Southern bishops urge Gospel response for imprisoned women

Published: 2006-04-03

MARTIN, Ky. (CNS) -- A group of more than 30 Southern bishops issued a pastoral statement urging a new look at how the criminal justice system treats women in prison. "We do not tolerate sin or crime," the bishops said in the statement, "Women in Prison," issued March 27. "But we bishops of the southern U.S. call our people to recognize the dignity of those women who suffer from incarceration in our prison system and to help them toward responsibility, reconciliation and restoration." The bishops said the female population in U.S. prisons "is escalating faster than that of men in prison. In fact, the U.S. now has 10 times more women in prison than the combined nations of Western Europe with approximately the same number of women in the population." The statement quoted the testimony last year of Kathy Masulis, a volunteer teacher in a women's prison. Masulis said, "Most women in our correctional system are poor, and many were accomplices to crimes committed by their boyfriends or husbands. They are now held in a system largely designed by and for men, despite the fact that incarcerated women are usually not a threat to public safety, nor are they likely to attempt escape."

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