IL for www.theindianalawyer.com
A first-of-its kind study finds women are the fastest-growing incarcerated population, with more than 219,000 behind bars in American jails and prisons.
A report released Thursday by the Prison Policy Initiative and the American Civil Liberties Union anyalzed how many women are under federal, state and local control and the kinds of offenses for which they were incarcerated.
Among the findings:
• 60 percent of women in local jails are unconvicted;
• 44 percent of incarcerated women are under local control;
• 36 percent of women in state prisons are incarcerated for offenses involving violence;
•  28 percent of women in state prisons are incarcerated for property offenses;
•  25 percent of women in state prisons are incarcerated for drug offenses
•  10 percent of women in state prisons are incarcerated for public order offenses such as drunken driving or vagrancy
•  Only 6 percent of incarcerated women are held in federal prisons
““In stark contrast to the total incarcerated population, where the state prison systems hold twice as many people as are held in jails, incarcerated women are nearly evenly split between state prisons and local jails,†the report says.
