>From: "Peter McWilliams" <peter@mcwilliams.com>
>Subject: Drug Laws and women
>Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 02:07:50 -0800
>X-Mozilla-Status: 8001
>X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000
>
>FROM CNN:
>
>Drug laws putting too many women in prison, reform group says
>
>             The reform group The Sentencing Project says the number of women
>in prison has increased nearly twice as fast as the number of men since 
1980
>
>January 29, 2000
>Web posted at: 11:51 p.m. EST (0451 GMT)
>
>
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>       In this story:
>
>       End to mandatory sentencing sought
>
>       New York facility considered a model
>
>       RELATED STORIES, SITES
>
>
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>
>
> >From Correspondent Frank Buckley
>
>NEW YORK (CNN) -- The number of women in prison has increased at nearly
>double the rate for men since 1980 and imprisonment of women for drug
>offenses has played a major role in this upsurge, says a study issued by 
The
>Sentencing Report, a prison reform organization in Washington DC.
>
>The study also says there are now nearly seven times as many women in state
>and federal prisons as in 1980.
>
>The number of women prisoners rose from 12,300 in 1980 to 82,000 in 1997, a
>rise of 573 percent, the group says. Drug offenses were cited as accounting
>for 49 percent of the rise in women in state prisons from 1986 to 1996,
>compared with 32 percent of the increase for men.
>
>The number of women imprisoned for drug offenses rose by 888 percent from
>1986 to 1996, in contrast to a rise of 129 percent for all non-drug
>offenses, The Sentencing Project says.
>
>The Project found that drug offenses accounted for 91 percent of the
>increase in women sentenced to prison in New York from 1986 to 1995, 55
>percent in California and 26 percent in Minnesota. African American and
>Hispanic women represented a disproportionate share of the women sentenced
>to jail for a drug offense, the group says.
>
>End to mandatory sentencing sought
>The report calls for the repealing of mandatory sentencing laws such as New
>York's "Rockefeller Drug Laws", which require a 15-year sentence for the
>sale of 2 ounces or possession of 4 ounces of drugs.
>
>It says the availability of drug treatment inside and outside the criminal
>justice system needs to be expanded and resources need to be provided to
>address the needs of children of incarcerated women.
>
>The report also urges an end to the denial of welfare and education benefits
>for those convicted of a drug felony.
>
>Anne Elliott, who runs Project Greenhope, an alternative to incarceration
>for women convicted in New York, shares The Sentencing Project's views.
>
>"Most of them are non-violent drug offenders who need treatment and who
>would do much better in a treatment program than in a punitive situation,"
>she said.
>
>Elliott added, "The ultimate goal is to keep people out of prison and to
>help them stay with their families and to become productive members of
>society."
>
>The Sentencing Project found that two-thirds of women in prison have
>children who are younger than 18. Many of the women were single parents.
>
>
>             Imprisoned mothers at the Bedford Hills correctional facility in
>New York are allowed to live with their newborns for several months
>
>New York facility considered a model
>The Bedford Hills correctional facility in New York is considered a model
>among reform advocates.
>
>Imprisoned women are provided with various prevention and treatment
>programs. Mothers are able to live with their newborns for several months
>and to visit older children at a children's center.
>
>Elaine Lord, the facility's superintendent, said the unique bond between
>mother and child should be considered when deciding whether a woman should
>be imprisoned.
>
>"Sending people to prison increases the chances of their children going to
>prison, so we need to look at that in terms of breaking the future cycles,"
>she added.
>
>
>
>