We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

FEMALE PRISONERS PUNISHED MORE OFTEN FOR LESS, REPORT SAYS

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights last week released a report finding that many incarcerated women experience physical and psychological harms disproportionate to those suffered by male inmates, with insufficient respect for their constitutional rights.

The report concluded that incarcerated parents permanently lose parental rights at higher rates than parents whom courts find to have neglected or abused their children but are not incarcerated; that despite the Prison Rape Elimination Act, sexual abuse and rape remain prevalent against women in prison; and that incarcerated women are often given disproportionately harsh punishments for minor offenses compared to incarcerated men, leading to time spent in segregation and loss of good-time credits for minor violations of prison regulations, and disproportionately harsh punishment for offenses such as “being disorderly.” Men, on the other hand, tend more often to be punished for violence.

“What we saw was that women themselves are substantially more likely [than men] to be subject to disciplinary practices for minor infractions,” says USCCR chair Catherine Lhamon. “Those minor offenses include “being what’s called insolent, or disobeying an order, or swearing.” An NPR/Medill School of Journalism study in 2018 found that women were disciplined at more than twice the rate of men for minor prison rule infractions.

The USCCR report found that prison officials, supervisors, and correctional officers are inconsistently trained on the prevalence of disproportionate punishment of incarcerated women and evidence-based disciplinary practices.

U.S. Civil Right Commission, Women in Prison: Seeking Justice Behind Bars (Feb 26)

NPR, Federal Report Says Women In Prison Receive Harsher Punishments Than Men (Feb 26)

 

– Thomas L. Root