Fact Sheet: Women, Prison, and the Drug War

September 2012

1.

Drug use and drug selling occur at similar rates across racial and ethnic groups.1 The rate of incarceration in state or federal prison for white women is 47 per 100,000. For Latina women, it is 77 per 100,000 and for black women 2 it is 133 per 100,000. At these incarceration rates, black women are nearly three times more likely than white women to be sent to prison, and Latinas are 1.6 times more likely than white women to be imprisoned.3

Female Drug Arrests, 1980-2009

400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 7. Even though they use illicit drugs at similar rates during pregnancy, black women are far more likely than white women to be reported to child welfare 7 services for drug use. One study found that black women were 10 times more likely than white women to be reported to child welfare.8 More than half (54 percent) of incarcerated people are parents of minor children, including more than 120,000 mothers and 1.1 million fathers. Twothirds of these parents are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses, most of which are drug law violations.9 Sixty-one percent of women in state prison and 56 percent of women in federal prison were mothers of minor children in 2004 (the most recent year for 10 which data are available). 8. 9. Sales Possession

2.

3.

Female Incarceration Rates, 2010

150 100 50 0 White 4. Black Latina Rate of Incarceration in State/Federal Prison per 100,000

Women are one of the fastest growing segments of the prison population. Between 1977 and 2010, the number of women in state and federal prisons 4 grew by more than 800 percent. The drug war drives these numbers: More than a quarter (25.7 percent) of women in state prison are incarcerated for a drug law violation, 5 compared to 17.2 percent of men. Before mandatory minimums, the average federal drug sentence was 11 percent higher for blacks than for whites. After mandatory minimums were reinstituted in 1986, federal drug sentences were 6 49 percent higher for blacks.

5.

Number of Women in State and Federal Prisons, 1977-2010

125,000 100,000 75,000 50,000 25,000 0 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010

6.

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10. As many as 2.7 million children (one in every 28) are growing up in U.S. households in which one or more parents are incarcerated.11 11. The racial disparities seen in the incarcerated population replicate themselves among the children left behind: by 2008, one in nine (11.4 percent of) black children, one in 28 (3.5 percent of) Latino children and one in 57 (1.8 percent of) 12 white children had an incarcerated parent. 12. 3.8 percent of black children had a parent incarcerated for a drug law violation in 2008, compared to 1 percent of Latino children and 0.3 percent of white children.13
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enforcement and sentencing, these collateral consequences disproportionately affect people of color.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, National Survey on Drug Use & Health 2010 (2011); and Human Rights Watch, Targeting Blacks: Drug Law Enforcement and Race in the United States (2008), http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/05/04/targeting-blacks 2 Guerino, Paul; Harrison, Paige M.; and Sabol, William J., "Prisoners in 2010," U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (2011),Appendix Table 16b, Estimated number of sentenced prisoners under state jurisdiction, by offense, sex, race, and Hispanic origin, December 31, 2009, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p10.pdf. 3 Ibid 27. 4 George Hill and Paige Harrison, Female prisoners under State or Federal jurisdiction, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/dtdata.cfm#corrections; and Guerino, Table 1. Prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, December 31, 20002010, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2230. 5 Guerino 29. 6 Meierhoefer, B. S., The General Effect of Mandatory Minimum Prison Terms: A Longitudinal Study of Federal Sentences Imposed (Federal Judicial Center, 1992), 20. 7 Sarah C. M. Roberts and Amani Nuru-Jeter, Universal Screening for Alcohol and Drug Use and Racial Disparities in Child Protective Services Reporting, Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research 39.1 (2012), 3-16. 8 Chasnoff IJ, Landress HJ, Barrett ME. The prevalence of illicit-drug or alcohol use during pregnancy and discrepancies in mandatory reporting in Pinellas County, Florida. New England Journal of Medicine. 1990;322(17):12021206. 9 Bruce Western and Becky Pettit, Collateral Costs: Incarcerations Effect on Economic Mobility. (The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2010) 4, http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_report_detail.aspx?id=609 60. 10 Glaze, Lauren and Laura Maruschak, Parents in Prison and Their Minor Children. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (2010) 3, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/pptmc.pdf. 11 Western 4. 12 Ibid. 13 Ibid 32-33. 14 The Sentencing Project, Incarcerated Parents and Their Children: Trends 1991-2007 (2009), http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/publication s/inc_incarceratedparents.pdf. 15 American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Health Care for Pregnant and Postpartum Incarcerated Women and Adolescent Females, (2011); and Institute on Women & Criminal Justice, Laws Banning Shackling during Childbirth Gaining Momentum Nationwide, (Women's Prison Association, 2011), http://wpaonline.org/pdf/Shackling%20Brief_final.pdf.

Percent of Children with an Incarcerated Parent

15% 11.4% 10% 5% 0% 1980 1990 2000 3.5% 1.8% 2008

Black Latino White

13. According to the most recent data (2004), 84 percent of parents in federal prison and 62 percent of parents in state prison are housed 100 14 miles or more from their children. 14. Pregnant women who are incarcerated for drug law violations often do not receive prenatal care. Children are often separated from their imprisoned mothers, causing irreparable damage to the child. 15. Prisons commonly use restraints (handcuffs and shackles) on women in labor and during delivery regardless of the womens histories. Only 13 state departments of corrections (California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia) and Washington DC have banned this practice. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists opposes this practice because it puts the health 15 of the woman and fetus at risk. 16. The lifelong penalties and exclusions that follow a drug conviction have created a permanent second-class status for millions of Americans, who are often prohibited from voting, getting a job, securing a student loan, and accessing housing or other forms of public assistance. Because of the overwhelming racial disparities in drug law

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| 131 West 33rd Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10001 nyc@drugpolicy.org | 212.613.8020 voice | 212.613.8021 fax

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