Recently Noted – women in prison in the US – more on mass incarceration

“If New York were a separate country, its incarceration rate [for women] would be the 8th highest in the world. A woman in New York is 12 times more likely to be incarcerated than she would be in France.” 1

The Prison Policy Initiative has released a new study “Women’s Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2017“. In a pattern that is similar to the fate of men in our mass incarceration system that charades as justice, 60% of those in local jails are there because they cannot afford bail. 29% of these women held for lack of cash are charged with drug offenses.

“A previous study found that women who could not make bail had an annual median income of just $11,071.And among those women, Black women had a median annual income of only $9,083 (just 20% that of a white non-incarcerated man). When the typical $10,000 bail amounts to a full year’s income, it’s no wonder that women are stuck in jail awaiting trial.”

Read the report here >>>

See also our earlier note:  The US Wins Again – Incarceration in Global Context


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Footnotes

  1. Prison Policy Initiative letter 11/16/17