Female incarceration nears crisis, educators told

By Margaret Bailey
Diversity Institute Fellow

07.31.02

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The number of female inmates in Davidson County is growing so fast that officials are running out of space to house them, Sheriff Gayle Ray said in a speech to the Metropolitan Nashville Retired Teachers Association on July 17.

“When I became sheriff, we had between 70 and 80 women in jail, and they could all be housed downtown in the Criminal Justice Center on one floor,” said Ray, who was elected to office in 1994. “Today, we have over 400 women in jail, and we had to actually contract with Corrections Corporation of America to house female offenders because we ran out of room.”

Ray was invited to speak to the retired educators, who meet monthly and are still actively involved in helping their communities, as part of their program to bring interesting and informative speakers before the group. About 70 people attended Ray’s speech.

According to Ray, most women inmates are non-violent offenders. They have children and are addicted to alcohol, drugs or both. About 60 to 70 percent of them have been the victims of some sort of abuse in their early years by a family member or later by a husband or boyfriend.

“We know if you are a child and your parent is in jail or prison you have an 80 percent greater chance of ending up in the criminal justice system yourself,” Ray said. “We need to break that cycle and there is no way to break it without doing some kind of intervention with the child, the parent and the extended family.”

Ray said GED classes, extensive substance abuse and domestic violence programs are some of the alternatives to incarceration that are available to all inmates.

The programs help to relieve overcrowding and help misdemeanor offenders integrate back into society, Ray said.

In the Day Reporting program, for example, nonviolent offenders submit to drug testing about five times a month, perform community service and abide by curfew. In addition to receiving help with job searches, Ray said the women are given help with housing, child care and personal hygiene.

“We are close to being at a rising crisis again just because of the numbers. We are bumping up against the maximum,” she said with a look of deep concern as she encouraged the retired educators to help keep criminal activities at bay by continuing their involvement in the lives of children, being steadfast in neighborhood watch programs and partnering with law enforcement everywhere.

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Articles, photos by 2002 Diversity Institute Fellows
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