Newsgroups: soc.women

Excerpt:

	  New guidelines enacted in 1985 stripped judges of most of
	their sentencing latitude, [Carol Lease of the Empowerment
	Program] said.  Judges used to be more lenient with women
	than with men, she said, but that's not the case anymore.

	  Yet the effect on society of having many women in prison
	is immeasurable because more than 80 percent of Colorado's
	female inmates have children.


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	_The_Denver_Post_				April 25, 1992

			  Women in Colo. jails up 560%

By Alan Gottlieb
Denver Post Staff Writer

  Colorado women are committing the same number and types of crimes they
always did, but they're paying the price like never before.

  The number of women serving time in Colorado prisons has jumped 560
percent since 1973, according to a new study by Citizens for Correctional
Reform, a local prison-reform advocacy group.  During that same period,
the number of male prisoners increased 264 percent.

  Judges have less sentencing latitude than the used to in dealing with
offenders.  But the effects ripple through the community when women are
put behind bars because so many women are mothers, the reform group said.

  The study, presented yesterday to the Colorado Criminal Justice
Commission, says women are being imprisoned for non-violent crimes when
lesser punishment would do.  Members of the citizens group urged several
reforms, including a change in sentencing laws to allow low-risk offenders
to say out of prison.

  Seventy-seven percent of the women in state prisons as of last March 31
[1992] were serving time for low-grade felonies such as fraud by check and
small-scale drug sales, said Carol Lease of the Empowerment Program, a
service program for women in jail and on parole and probation.

  Also, 90 percent of women in Colorado's prisons have no prior adult
convictions for violent crimes and 92 percent didn't use a weapon in their
offense, the study says.

  New guidelines enacted in 1985 stripped judges of most of the sentencing
latitude, Lease said.  Judges used to be more lenient with women than with
men, she said, but that's not the case anymore.

  Yet the effect on society of having many women in prison is immeasurable
because more than 80 percent of Colorado's female inmates have children.

  In some cases, relatives care for the children.  But in others, "the
children end up with social services or in foster homes," said Linda
Lodenkamper of the reform organization.  "So when you talk about the
impact on women, you're also talking about the greater impact on society."

  Advocates offered several suggestions to keep women out of state
prisons.  They included using part of Lowry Air Force Base for a pilot
program to house 30 to 50 female inmates and their children in existing
dormitories.  The women would be released to work during the day, while
their children attended Head Start programs on the site.

  Despite the rapid rise in the number of female prisoners, women still
comprise just 8 percent of the 7,000-plus Colorado inmate population, the
study says.  The state legislature recently put construction of a new
women's prison on hold, because the number of female inmates isn't
increasing fast enough to justify the expense in tight budgetary times,
said Christie Rosten, a researcher for the corrections department.

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				   Doing Time

  Types of crimes for which men and women are serving time in Colorado
state prisons:

		Men					Women
	Assault (including	24.7%		Theft, forgery, fraud	41.4%
	   sexual assault)			Drug abuse		14.7%
	Burglary		21.3%		Other felonies		14.7%
	Theft, forgery		18.9%		Homicide		12.8%
	Drugs			11.5%		Robbery			 6.9%
	Other felonies		 9.4%		Assault (includes	 5.2%
	Robbery			 8.9%		   child abuse)
	Homicide		 5.3%		Burglary		 3.4%



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			       Doing Time [Mine]

  Types of crimes for which men and women are serving time in Colorado
state prisons:
	[ assume 7,000 total prisoners, 92% male, 8% female ]
				[ 6440, and 560 ]

	Men					Women
Assault (including	24.7%	1591	Theft, forgery, fraud	41.4%	232
   sexual assault)			Drug abuse		14.7%	 82
Burglary		21.3%	1372	Other felonies		14.7%	 82
Theft, forgery		18.9%	1217	Homicide		12.8%	 72
Drugs			11.5%	 741	Robbery			 6.9%	 39
Other felonies		 9.4%	 605	Assault (includes	 5.2%	 29
Robbery			 8.9%	 573	   child abuse)
Homicide		 5.3%	 341	Burglary		 3.4%	 19


Newsgroups: soc.women