
white New Orleans suburb that elected
KKK leader David Duke as a state rep
in 1987.
Anti-Drug RAVE Act Passes
The Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act
(RAVE Act) was signed into law in April.
The new law places concert promoters,
event organizers, hotel/motel owners,
nightclub owners, and stadium owners
at risk for drug violations, even if a good
faith effort is made to keep drugs out
of events. The Act was added to the
PROTECT Act (AMBER Alert Bill) at
the last minute by Senator Joseph Biden
(D-DE). The PROTECT Act offered
a way around resistance to the original
RAVE Act of 2002 that failed to make
it out of committee. The Act never had
a public hearing.
Death Row Stinks!
In May, U.S. Magistrate Jerry Davis
ruled that conditions on death row in
Mississippi’s Parchman prison constitute
cruel and unusual punishment and
ordered the facility cleaned up. Davis
said “No one in a civilized society
should be forced to live under
conditions that force exposure to
another person’s bodily waste.” The
ACLU’s Margaret Winter believes the
ruling may set a precedent for death row
standards. Carolyn Clayton, a founder
of the victim’s rights group Survival
Inc., agreed with Davis’ ruling saying
“Even though they’ve done horrific
things, they are still human beings.”
are found on the property. The bill, if
it becomes law, will include illegal drugs
of “any type or quantity whether or not
with knowledge by the tenant.”
Furthermore, the bill would allow
eviction without notice of any tenant
arrested for “criminal drug activity on
the premises or on property adjacent
to the premises.”
Free At Last…Almost
Texas Governor Rick Perry signed a bill
in June that will allow the remaining 13
inmates in the infamous Tulia drug bust
to go free on bond until their cases are
considered by the Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals. The remaining 13
were among dozens of mostly black
Tulia residents arrested in 1999 on the
uncorroborated and largely discredited
testimony of free-lance lawman Tom
Coleman. The bust imprisoned almost
15% of the black population of that
city on evidence Mr. Coleman
supposedly documented not on paper
or audiotape, but on his leg (yes, you
read right). Coleman was indicted in
April on charges of lying about the Tulia
arrests at evidentiary hearings.
Activism Pays Off
Dell Computer Corp. said it will stop
using a contractor that relies on prison
labor to dismantle and recycle computers. The computer giant has been under
pressure recently to sever ties with
UNICOR, a government-run corporation that uses federal inmates for a variety of money-making ventures. In June,
the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, an
environmental group in California, accused Dell of running a “primitive” recycling system that exposed inmates to
dangerous chemicals as they took apart
computers and plucked out the reusable
parts.
I guess he was feeling pissy…
Justin Hastings, a 23 year old former
prison guard, was convicted of
misdemeanor assault for urinating on
the heads of inmates playing basketball
at the Greene County Jail in Springfield,
Missouri. Hastings faces a $300 fine
and 15 days in jail on each of four
counts.
Use Drugs, Go Homeless!
In May, the Rhode Island Senate
Judiciary Committee voted 5-0 to
approve a bill sponsored by
Democratic Senator Michael J.
McCaffrey that would allow landlords
to evict tenants without notice if drugs
3
It Depends on the Fluid
An Oklahoma man arrested on suspicion of beating his wife faced a year in
prison and a fine. But when he spit in an
arresting officer’s face, he got a life sentence instead. John Carl Marquez, 36,
was convicted of “placing bodily fluid
upon a government employee,” a felony
that can carry a life sentence because of
the possibility of transmitting a potentially deadly disease. State judge April
Sellers White sentenced Marquez this
week even though Marquez and the officer tested negative for any communicable disease. His lawyers said they plan
to appeal.
Compiled by Scot Nakagawa
Regional News
WYOMING: Wyoming is moving forward with a plan to create 100 beds for
substance abuse treatment. The beds,
which will be available to male inmates
for nine to twelve months before release, were authorized in last year’s
House Bill 59 as part of a $25 million
substance abuse plan. Among the other
parts of the bill is an expansion of the
state’s drug courts. Dr. Diane Galloway, director of the substance abuse
division of the Department of Health,
has said that funding for the new beds
will be drawn from the current expense
of housing inmates in other states’ prisons. Additional funding will come from
tobacco money. The plan’s progress coincides with the Addicted Offenders
Accountability Act, which requires
judges to get substance abuse assessments of defendants convicted of a
felony and allows judges to sentence defendants to treatment instead of prison.
The Act will go into effect in July
Source: Casper Star Tribune
WASHINGTON: Due to overcrowding in Washington prisons, 240
inmates have been moved to empty
beds in Nevada. As many as 750 of
Washington’s 16,000 inmates will eventually be moved out-of-state. The Washington Department of Corrections’
Chief of Classification and Treatment,
Jim Thatcher, said that for the Nevada
move, volunteer inmates were chosen
in part based on the number of family
and friend visitations - the fewer the visits, the more likely an inmate will be sent
out-of-state. The DOC adopted this
policy in response to concerns expressed
by family of past out-of-state inmates.
At the cost of $68 a day, the Nevada
Department of Corrections will net a
projected $4.4 million a year from
Washington alone. Washington state will
also need to foot the bill for the prison-
ers’ air transport and major medical costs.
Nevada has also accepted 112 inmates
from Wyoming. Sources: The News Tribune and The Review Journal
WASHINGTON: A federal judge has
ruled that state prison inmates must be
allowed to receive bulk mailings and
catalogs. Prison Legal News(PLN) sued
the state in 2001 contending that the Department of Corrections was violating
the prisoners’ First Amendment rights
by throwing away subscription renewal
postcards, book order forms, and other
notices often mailed to the paper’s readers at bulk, or third class rates. This
decison follows PLN’s Oregon victory
which also dealt with the rights of prisonersto receive third classm ail.Source:
AP Wire
MONTANA: Montana, too, could be
importing prisoners to its privately-run
Crossroads Corrections Center in
Shelby by the end of the summer. Originally, the legislation that allowed the Corrections Corporation of America to
open the prison prohibited the importation of prisoners. However, since last
summer’s budget crunch hit and the state
began pulling inmates from Crossroads,
the prison has been losing money. Because importing prisoners will help CCA
balance the books, the Montana Legislature has rewritten the private prison’s
restrictions. Under terms currently in
negotiation, any out-of-state prisoners
would be housed completely seperately
from Montana prisoners - possibly necessitating an entirely new area to be installed at the current facility.
Source: Billings Gazette
MONTANA: Montana’s Supreme
Court has ruled that the Department of
Corrections’ behavior management pro4
gram employed tactics that were inhumane and “an affront to the inviolable
right of human dignity”. In the program, some inmates were stripped naked and locked in dirty isolation cells
without mattresses for days. Clothes
and beds were withheld and only
awarded as incentives for the inmates
to improve their behavior. The program came under court scrutiny with the
case of Mark Edward Walker, who
was diagnosed with a mental illness but
denied medication during his time in
prison. Walker was repeatedly sent to
the behavior management program,
where he was locked, naked, for days
or weeks at a time in an isolation cell
dirtied with the blood of other inmates.
In its ruling the Court declared that using such a program on mentally ill inmates was “cruel and unusual punishment if it exacercebates the inmate’s
mental health condition”. In response,
the Department of Corrections called
the ruling an inappropriate intrusion into
prison operations. The prison has six
months to issue a report on the changes
they have made, but for now they have
scrapped the modification plan and are
taking each inmate behavior problem on
a case-by-case basis. Prison officials may
continue to employ some elements of
the old behavior modification plan, said
Warden Mike Mahoney.
Source: Billings Gazette
Regional News
OREGON: In one of the longest
legislative sessions in years (still going
on as we go to press), Oregon’s legislature again confronted a staggering
budget shortfall, and proposed severe
cuts to services including education,
health care, and assistance to the elderly and other Oregonians in need. In
the public safety arena, it looks like
devastating cuts to community corrections and the courts made earlier this
year will be restored to basic levels. At
the same time, about $5 million in cuts
to education and treatment programs
in Oregon’s prisons have been approved by committee, and are expected to pass the full legislature. On
the sentencing reform front, some legislators (including the co-chairs of the
Ways & Means Committee) seriously
considered an expansion of “earned
time” and “transitional leave” for some
prisoners, a move that could save the
state at least $12 million in the new biennium. But as pressure to end the session builds, key legislative leaders and
the Governor have made clear their intention to forego any reform – even
reasonable reforms that have garnered
editorial support from major news
media in the state. At the same time,
the Governor reversed his position on
stopping all prison construction during the current fiscal crisis,and has
pushed forward a proposal to re-start
construction on a 400-bed, minimum
security prison in remote Lake County,
just north of the California border. (For
updated information on legislative action in Oregon on prison issues, signup for the Action Alert Network on
the membership form, page 15).
Sources: Statesman Journal, The
Oregonian
Compiled by Rebecca Neal
Now Available to Oregon Prisoners:
“Representing Yourself in Oregon State Post-Conviction Proceedings:
A Guide Toward Preserving Your Issues for Federal
Habeas Corpus Review”
This manual, produced by the Federal Defenders office in Portland, was created
in response to budget cuts that eliminated the appointment of attorneys for
post-conviction cases. The manual was written for Oregon state prisoners,
and will provide them with an overview of the post-conviction system in
Oregon to help them proceed pro se, including the basic steps to file a postconviction petition, litigate at the trial level, and appeal if necessary. The manual’s
emphasis is on properly presenting issues to the Oregon courts so that a pro
se prisoner does not lose the ability to later litigate those issues in a federal
habeas corpus proceeding.
The Oregon Department of Corrections has approved the manual for
distribution to the law libraries in all Oregon correctional facilities, and copies
should be there by the time you receive this notice. If you do not have access
to a prison law library, you can request a copy from:
Federal Public Defender
Attn: Kristina Hellman
101 SW Main Street, Suite 1700
Portland, OR 97204
National News: Supreme Court Rulings
The Supreme Court has ruled that mentally ill defendants can be drugged
against their wishes, under limited circumstances, if the drugging produces
a mental state that is deemed sane
enough for trial. The Court ruled on
the case of Charles T. Sell, a psychotic
dentist who has been charged with
health care fraud but deemed incompetent to stand trial. The District Attorney requested that Mr. Sell be forcibly drugged into fitness for trial. The
government can medicate a person to
restore his or her competency, the court
ruled, only if the interest in prosecution
is “important”, if the drugs are “substantially likely” to work, if they are unlikely to produce side effects that impair the defendant’s ability to defend himself, if less-intrusive alternatives are un5
available and if the drugs are “in the
patient’s best medical interest” Source:
Washington Post
The
Supreme
Court unanimously
upheld Michigan’s
restriction of inmates’ rights to see
visitors. “Withdrawing visitation
privileges is a
proper and even
necessary management technique to induce compliance
with the rules of inmate behavior, especially for high-security prisoners who
have few other privileges to lose,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the lead
opinion. Source: Washington Post
State Report: Nevada
Nevada Restores Voting Rights to Ex-Felons
by Jack Danger
Up until 2001 Nevada was one of 14
states that prohibited ex-offenders from
voting for life. In 2001, through the
work of the Progressive Leadership
Alliance of Nevada (PLAN), a law was
passed that allowed ex-offenders to
vote but required them to go through a
confusing bureaucratic process that often discouraged people from petitioning for restoration of full voting rights.
The multi-step process was cumbersome and created significant hurdles, including fingerprinting and a $15 charge
reminiscent of a polling tax.
In their research on how this law could
be changed, to make this cornerstone
of democracy more accessible and successful, PLAN discovered that many requests for voting rights were not being
processed, and in some cases they were
even simply ignored. PLAN began
working with other groups, with former
prisoners and their families, and with
Nevada Assembly members to change
this law. They did voter education drives,
developed informational packets, wrote
newspaper opinion pieces and lobbied
the Nevada Assembly. This hard work
and well crafted strategy was successful. Late last month AB55 was passed
and signed by the Governor of Nevada.
AB55 automatically restores voting
rights to citizens convicted of first-time,
non-violent felony offenses after
completion of their sentence. All other
ex-felons will continue to have to apply
for voting rights restoration through the
courts. Citizens who have had their rights
restored will be eligible to run for office four years after sentence completion, and be able to serve on a jury after
six years. The bill also reduced other
common collateral consequences of
felony convictions, most notably loos-
ening the prohibitions for ex-felons to
hold various state licenses, and repealing the current requirement that all exfelons carry information related to their
conviction on their person.
Liz Moore, Southern Nevada coordinator of PLAN, said this was the right
issue for PLAN to be involved with
because “PLAN is an organization
about democracy and the right to vote
is key to being part of the democratic
process.” Moore said that although there
had been initial opposition from DA’s
and from the Department of Corrections, they were able to work with these
groups and dispel their fear of ex-felons voting. “There seemed to be a sense
that the punishment should continue
even after one’s sentence had been
served” Moore said, “but as we continued to work with these groups we
were able to reach consensus and when
the vote came down in the Assembly
neither the DA’s nor the Department of
Corrections opposed the bill.”
Assemblywoman Chris Guinchigliani,
D-Las Vegas, sponsor of the bill, said
that Nevada needs to follow the national
trend in easing the restoration of voting
rights process. Giunchigliani also said the
idea of permanent disenfranchisement
of felons stems in part from a history
of backdoor efforts to prevent minorities from voting. Giunchigliani held
teleconferenced public hearings where
many ex-cons testified. Moore said “it
was obvious from these hearings that
people who had served their prison sentences saw voting as a symbol of being
part of society.” The next step for
PLAN according to Liz Moore is to
continue to monitor the process for exfelons to have their voting rights restored and to begin an ex-felon voter
registration drive.
6
Disenfranchisement Facts
•
An estimated 3.9 million
Americans, or one in fifty adults,
have currently or permanently lost
their voting rights as a result of a
felony conviction.
• 1.4 million African American men
or 13% of Black Men are
disenfranchised, a rate seven times
the national average.
• More than 2 million White
Americans (Hispanic and nonHispanic) are disenfranchised.
• Over half a million women have
lost the right to vote.
• Number of states that
disenfranchise more than 5% of
their adult population: 6
• Number of states that
disenfranchise more than 5% of
their African American population:
28
• Number of states that
disenfranchise more than 10% of
their African American population:
16
Sources: Sentencing Project and The
Prison Index
Contact PLAN at
www.planevada.org or
1700 E. Desert Rd, Suite113,
Las Vegas, Nevada 89198
Women In Prison
Our Sisters Behind Bars - an Overview
By Julia Lutsky & Brigette Sarabi
figure much higher (40% or above), and over a quarter of women convicted
say that many prisoners keep their iden- between 1979 and 1997. Only 50 of
tity as Native Americans to themselves the over 3,500 prisoners on death row
at the end of 1999 were women. Their
in fear of anti-Indian treatment.
Nearly a quarter of incarcerated violent crimes are much more likely to
women are 45 or older and nearly half have been committed against those
known to them (e.g. intimate partners)
of them have never been married.
A 1996 survey of incarcerated women than are violent crimes committed by
found that at least half of all female pris- men.
oners had experienced some form of
sexual abuse before their imprisonment. Is the War on Drugs a War
A study by the Bureau on Women?
According to Amnesty International,
of Justice Statistics conmuch
of the “dramatic increase [in the
firmed
this
finding,
and
In 2002, Oregon’s women
rate
of
incarceration for women] ... is
also found a higher rate
prisoner population increased
of substance abuse due, in large part, to a massive rise in
by a stunning 26%.
among incarcerated the number of women incarcerated for
women who had been violating drug laws.” In 1997, the largabused. Nearly 70% of est single category of women prisoners
the nation’s total prison population and incarcerated women who had been - over a third - were convicted of non11 percent of the total jail population. abused reported using illegal drugs dur- violent drug-related crimes, an increase
In our region, several states are well ing the month before their current of- from a little over one-eighth eighteen
above the national average in incarcer- fense, compared with 54% of the years earlier. Violations of drug laws
were the most serious offense commitating women. Idaho leads in the per- women who had not been abused.
Since 1980, the total number of incar- ted by 72% of women in federal priscent of its prison population that is female: 10.2%. In Washington, Wyoming cerated people in the U.S. has qua- ons and over 32% of women in state
and Nevada, women make up between drupled from half a
8 and 8.5% of the state prison popula- million to 2 million. In
the decade between
tion.
Violations of drug laws were the
Nearly two-thirds of women on pro- 1989 and 1999, the rate
bation are white. By way of contrast, at which women were
most serious offense committed
two-thirds of the women serving time incarcerated surpassed
by 72% of women in federal
in prison are women of color. Nation- (and continues to surprisons and over 32% of women
ally, the rate at which Black women are pass) the rate for men.
incarcerated is 8 times that of their white In 2002, Oregon’s
in state prisons.
prisoner
counterparts; the rate for Latino women, women
four times. In parts of our region, there population increased
is also a markedly disproportionate by a stunning 26%. In
number of Native American women legislative hearings, Department of Cor- prisons. Between 1986 (the year many
incarcerated. In Montana, which has a rections Officials attributed the huge in- federal mandatory drug sentences were
statewide Native American population crease to a spike in non-violent offenses enacted) and 1996, the number of
of 6.2%, over 26% of the population (primarily drug offenses and identity women sent to state prison for drug
of the state’s women’s prison are Na- theft). The number of women convicted crimes increased 10 fold (from around
tive American. Indian activists put this of violent crimes in the U.S., however, 2,370 to 23,700).
declined from nearly half to somewhat
Women Under Correctional
Control: Who are they?
In 1998, over 950,000 women were
under the control of federal or state
correctional agencies. They were and
are the mothers of 1.3 million minor
children. Unlike their male counterparts,
the majority (85 percent) of them were
on probation or parole. But there were
over 84,000 women in prisons and over
60,000 in jails, representing 6 percent of
Cont on Page 8
7
Women in Prison
Cont from Page 7
and 22% were Hispanic.
2003 was a banner year for anti-meth
legislation, and one particularly insidious
new law will inevitably result in more
women going to prison for long sentences in our region. Legislation that
makes the manufacture of methamphetamine in a place where there are minor
children subject to enhanced penalties
passed this year in both Montana and in
Nevada. The Montana law (HB 402)
doubles the maximum sentence from
25 to 50 years for people running a meth
lab where children are present. The Nevada
law
(AB
33)
doubles the
2003 was a banner year for anti-meth
sentence imposed for
legislation, and one particularly
meth manuinsidious new law will inevitably
facturing
when done
result in more women going to prison
in the presfor long sentences in our region.
ence of children, and
mandates
laws and arrests in minority communi- that the additional sentence must run conties, are a major reason African Ameri- secutively to the original drug manufaccan women are 8 times more likely to turing sentence. Experts, and the prison
construction industry, agree that passage
be in prison than white women.
But throughout the country there is a of this type of legislation will inevitably
new, additional focus in drug enforce- lead to an increased demand for
ment that is likely to result in another women’s cells and prisons, since the
major escalation of the number of poor small, home labs that are the most likely
women in prison – this time, primarily target of enforcement efforts are the
white women and, to a lesser degree, operations most likely to have women
Latinas. Methamphetamine (meth) is fast and children present.
While there is no doubt that methambecoming a national scourge according
phetamine
manufacturing is a dangerto the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). The drug – which ous process with potentially fatal results,
is easily synthesized from highly toxic but the enhanced sentencing that is flying
readily available ingredients — has through state legislatures will have a disbrought about the growth of “home proportionate impact on women – most
labs,” frequently by addicts whose pri- of whom are addicts involved in lowmary purpose is to support their own level manufacturing to support their
habit. As of 1999, 72% of prisoners own addiction. Nationally, prison cells
doing time on meth charges were white, cost between $80,000 and $90,000 to
In the 1980s, crack cocaine was the
big drug scare, and harsh mandatory sentences were enacted for simple possession. Many women, primarily women
of color, were caught up in the dragnet
that ensued. As of 2000, African Americans made up 84% of all prisoners doing time for crack. The sentences for
crack cocaine are exceedingly harsh, averaging 119 months – far longer than
the average sentences for robbery, arson, and manslaughter. The harsh drug
sentences like those for crack cocaine,
and the targeted enforcement of drug
8
construct and average about $18,330 per
year to operate, while residential treatment programs average $14,600/patient
annually and outpatient programs only
$2,300 annually. We, as prison activists,
must therefore press for these programs
and not acquiesce in the construction of
more prisons and the passage of enhanced sentencing that does nothing to
reduce the problem of addiction.
Prisoners: Mothers and
Mothers-to-be
Well over half the women in prisons
and jails are mothers of children under
18. Two-thirds of the mothers in state
prisons and half of those in federal prisons lived with their children prior to incarceration; almost three-quarters of
those on probation have small children.
Pregnant women often enter prison:
in 1997-98 more than 2,200 pregnant
women were imprisoned and more than
1,300 babies were born in prison. Forty
states take the children from their mothers either immediately after they are born
or when the mother leaves the hospital
facility. There are exceptions, however:
In California, an eligible pregnant
woman is housed with her infant from
the time it is born and she may keep the
infant with her until she is released from
prison. This is a start, but the program
providing this service had only 94 places
in 1997 while 436 pregnant women
were incarcerated and 381 babies were
born to women in prison. Illinois had a
program in which 15 qualified women
prisoners could be placed for up to two
years but, again, 120 pregnant women
were incarcerated and 51 babies were
born. New York, Nebraska and South
Dakota have similar programs. The Federal Bureau of Prisons has programs for
qualified pregnant prisoners in which
they may stay for three months after the
birth of their children. All of this is a
Women in Prison
Cont. from Page 9
start, but hardly enough.
There is, however, a darker side of the
treatment meted out to pregnant
women prisoners. Amnesty International
has always decried the use of shackles
and chains in the transport of any prisoners. It conducted a legislative study on
the shackling of pregnant women in custody and a survey of the policies followed by all the state Departments of
Correction. The 40 jurisdictions which
In many other countries women prisoners are
allowed to keep their children with them.
(Photo of a Peruvian prison)
responded to the survey revealed that
onlyone state (Illinois) bans the shackling
of pregnant women when they are
taken to the hospital for delivery. A minimum of 34 states may require the restraint
of prisoners en route to the hospital to
deliver. Nineteen jurisdictions allow for
women to be restrained during labor
and/or birth. Four states actually have
written policies requiring prisoners to be restrained during medical procedures without distinguishing pregnant women
or those in labor (Connecticut, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Minnesota).
Speaking of her correspondence with
women prisoners, Bonnie Kerness, Associate Director of the Criminal Justice
Program at American Friends Service
Committee in New Jersey says, timeline that has a huge impact on in“Women have reported the inappropri- carcerated mothers. Even for mothers
ate use of restraints on pregnant and sick serving a relatively short sentence of, for
How
William
Horton
“Willie
Horton”
prisoners. The
reports
of giving
birthbecame
example,
24 months,
meeting the new
while being handcuffed and shackled are time frame may be impossible. The rehorrible, including one woman whose sult? Permanent loss of a child to foster
baby was coming at the same time the care or adoption.
guard who had shackled her legs was
Even if an incarcerated mother still has
on a break somewhere else in the hos- a right to contact with her children, cirpital.”
cumstances are likely to prevent her
There are more, many more, restric- from active parenting. Because women’s
tions and restraints that prisons are very often located in rural
may be, or are required areas far from the cities where many
to be, placed on prison- women lived, their children have little
ers when they are preg- chance to visit. More than half the chilnant or in labor. Am- dren of prisoners did not visit their
nesty International holds mothers while the mothers were impristhat such restraints can oned. In addition, the high cost of col“rarely be justified in lect phone calls from prison are a finanterms of security mea- cial burden that few of the caregivers
sures.” Shackling a for the children of incarcerated mothwoman in labor endan- ers can afford, thus making contact begers her as well as her tween incarcerated women and their
unborn child, the orga- children even more difficult. A 1993
nization contends, and is House study points out that children’s
a violation of interna- psychological well being can be severely
tional standards. One might add that it damaged by early separation from their
is a violation of human dignity as un- mothers and that a strong relationship
worthy of the one who inflicts it as the between mother and child often enables
one(s) who suffer it.
a prisoner to participate successfully in,
All jurisdictions allow for the termi- and benefit from, rehabilitation pronation of parental rights of those incar- grams and thus decreases recidivism.
cerated; the pertinent law may refer specifically to imprisonment or more gen- Not Part of Her Sentence: Sexual
erally to adoption or foster care. The Misconduct by Corrections Perpassage in 1997 of the federal Adop- sonnel
tion and Safe Families Act (ASFA) has
In all jurisdictions, male guards in conresulted in a heartbreaking increase in the tact with women prisoners outnumber
number of incarcerated mothers whose female guards filling that position. This
parental rights are being terminated. This was not always so but it became almost
is because ASFA forces states to move mandatory with the passage of Title VII
quickly to terminate parental rights in of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which procertain circumstances, for example, in hibits employment discrimination based
most cases where a child is in foster care on sex. The courts have been unable to
for 15 of the past 22 months. It is this find that an employee’s sex is a bona
push toward termination of parental
rights based strictly on a 15-month
Cont on Page 10
9
Women in Prison
Cont from Page 10
fide occupational qualification. The Human Rights Watch report, All too Familiar: Sexual Abuse of Women in U.S. prisons, December 1996, summarizes each
jurisdiction’s laws and regulations.
A U. S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) report to Eleanor Holmes
Norton, Women in Prison: Sexual Misconduct by Correctional Staff, June, 1999,
points out that, in the four years from
1995 through 1998, 31,400 women prisoners in the three largest U.S. jurisdictions (Federal BOP, California, Texas)
oner could be abused (e.g., jails, during
transport, etc.); the focus must be on
custodial staff ’s professional misconduct
not the consent of the prisoner; and the
level of penalty must correspond to the
level of harm inflicted (e.g., felony punishment for first or second degree assault and so on down to administrative
punishment for cases not meeting criminal prosecution standards).
The various jurisdictions have, in the
past several years, instituted laws and
regulations dealing with sexual misconduct in their prisons. Until about
1997, 14 states
Until about 1997, 14 states lacked
lacked any laws
whatsoever proany laws whatsoever prohibiting
hibiting sexual
sexual relations between prisoners
relations between prisoners
and correctional personnel.
and correctional
Four states, including Oregon,
personnel. Four
states, including
still lack such laws.
Oregon, still lack
such laws.
A F S C ’ s
alleged 506 cases of custodial sexual Bonnie Kerness gives several examples
misconduct; and of these, only 92 were of custodial sexual misconduct: one
sustained. The report also notes that prisoner wrote, “I am tired of being
“Because many female [prisoners] may gynecologically examined every time I
be reluctant or unwilling to report staff am searched,” while another stated
sexual misconduct and jurisdictions lack “[t]hat was not part of my sentence to...
systematic data collection and analysis of perform oral sex with officers.”
reported allegations, the overall extent Kerness reports that a New Jersey
of staff-on-[prisoner] sexual miscon- woman who filed charges of rape was
duct in female prisons is largely un- kept in isolation beginning the day she
known.”
filed her complaint. She “had held seAmnesty International has made sev- men in her mouth, spitting it into a plaseral recommendations that would en- tic bag when she returned to her cell.
sure the protection of individuals in cus- She called [shortly thereafter] to let
tody from sexual misconduct by cor- [Kerness] know that the guard who
rectional staff. These stipulate that prison
rules and regulations must cover all
sexual conduct between prisoner and
any custodial staff (including contractors) as well as all locations where a pris10
forced her to have sex was ... back working at the prison.”
Use of Isolation
And there is more: the increasing use
of isolation cells for “troublesome prisoners” now applies as much to women
prisoners as to their male counterparts.
“Troublesome” includes such diverse
conduct as jailhouse lawyering, political
activism, the reporting of custodial misconduct, or simply exhibiting signs of
mental or emotional distress or illness.
Kerness cites letters in which women
report being “housed in cells with no
windows. The toilet, shower and everything else is in this one room. ... We go
outside in a cage similar to the size of
this cell for one hour [four times a week].
Every time we come out of our cells,
we are shackled. If we see a doctor, the
nurse and an officer [are] in the room.
It is very embarrassing to have an officer pull down your pants for your pap
smear.”
Women inPrison
Kerness sums up the entire situation
succinctly when she says, “ Each and every one of the practices that the women
have testified about [is] in violation of
dozens of international treaties and covenants that the United States has signed.
These practices violate the United Nations Convention Against Torture, the UN
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination Against Women, UN Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners,
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
and a dozen other international and regional laws and standards.”
Too little focus has been placed on
women in prison. Their number is increasing and with it their suffering. It is
time for that to change, given not just
the injustices suffered by all prisoners but
those particular to women and their children. The abuses against them, like those
against all prisoners, violate the most elemental of human rights, that of respect
for the other.
Note: Medical care provided (or not provided) to women in prison and jails was previously described in Special Focus: “The Health
Care Crisis Facing Women in Prison,” Fall
2002 JM. Note that the figure of 162,000
women in prison specified in that article does
not jibe with the BJS figures cited above; it was
taken from the article “A Cancer Grows,”
which appeared in the 6 May 2002 issue of
The Nation magazine. It should also be noted
that the article was written by Cynthia Cooper
not Cynthia Casper, the author’s name specified in the JM article; apologies to our readers
and to Ms. Cooper.
Sources:
Amnesty International USA, Rights for
All, Not Part of My Sentence, March 1999
[ai nps]
US Department of Justice, Bureau of
Justice Statistics:
Women Offenders, NCJ175688, December 1998, revised 10/00) [bjs wo];
Women in Prison, NCJ145321, March
1994
Federal Drug Offenders, 1999
Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
2000
Report by Dr. Charles Bliss of the Cornerstone Behavioral Health detailing aspects
of methamphetamine in Wyoming.
Research on Women & Girls in the
Justice System, Exploring the Link Between
Violence Against Women and Women’s Involvement in Illegal Activity, Beth E. Richie,
National Institute of Justice, 2000
Human Rights Watch report, All too
Familiar: Sexual Abuse of Women in U.S.
prisons, December 1996.
Bonnie Kerness, Associate Director,
American Friends Service Committee Criminal Justice Program: draft for speech given
for Ms. Kerness June 2003. [bk afsc]
U.S. Government Accounting Office
report made to Eleanor Holmes
Norton, (non-voting) Representative for
the District of Colombia, Women in
Prison: Sexual Misconduct by Correctional
Staff, June, 1999.
www.drugwarfacts.org
Women, Girls & Criminal Justice, December/January 2000, Adoption and Safe
Families Act of 1997 and Its Impact on Prisoner Mothers and their Children, Gail T.
Smith, Esq.
11
Special Notice to
Women Prisoners
Are you or is any woman you know
confined in isolation or on Death
Row?
The American Friends Service Committee is looking for testimony from
women prisoners in isolation units
and/or on death row. If you are
such a woman, or you know one
who is, we would appreciate it if
you would write us your experiences.
We have published papers on torture as it is practiced in U.S. prisons
and on the general conditions of
isolation units; we would like to
obtain similar information with respect specifically to women prisoners. Please address your correspondence to:
Bonnie Kerness,
Associate Director
American Friends Service Committee
Criminal Justice Program
972 Broad Street - 6th floor
Newark, New Jersey 07102
Prison Activism Now:
On May 10, Western Prison Project
hosted the 4th Regional Conference for
Grassroots Criminal Justice Reform.
This year’s conference, which gathered
64 criminal justice activists (many of
whom are family members of prisoners
or former prisoners) from throughout
our region, took place at the Christ
Episcopal Church in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“Coming to Las Vegas was important
to us because good work is happening
here and Nevada is a critically important
state in the region,” said WPP Executive
Director Brigette Sarabi. She added,
Conference Participants talk in groups during
Saturday’s training on building alliances.
“we feel groups here are doing work
that can serve as models for the region
and we want to support that.”
According to Kathleen Pequeño, WPP
Membership
Director and lead
conference
organizer, “This
year’s conference
was the biggest and
most successful one
yet.” Conferences in
previous years have
been
held
in
Portland, Oregon
and Salt Lake City,
Utah.
The participants
took part in a daylong training session
led by WPP staffers
and veteran political
consultant Thalia
Zepatos. The day
included
an
assessment of the
state of reform
efforts in each of
the seven western
states in the WPP region (Utah, Nevada,
Washington, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho,
and Oregon.) Participants came from
throughout the region and included
special guests from New Mexico and
California. The featured skills training
session of the conference
was
designed
and
Abel and Jose from Oregon’s Latinos Unidos Siempre, a youth-led
organization with a strong commitment to criminal justice reform.
Women leaders from grassroots criminal justice
reform groups in the region, at
Friday’s leadership training.
facilitated by Zepatos and focused on
expanding the base of support for
criminal justice reform by building
“unlikely alliances” and forming strong
cross-issue networks. Among the skills
that were shared was a “how-to”
exercise on setting up one-on-one
meetings with unlikely allies.
The conference was preceded by a
day-long women’s leadership training
session geared toward helping women
leaders to “prioritize ourselves and our
organizations” said Lora Wetzel, a
leader of Women Embracing
Freedom Together (WEFT) an
Oregon-based group serving women
transitioning from prison. “We have
During a break, people headed for the literature tables to check out news
and materials from the groups participating in the conference.
12
Regional Conference Report
Beautiful weather wasn’t enough to distract these
activists. From left: Patricia from Nevada, Scot
from Western Prison Project, Rachel from
Critical Resistance (California), and
Wanda from Nevada.
also discussed the conference and
suggested changes to accommodate the
growing numbers of
participants and to take
fuller advantage of the
skills participants bring.
“We want this to be a
place for participants to
network and share skills.
We provide support and
advice to many of the
groups in the region, but
the grassroots groups are
really the experts and we
want to provide an opportunity for
them to share what they know and all
that they’ve learned,” said Geoff
Sugerman, WPP’s Sprecial Projects
Director.. In addition to discussion of
next year’s conference,
Coalition members also
considered proposals for
coordinated regional actions.
A wide array of ideas were
presented and are currently
under consideration by the
membership.
Special thanks is due to the
host committee in Nevada
who worked hard to make
the conference
possible. The
groups represented on the
host committee are: Friends
and Families of
Incarcerated Persons,
Friends
Outside,
P r o g r e s s i v e
Leadership Alliance of
Nevada, and the
Christ Episcopal
Church. These groups
helped with setting up, recruiting
for, and hosting the conference,
and served as transportation
coordinators and tour guides for
participants.
Arwen and Jose, both from Oregon, report
back on their group’s discussion.
A small group work session, with (from left)
Tilda from New Mexico, Lloyd from
Washington, Gerald from Wyoming, and Joe
from Nevada.
To find out more about next year’s
conference and about the Western
Criminal Justice Reform Coalition,
contact the Western Prison Project.
Matt Wuerker
so few opportunities to meet across
organizations as women leaders that the
women who attended the training
found the opportunity to learn about
one another’s work an exciting and
inspiring experience,” she added.
The Western Criminal Justice Reform
Coalition met the day after the
conference to outline plans for the
coming year. Members of the Coalition
A group of activists from Washington, Oregon,
Utah and Nevada in intense discussion of the
issues. WPP board member, Jo Ann Bowman, is
in the center (facing the camera).
(Photos by Geoff Sugerman
and Brigette Sarabi)
13
Resources for Activists
Whether you are an attorney, a student, an activist, a journalist, a policy maker, or a
citizen concerned about the state of crime control in America, this concise and
affordable volume puts valuable and time-saving research at your fingertips.
Get the real facts about crime and punishment in the United States
in easy to read index form.
Available now from the Western Prison Project.
Order your copies today!
1-10 copies: $10 per copy plus $2 shipping
10-24 copies: $6 per copy plus $3.50 shipping
25 or more: $7 per copy plus $5.00 shipping
Special rates for prisoners: $8 per copy includes shipping
Order on line at www.westernprisonproject.org or
www.prisonpolicy.org
Order by mail at Western Prison Project
PO Box 40085
Portland, Or. 97240
14
Resources for Activists
Legal Services for Prisoners with California Coalition for Women
Children advocates for the human rights Prisoners raises public consciousness
and empowerment of incarcerated
parents, children, family members and
people at risk for incarceration. They
respond to requests for information,
trainings, technical assistance, litigation,
community activism and the
development of more advocates. Their
focus is on women prisoners and their
families, and they emphasize that issues
of race are central to any discussion of
incarceration
Legal Services for Prisoners with
Children
1540 Market St., Suite 490
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415)255-7036
info@prisonerswithchildren.org
about the cruel and inhumane
conditions under which women in
prison live and advocates for positive
changes. They promote the leadership
of and give voice to women prisoners,
former prisoners, and their families.
California Coalition for Women
Prisoners
1540 Market St., Suite 490
San Francisco, California
94102 • USA
(415) 255-7036 ext. 4
info@womenprisoners.org
Women Embracing Freedom
Together advocates for women in
prison in Oregon, and operates
transitional housing in Portland, OR
and Vancouver, WA for women
leaving prison.
Women Embracing Freedom
Together
PO Box 1733 Portland, OR 97207
(503)775-5943
WomenPrison@aol.com
Join Us!
Yes, I want to be a member of the Western Prison Project!
Name:
Address:
Phone:
E-Mail:
Memberships: $15.00 basic membership, $7.00 prisoner membership
___ Sign me up for the Action Alert Network (Oregon only)
___ I want to become a member. Enclosed is my membership donation of: $____
Note: If you are a prisoner or a family member of a prisoner living in our region and you can’t afford to make a
membership donation, you can still become a member and receive “Justice Matters” just by writing to us and
requesting a membership.
The Western Prison Project depends upon memberships and donations to operate. Thank you for your support!
Send memberships and contributions to: Western Prison Project, P.O. Box 40085, Portland, OR 97240-0085.
15
7/03
Take Action! 5 Things You Can Do:
1. Volunteer with a grassroots, criminal justice reform group in your state! For a list of groups
in our region go to WPP’s website: www.westernprisonproject.org and click on “State Info.”
2. Find out what voting rights prisoners have in your state. Work to eliminate the disenfranchisement of all citizens and encourage former prisoners to register to vote. For voting rights
materials contact Western Prison Project or go to WPP’s website
3. Check out the resources on Page 15 to find out more about women in prison.
4. You can make a difference! Contact Western Prison Project and sign up for Oregon Action
Alert Network. See Page 15.
5. Support the movement for criminal justice reform in our region - join Western Prison
Project today.
Western Prison Project
PO Box 40085
Portland, OR 97240-0085
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