RISING NUMBER OF FEMALE INMATES CAUSES PROBLEMS

These Days, Women Are Finding A New Way To Prove Their Equality With
Men: They're Going To Jail And Prison.

The trend is one that local, state and national law enforcement
authorities and criminal experts are still mostly struggling to make
sense of. But the surprising growth in the arrest, conviction and
incarceration of female criminals is unmistakable and shows no signs
of slowing.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that while the number of men
arrested on charges of aggravated assault fell 12.3 percent in the
past 10 years, the number of women arrested on the same charge rose
24.9 percent. Drug arrests rose 34.5 percent for men in this period
but 50 percent for women.

Increases for assault and drug offenses are dwarfed by the number of
women arrested on embezzlement charges, which has increased more than
80 percent in the past decade, actually surpassing the number of men
arrested on the same charges - the only crime for which that is true.

Justice Department statistics show that in the 12 years from 1990
through 2002, the number of women in state and federal prisons soared
a whopping 121 percent, from 44,065 to 97,491. In that same period, by
comparison, the number of men in state and federal corrections
facilities increased 84 percent, from 729,840 to 1,343,164.

It could well be argued that since the number of female inmates is so
much smaller than the number of male prisoners, such increases are
merely a statistical peculiarity.

But some criminal behaviorists see them as indicative of a sea-change
in women's roles in society. They argue that as women take on more of
the social roles formerly associated with men, they have increased
opportunities to commit crimes, especially property crimes such as
embezzlement.

At the same time, statistics show that women are committing more
serious crimes and have longer criminal records than before, meaning
they are more likely to be sentenced to longer jail and prison terms.

In Tennessee, the number of women in Tennessee jails has nearly
tripled in the past 12 years, which corresponds to the justice bureau
study.

In July 1990, 609 women were housed in Tennessee prisons or jails on
felony charges. That number jumped to 1,746 by October 2002, state
records show.

Steep as that increase has been, the number of female inmates is
expected to increase by more than 41 percent during the next decade.
By contrast, the male prison population is expected to increase by
approximately 28 percent.

Sullivan County Sheriff Wayne Anderson says the increase in female
inmates is a growing local problem as well. In 1987 there were usually
six but not more than 12 female inmates in the jail located at the old
courthouse. When the present jail was constructed, plans provided for
20 female inmates, a generous increase that most thought would suffice
for at least 15 years.

But by 1999, the 20-bed area was housing as many as 79 female
prisoners. Female inmates were subsequently moved from the 20-bed area
to a housing area with 68 beds.

When additional space was provided during jail construction in 2002,
the number of females being held demanded yet another move. The
females were placed in a four-cell configuration consisting of 76
beds. This current arrangement, the sheriff notes, allows jail
personnel to separate misdemeanor and felony females, but there is
still not enough single cell space to operate a disciplinary
separation area or to always provide for the separation of inmates
when special circumstances require it.

In the current arrangement, Anderson says, the number of female
inmates sometimes runs as high as 100. As more and more female inmates
are being held until trial and receiving longer sentences, the sheriff
points out, the overcrowded conditions are not likely to reverse themselves.

The increase in the female jail population in Sullivan County and
statewide demands greater resources. It requires the active interest
and fiscal commitment of the governor and state lawmakers.

While Tennessee's finances continue to be tight, the adequate funding
of the state's corrections system - including provision for the
explosive growth in the female inmate population - is one of those
must items that cannot be denied or delayed.