WOMEN | Justice Strategies

Men make up a large majority of those charged, convicted and incarcerated, but the number of women caught up in the criminal justice system is growing rapidly â€“ causing concern among advocates and policymakers. Justice Strategies has worked with the Womenâ€™s Prison Associationâ€™s Institute on Women and Criminal Justice to identify and respond to trends in female imprisonment since 2004.

Hard Hit: The Growth in the Imprisonment of Women, 1977-2004 (extra)

A new report coauthored by Justice Strategies analysts Judy Greene and Kevin Pranis, and Dr. Natasha Frost of Northeastern University, finds that female imprisonment in the U.S. has skyrocketed 757 percent since 1977. The rise in the female prison population has been punctuated by growth spikes that reached higher, lasted longer and often began earlier than those affecting men. Female prison population growth has surpassed male prison population growth in all 50 states. The increase was particularly dramatic in the Mountain states where the womenâ€™s prison population jumped 1,600 percent over the period. Read more about Hard Hit.

Hard Hit: The Growth in the Imprisonment of Women, 1977-2004

Women's prison population up 757 percent since 1977; women particularly sensitive to overall prison population growth trends.

Women are the fastest-growing segment of the prison population, surpassing male prison population growth in all 50 states and climbing 757 percent between 1977 and 2004. The majority of women in U.S. prison systems are incarcerated for nonviolent drug and property offenses. Many suffer from chemical dependency, mental illness or both.

Mountain States Imprisoning More Women

(The Associated Press - David Crary - May 21, 2006)

NEW YORK -- Oklahoma, Mississippi and the Mountain states have set the pace in increasing the imprisonment of women, while several Northeastern states are curtailing the practice, according to a new report detailing sharp regional differences in the handling of female offenders.

The report, to be released Sunday by the New York-based Women's Prison Association, is touted as the most comprehensive state-by-state breakdown of the huge increase in incarceration of women over the past 30 years.

Number of women prisoners climbs in Ohio, bucking downward trend among men

Womenâ€™s prison population growth outstripped growth in the menâ€™s population in every state during the past 27 years. A different trend has emerged since the end of 1999. Women continue to be disproportionately impacted in states where overall growth rates remain high. But among states that experienced little or no prison population growth, a large majority saw growth rates for female prisoners fall below rates for males.

Oregon women hard-hit by prison population growth

Women's prison population growth outstripped growth in the men's population in every state during the past 27 years. A different trend has emerged since the end of 1999. Women continue to be disproportionately impacted in states where overall growth rates remain high.

Arizona lawmakers join call for sentencing reform

(May 12, 2004)Â Â Respected Republican Rep. Bill Konopnicki (R â€“ Stafford) and Sen. Carolyn Allen (R â€“ Scottsdale) welcomed the release of a report blaming the growth in incarceration on Arizonaâ€™s rigid mandatory sentencing laws, and they pledged to support legislation establishing a sentencing commission to study the matter.

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