Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-30
MRS. VAN WINKLE
SCRAPS JAIL IDEA
VWoman Offenders Worthy of
Humane Consideration,
She Says.
Continued From First Page.l


One Kind of Heresy.
She doesn't believe that the one un'
alterable requirement of any sort OF
'jail" is TO look like q jail-its UTILITY
for the keeping of prisoners being
secondary consideration. This Is
heresy paramount to saying that tht
most important consideration in build
ing a church is not ecclesiastical archi-
lecture. but provision for public wor-
ship, and folks have been burned al
the stake by an enraged populace fol
even limiting such a thing.
She doesn't believe that an ethical
accident should cut woman of auto
mstically frona all the decencieS OF
life-that a person in the eyes of the
law should be either all good or all bad
She doesn't believe that there is any
thing in the nature of things making
it absolutely impossible for commun-
fly such as the National Capital to take
over into its official dealings some
thing of the code of a gentleman
or that the code Of a gentleman was
never intended TO be applied to some
persons.
She doesn't believe that it is inner
entity against the laws of nature for the
District 10 hold a woman as witness
in a court case, for instance, without
shouting in her ears insiStently for
hours at a time: You're a wicked, vile,
damned creature"
Eventually, Mrs. Van Wrinkle believes,
some of these heresies may even be
applied to the detention of men as well
as women. In fact the process is al
ready under way in some cities. But
communities don't like TO give up their
''jail" traditions. Take off the iron
bars and the big steel doors OF its
prison and a community feels as I'M
comfortable as a man walking down
the street without q necktie.
The heretical process must start with
women and children, so as not 10
violate beyond endurance commun-
ity's sense Of proprieties. That Is
where Mrs. Van Wrinkle is starting.
ViOlatOrs Have Qualities.
The one fundamental heresy upon
which all the others are established,
including the Women's Bureau itself,
it that a woman actually can violate
a law and be caught in the act, but
still remain a human being-a loyal
wife, a loving mother, kindly neigh
Dor, an industrious citizen. In TACT,
Mrs. Van Wrinkle believes, being caught
stealing does not deprive woman OF
WOlldIilOOns
other factors in crime than Just plain
wickedness or possession by the Devil.
This radical doctrine, she insists,
gains some support from the detailed
case records in the files Of the bureau,
some of which trace the lives Of prison.
ers from earliest infancy and reveal the
genesis of their criminal behavior. For
the most part these are confidential
records and can only be published with
out names. They show that there are
skeletons IN the closets OF some greatly
respected persons and families in Wash.
ington. Strange as 1t may seem, al
women who break the law do not ap-
near to be bad" Some OF them, IN
fact are quite decent persons, not
greatly diffeFent from hundreds OF
thousands of wives, mothers, daughters
and sWeetheaFts
AS 8or violating the absolute require
fnent that g "jail' must look like q
F'iail," Mrs. Van Wrinkle pleads guilty.
The justification, she insists, lies IN the
case studies. The woman criminal is
SO often the product of circumstances
or luck. Into this quiet harbor OF the
Women's Bureau files drift strange bits
of wFeckage of lives, storm-tossed on
mystical seas. The drtftwood hoats IN
out Of the oceans of all ages from
ACAA9@A-1(
Irresistible impulses to sentlity with its
pathetic waiting.
And in this driftwood lies whatever
justification there may be for Mrs. Van
Wrinkles heresieS.
Problems of the ShOplifter.
The bane of the police woman's ex-
5stence is the shoplifter.
Washington has its perpetual oneno-
80 fhnffG
from store counters. Some OF these
women are Recommendations OF
an obscure neurotic condition. They
steal because they can't help it. There
is something out of kilter in their sub
conscious. or their synapses have been
tied together in an unusual way.
The behavior of others is not open to
quite so charitable an Interpretation,
They simply are professional thieves
who have drifted into this way of
making living. Shoplifting, to them,
IS business. The penalties are part
Of the overhead.
Both these types are clever. Their
police records tell only small part Of
the story. Naturally great number
Of their offenses are undecided. Police
women would need the eyes Of flies to
catch them in all their operations.
But the really delicate situations
arise with those who steal only once
and are caught-good, stout, homely,
motherly women, prominent in their
church sewing circles, whom one nat
urally associates with beds of Zinnias,
neighborhood bridge clubs and the local
parent-teacher association. They think
thieving is "horrid" One of them
hardly would be suspected of having
anything so romantic and mysterious as
q subconscious. Their nerves are in
perfect order.
home on a shopping trip she has no
more idea of stealing anything than
Of blowing up the White House. She
Is intent on bargains. She enters a de-
partment store, casts envious eyes on
laces, silks and bric-bracs which may
be beyond her purse-and suddenly a
policewoman's hand is on her shoulder,
she is led firmly to a rest room, and
search reveals one of the envied articles
IN her handbag or concealed In her
clothing.
Apparently. says Mrs. Van Wrinkle, it
happens Just like that There is no
reconciliation. The woman never has
stolen before. 1t Is an accident, lust
as If she had slipped on the ice and
Sprained her ankle. The victim has no
explanation to offer. She was caught
red-handed. She doesn't know how or
why 1t happened.
Act Scarcely Realized.
She picked up the desired article Il
examine it, intending to ask the price
of the clerk. The clerk was busy al
the other end of the counter. Nobody
was looking. And the next she knew
the policewoman had her by the arm
NC 70 ~ II
and not make fuss in public. This 4
the old, old story. Moreover, whatever
tynics may say, it probably is the true
story.
It's an accident, like slipping on thu
ice or burning ones fingers taking thu
pies from the oven. But it's likely tx
prove a very serious accident indeed fol