Women who are currently incarcerated are increasingly mostly moms. Since the mother is the main caregiver for her child, babies whose mothers are in prison suffer. The augmentation is supported by a 2014 research that found that 82% of women in federal prisons and 77% of those in state prisons provided daily care for their children before being imprisoned. (Elmalak, 2014). These ladies were more than half had young children. Children whose moms are behind bars face difficulties as they grow up, and when these children pass away, their mothers are also impacted.
It was suggested that women's jails should have nurseries as a way to combat these issues. However, the first nursery to be established is a century old. The concept of prison nurseries is still seen as rare and new with only nine states in America having such programs. Consequently, we should focus on setting up of prison nursery facilities as their value out ways their limitations (Elmalak, 2014). However, constitutional critics on these institutions should not be discouraged as they are not hundred percent effective.
Before we point fingers and concentrate on the female incarceration, there is need to fully understand the operations of the American prisons, its history, the constitutional standards of prisoners' rights and the country's view on imprisonment as a form of punishment. In the history of the world, America has the highest number of prison inmates with the rate of 716 per 100,000 while the rest of the world's rate rage is 150 per 100,000 (Elmalak, 2014). The great America's reliance on prison is the reason why it has such significant number incarcerated persons. The American policy that focuses on the prevention wrongdoing or lawbreaking rather than encouragement of the desirable deeds is the reason why she has the most substantial number of inmates. In 1871, inmates were considered slaves of the state with no right what so ever. However, this rule change in 1960 to 1970s when the country introduced the inmate rights despite relieving them of their liberty rights (Elmalak, 2014).
In the history of America, the first women prison was set in 1873 at a state called Indiana, with the ability of housing forty to sixty people (Elmalak, 2014). Later five other women prisons were introduced in California, Nebraska, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Minnesota. There has been a gradual increase in the number of women prisoner with a total of 108 women prison facilities (Elmalak, 2014). In the year 2000, the number women in prison both state and federal were 93,234. This number has increased in the recent past with the latest at 112,822 women in prisons by the year 2010 (Elmalak, 2014). Although the number of women in jail is fewer as compared to the men, there is an alarming increase of women in our prison facilities. The rate is at 637%, which is 1.5 times that of men. 201,200 women in America are held in penal institutions as either convicted or pre-trial detainees (Elmalak, 2014). The number is a significant concern that needs to be looked at swiftly and carefully.
Racial segregation is also evident in the prison facilities as it is more likely for a Hispanic and black woman to be imprisoned as compared to a white woman. The research tabled the following findings: between a white woman, and a black woman is 2.5 times that is 129 black women to 51 white woman per 100,000 (Elmalak, 2014). On the other hand, Hispanic women imprisoned were at 1.4 times that white women that is 71 Hispanic women against 51 white women per 100,000 ( Elmalak, 2014). Another critical issue is the inmate mothers. There is an absolute difference between the numbers of women having children in the prisons with the ones from the previous decades.
When men and women inmates were asked who provided most of the daily care for the children they had different responses, with the women believed to be giving them the most consideration. The pregnant women serving prison sentence need to be provided with adequate nutrition and physical exercise for the proper functioning of the body during the expectancy period. However, the numbers of women giving birth in prisons are increasing while the prison nursery facilities cannot accommodate the growing number of babies. A prison nursery is a facility in prisons that allow the women to keep their babies in prison with then for a specific period, which is generally between 12 to 18 months (Elmalak, 2014). Each mother and her child is accommodated in an individual room till the stipulated period expires.
The oldest prison nursery facility was established in 1901 at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility to accommodate the pregnant women prisoners (Elmalak, 2014). However, admission into such institutions did not guarantee to all the expectant women but was a peg on the kind of crime the woman committed. For example, the offense should be unrelated to child abuse, not have a previous history of child molestation or non-violent crime. All the women signed in the facilities must participate in the prenatal and parenting classes. If the mother breaks any of the rules while still in the prison nursery, the child would be taken away, and the mother returned in the general population prison fertility (Elmalak, 2014).
Advantages of prison Nurseries
The prison nurseries have proven to have positive impacts on the women and the child. This facility keeps the mother and the child in physical contact during the critical stages of the infant life (Elmalak, 2014).The mental state of the women is verily affected when they are separated from their children because of imprisoning. However, if the mother is allowed to keep the child within the prison facility, they turn to be mentally stable and very cooperative in the correctional facilities. These nurseries too teach the women on better parenting skills. Hence, they can regain custody of the child once they complete their sentence (Elmalak, 2014). They are less likely to commit another crime that may land them in prison again for fear of being separated from their child.
A three-year study by the New York State Department of Correctional Services stated that nursery care participating women were less likely to be recidivism as compared to the non-participating inmates (Elmalak, 2014). Reduction in the rate of recurrence saves the country a big deal on the cost of maintaining prison facilities and reducing the overcrowding in the prisons. Similarly, in Washington State reported 15% reduction in recidivism rate among the women inmates.
A confection from superintendent Eldon Vail at Mc Neil Island Corrections Centre state that the kids in her prison nursery seem happy and of good health since their mothers are well guided by professionals who have experience in child handling and development ( Elmalak 2014). Although, these children know that they are in prison they do not seem shocked with state and prefer to remain with their mothers. Lastly, these children have a better starting point in life as compared to the kids who were separated from their mothers, even though, they surrounded by barbed wires, concrete walls and are limited to movement within the walls only.
Limitations of Prison Nurseries
Although these facilities were brought to solve a problem they still have loopholes that are a threat to security, child's development, health, its reliability, management and the difficulty in separating the mother from the child. Particularly after the stipulated 18 months have elapsed especially when the mother is serving a longer sentence(Elmalak, 2014). Secondly, the program does not adequately serve the child's interest of better living and well-being. It is argued that the prison is not a place for a child development even if their mother is present (Elmalak, 2014). They say that the facility only serves the interest of the mother, which is to spend time with the child. The research term the nurseries as prisons subjected on the children for the crime, they are innocent. Although the primary intention of nurseries is to keep the child safe, there have been reports of these kids being molested within the facilities' walls.
The inclusivity of the nursery programs is wanting, for it only admits low-risk inmate women, leaving the other women who could benefit from the same facility wonder away from their children (Elmalak, 2014). The spaces in the facilities are too small to accommodate a significant number of these kids fully. Another issue is the age limit. The facility only accommodates the children born within the facility leaving the other older children of incarcerated mothers born before the mother is arrested (Elmalak, 2014). It is stated that the separation after the initial connection with mother due to imprisonment poses a threat to the child's development and these children should be included in the program as others who were born within the prison walls (Elmalak, 2014).
These facilities are potential constitutional challenges as prison nurseries are still new in the United States prison system. With the growing trend in the number of incarcerated mothers will force the expansion of the prison nurseries. The male facilities do not have the nurseries making the single fathers serving a prison sentence denied the chance of raising their child around them.
Such fathers would raise issues that they are given equal rights as women, hence creating a constitutional challenge. It is believed that women in the nurseries do get fair treatment. Therefore, the male counterpart can use this opportunity to claim that their Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection right is not respected (Elmalak, 2014). The fact that the nurseries are only available in the female prisons only may cause the equal rights activist to push for an amendment of the Equal Protection Clause to have such facilities created in male prisons.
On the other hand, a mother who gives birth to a child before being imprisoned would argue that despite them be incarcerated for the same crime; the pregnant inmate will not only get special treatment. But would exclusively enjoy the benefits that come with nursery facility for her child just because the child was born within the prison walls. Another fears limitation is the rules state that the children within the nurseries are not in custody, not being punished and not receive extra-disciplinary sanctions, although technically these kids are not at liberty to leave the facilities (Elmalak, 2014). Most of the children born to imprisoned mothers are taken away from their mothers and sent to foster care or the mother's relatives. Most of these women will not get visits from their kids during the period of imprisonment.
The most unwelcome truth is that many US citizens are not aware of or somewhat concerned about the activities that often take place inside prison walls. Until the time when a story o reality is passed out to reach every American citizen through appropriate and reliable media, or catastrophes such as prison riots, the worse situations that prisoners face inside the prison walls are indeed washed away from the public consciousness. However, the later should not happen. According to Lynch (2002) just as discussed earlier, there is worrying the increase in prison mothers that should be taken care of by the public. Of course, there are a lot of factors that could give rise to the growth of mothers in prison. Nonetheless, it is the responsibility of American government to find out and take appropriate action to care such factors.
The equal protections claims do not accommodate suspect's fundamental rights or classification. The court will be left with either choice applying Turner or rational basis test. The Turner test states that a legitimate state of interest must be available and are rationally related. The court will only uphold the classification, only if the court finds a good reason for designation. Under seniors, the rational basis test, and turner the constitutional insights will fail because the court will only find the interest of prisons' security (Elmalak, 2014).
Conclusion
There should be an equal growth in the number of nurseries concerning the increase of the number of incarcerated women. They either suggest that keeping a family together and the benefits associated with imprisoning and the other negative impacts such programs should be well addressed. Any of the speculated constitutional changes cannot hold ground now or in the future, so they should not prevent the expansion and creation of new prison nurseries in the American correctional facility system. In the issue of setting up nurseries in male prison has no base for it first, poses a security threat (Lynch, 2002). Secondly, these imprisoned fathers have the right of seeing their children through the prison visits. Thirdly, they could argue that it is costly to set up nurseries in both male and female correctional facilities. Finally, the language of turner test affirms that the first factor must be met and imply that the three remaining elements be weekly considered in the analysis (Lynch, 2002). Under this test, the claim for equal protection will equally fail. The Turner court agate that application of day-to-day judgments to an inflexible scrutiny would only hamper the prisons officials gauge security issues and adopt appropriate solutions to the prison administration problems.
References
Elmalak, S. (2014). Babies Behind Bars: An Evaluation of Prison Nurseries in American Female Prisons and Their Potential Constitutional Challenges. Pace L. Rev., 35, 1080.
Lynch, M. (2002). The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 25(2), 109-112.
