Female-prison operations are more challenging due to gender-related issues that come with female prisoners. Female prisoners are vulnerable to rampant physical and sexual abuse from male jail administrators and other inmates (Seldin, 1995). Managing female prisons is hard; there are high chances of class action lawsuits against the prisons, hence a large number of judicial decisions in the area.
Barefield v. Leach was a 1974 lawsuit filed by female inmates in a New Mexico Prison. Before 1974, the needs of female prisoners were neglected by the prisons. The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the prison because it did not have vocational training and paid work opportunities for women inmates, while male inmates had access to those opportunities. Barefield v. Leach ruling was in favor of the plaintiffs, it concurred that women prisons had fewer opportunities and programs in comparison to the male prisons.
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Barefield v. Leach ruling has changed operations in female prisons. Currently, the number of female prisons in the U.S. is increasing faster than the number of male prisons. According to the Sentencing Project (2016), the population of women in prison today is eight times the population of women in 1980. With the increasing number of women in prison, there is a need to offer equal and female-centered opportunities for women prisoners, and this was made possible by Barefield v. Leach and other related cases.
Female prisons now offer different programs to meet the psychological, social, and physical needs of prisoners. Female prisoners now have access to different educational and vocational training to enable prisoners to access the much-needed training to enable them to lead productive lives after prison. While the access is limited, most women prisons offer GED, and different variety of vocational training like mechanics, agriculture, metal fabrication, and tailoring. The vocational training equips women prisoners with practical skills to secure employment after prison.
Additionally, Barefield v. Leach made it possible for women prisoners to access social services related to pregnancy and child placement. Women in prison can get prenatal care, birth control, and even abortion today, yet these services were not available in the past. Women who give birth in prison are connected with social workers who arrange for adoption or to have the baby taken by the family members of the prisoner. There are elaborate visitation rights to enable women in prison to stay in touch with their children. According to the Sentencing Project report (2016), more than 60% of women in prison have a child under the age of 18, and most of them keep in touch with their children.
In conclusion, Barefield v. Leach ruling has changed the state of women’s prisons today. Women prisons now have most of the resources and programs meant to rehabilitate women prisoners effectively and to meet their unique needs. Women prisons have made an effort to fulfill the different needs of women through educational and vocational programs, as well as social programs that enable mothers in prison to spend time with their children. Women have equal access to educational and vocational training programs like men in prison giving them a chance to rehabilitate their lives effectively.
References
Seiter, R. P. (2010). Corrections: an introduction . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Seldin, S. F. (1995). A Strategy for Advocacy on Behalf of Women Offenders. Colum. J. Gender & L. , 5 , 1.
The Sentencing Project. (2016). Fact Sheet: Incarcerated Women and Girls. Retrieved from: http://www.sentencingproject.org/wp- content/uploads/2016/02/Incarcerated-Women-and-Girls.pdf
