I had the good fortune of meeting Tom Daly who wrote a history of Shakopee women’s prison and he told me how women seldom returned to that prison because of the educational offerings and the ability to visit with their children while in prison (his book featured below). The prison was built on the belief that if women could stay in touch with their families and learn some skills while incarcerated, they, their families, and the community would benefit.  

This assumption appears to have been accurate.

It was Tom’s observation (in the book) that the the recidivism rate stayed well below thirty percent when the prison was in a “reform” mode (almost twenty years).  

Today Shakopee Prison recidivism rate hovers around 70 percent, like the rest of American prisons (now that the reforms are gone).

Most women in America’s prisons today are incarcerated under the Kingpin laws.  Most of these women are primarily guilty of being in love with or afraid of, some man (the kingpin).  

The Kingpin has had years sawed off of his drug dealing sentence for each new “assistant/dealer/co conspirator that he gives us to prosecutors.  These women have not had the money to retain the same kind of high powered attorneys that kingpins can afford - which means they get the worst end of the harsh laws this nation has to offer.

More and more federal prisons are being built a very long way from where the inmates live making it very difficult for families to stay in touch.  The coldness of the facilities is as well as the distance is one more adverse childhood experience for already at risk children.

Most of these women never handled significant drug money, have never been a threat to society, and did not deserve to lose their children for a low level drug related crime that society is so slowly beginning to recognize as undeserving of such harsh punishments.  Punishments that tear children from their mothers and destroy the bond that makes a family.

The average tenure of women prison wardens is under one year.  I spoke at a women’s prison warden’s conference in Bloomington MN a few years back and heard the stories of how awful it is to face these women and continue the grossly unfair conditions and punishment that the law requires.

Pregnant women are or can be shackled in childbirth in 29 states.  

Most imprisoned women are incarcerated for Drug Offenses &The sexual abuse of women in prison is a huge problem

Most women in prison are parents and were primary caregivers prior to incarceration

The number of children with an incarcerated mother has doubled between 1991 and 2007.  The trend is getting worse and no one benefits.  Counties spend millions of dollars to find homes for the children of incarcerated moms and it makes childhood much worse for children than a public health approach to the drug laws would.

For the sake of children and families, and also a purely fiscal perspective (the difference between a 27% recidivism rate and a 70% recidivism rate) is reason enough to put things back the way they used to be.

 http://www.invisiblechildren.org/

From today’s Huffington post (very worth the read)

The Number Of Women Behind Bars Is Skyrocketing, And Here’s The Upsetting Result