On Friday, February 22, in Washington, DC, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will hold a public briefing to evaluate the civil rights of women in prison, including deprivations of women’s medical needs that may violate the constitutional requirement to provide adequate medical care for all prisoners; implementation of the Prison Rape Elimination Act; and the sufficiency of programs to meet women’s needs after release. The Commission will also examine consequences of discipline practices in women’s prisons and the impact on families when women are placed far from home or parental rights are terminated despite their caregiving role.

While home to only 5% of the world’s women, the U.S. has close to one-third of the world’s total incarcerated women. Incarceration rates for women have increased dramatically since the 1970’s, far outpacing even the spike in men’s incarceration. Investigations have long shown that women in U.S. prisons suffer different experiences and deprivations than men, enduring incarceration in a system not designed for them.

Commissioners will hear from state and corrections officials, women who have experienced incarceration, academic and legal experts, and advocates. Members of the public will be able to address the Commission in an open comment session. The Commission will accept written materials for consideration as we prepare our report; submit to womeninprison@usccr.gov no later than March 25, 2019.

From this investigation, the Commission plans to issue a report with actionable recommendations.

DATE:

Friday, February 22, 2019

LOCATION:

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 1150, Washington, DC 20425

AGENDA:

Briefing (expert panels): 9:00 am – 4:00 pm ET*

Open Comment Session (public testimony): 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm ET*

The briefing will live-stream.

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