In 2005, Women In Government hosted women and the criminal justice system panels at our 6th Annual Southern Regional Conference September 8-11 in Charleston, South Carolina and our 7th Annual Eastern Regional Conference 26-29 in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.The goal of Women In Government’s programming in this area was to increase legislative awareness surrounding the issues facing women in the criminal justice system and emphasize the importance of gender specific policies in order to curb the staggering numbers of women in prison.
At our regional conferences the panels dealt with the specific issues and barriers women in the criminal justice face, and were constructed around Cristina Rathbone’s new book, A World Apart: Women, Prison and Life Behind Bars. Prior to the panels, all meeting participants listened to a reading from the author to set the stage for the next day’s panel. The novel, a first-hand look at MCI-Framingham, the oldest women’s prison in the country, puts a human face on the statistics, and Rathbone reveals the ongoing crisis playing out for women in the criminal justice system.
The panels consisted of four experts in the field, and their panel discussions, contact information, and organization’s information is listed below:
Women and the Criminal Justice System
Women, Prison and Life Behind Bars: A Case Study
- An overview of mandatory minimum sentencing and its affect on women and their children
- The current crisis, who is being incarcerated and for what offense
Speaker
Cristina Rathbone
Investigative Journalist
Cristina Rathbone is a Writer and Investigative Journalist, and has written for numerous magazines and newspapers including New York Daily News, Latina Magazine, Out and the Miami Herald. In 2000, Ms. Rathbone was awarded a Soros Justice Senior Fellowship from the Open Society Institute to write a book about women in prison. A World Apart: Women, Prison and Life Behind Bars, published this summer by Random House, is a first-hand look at the oldest women’s prison in the U.S. and the women she came to know there.
Sentencing and Drug Policy: How Women Get Caught in the Net and Can’t Get Out (Click here to view the PowerPoint presentation)
- Unintended consequences of sentencing policies
- Drug addiction as a public health issue and gender specific treatment
- Alternative policy responses
Speaker
Deborah Peterson Small
Executive Director
Break the Chains
295 Lafayette Street, Suite 501
New York, New York 10012
Tel. 212.690.3667
dsmall@breakchains.org
http://www.breakthechains.net/
Deborah Small is Executive Director of Break the Chains, an organization that seeks to build a national movement within communities of color against punitive drug policies. Break the Chains’ ultimate goal is to implement progressive drug reform policies that promote racial justice and human rights. Before assuming her position at Break the Chains, Ms. Small was Director of Public Policy for the Drug Policy Alliance. Ms. Small’s professional career also includes a position as the Legislative Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
The Big and Small Picture: Collateral Consequences of Incarceration and Challenges to Successful Re-entry
- Challenges to successful re-entry: TANFF, ASFA, barriers to employment, housing, and public assistance
Speaker
Ann Jacobs
Executive Director
Women’s Prison Association
110 Second Avenue
New York, New York 10003
Tel. 212.674.1163
Fax. 212.677.1981
ajacobs@wpaonline.org
http://www.wpaonline.org/
Ann Jacobs is the Executive Director of the Women's Prison Association (WPA), a non-profit agency working in New York City to create opportunities for change in the lives of women prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families. WPA offers programs that help 2,000 women a year acquire life skills needed to end their involvement in the criminal justice system and make positive, healthy choices for themselves and their families. Before coming to WPA, Ms. Jacobs worked in the New York City Mayor's Office as Assistant Director of the Mayor's Office of Operations. Her experience includes a range of assignments in government, non-profit organizations, and the private sector.
Policy, Programs and Practice: What Women Need Before and After They Come Home
- The need for programming inside, higher education and how it reduces recidivism
- The numbers of women coming out each year and their needs while in prison and after they leave.
Speaker
Vivian Nixon
AME Church Project, Re-Enter-Grace
3 Bay Green Lane, #3C
Port Washington, New York 11050
Tel. 516.767.1407
VDNixon@optonline.net
Vivian Nixon is an Ordained Minister and Executive Director of the College and Community Fellowship at the City University of New York, which provides intensive academic support and public leadership development for formerly incarcerated women. She also serves as an Associate Minister at the Mt. Olive AME Church in Port Washington, NY. In January 2005, Reverend Nixon was awarded a Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowship from the Open Society Institute to launch Re-Enter-Grace, an advocacy and education project aimed at religious leaders and their communities.
Women and the Criminal Justice System: Resources
Materials Distributed During Women In Government's Eastern Regional Conference September 28, 2005:
Additional Resources
Women and Families
Mass Incarceration
Sentencing
Drug Policy
Mental Health
Reentry
Justice Reinvestment
Disenfranchisement
Education
Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System
Juvenile Justice
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Unintended Consequences: The Impact of "Zero Tolerance" and Other Exclusionary Policies on Kentucky Students. Building Blocks for Youth, 2003. http://www.ylc.org/ylc_bbfy.htm
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¿Dónde Está La Justicia? A Call to Action on Behalf of Latino and Latina Youth in the U.S. Justice System. Building Blocks for Youth, 2002. http://www.ylc.org/ylc_bbfy.htm
For further information and resources, visit:
