Click here to view recent Media Coverage of WPA.

Media Advisories Issued by WPA:

Women Continue to Lead Imprisonment Growth Trend in 2006
December 5, 2007 - WPA analysis of the latest federal prison, probation, and parole statistics reveals dramatic growth in women's criminal justice involvement. Click here to read the press release.

The Institute on Women & Criminal Justice Responds to the Bureau of Justice Statistics' Report

On June 27, 2007, the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics released Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2006.  According to a semi-annual report on prison and jail data, the rate of growth of the incarceration of women in both prison and jail continues to outpace the rate of growth for men.  The Institute on Women & Criminal Justice notes that this is a troubling continuation of a decades-long trend that saw the women’s prison population increase by 757% between 1977 and 2004.  The Institute continues to encourage decision makers to reduce reliance on incarceration and to make substantive investments in our communities. Read the Institute’s Press Release.

Press Inquiries: Sarah From, (646) 336-6100, ext. 7749 or E-mail: sfrom@wpaonline.org

The Institute on Women & Criminal Justice Responds to the Bureau of Justice Statistics' Report

On November 30, 2006, the Bureau of Justice Statistics released Prisoners 2005, an annual criminal justice data report.  The report shows that the imprisonment of women continues to rise at a rate faster than that of men.  The report also confirms that the regional trends in female incarceration growth found in the Institute’s May 2006 report, HARD HIT: The Growth in the Imprisonment of Women, 1977 – 2004, have continued into 2005. To read the full Press Release, click here.

Press Inquiries: Sarah From, (646) 336-6100, ext. 7749 or E-mail: sfrom@wpaonline.org

The Institute on Women & Criminal Justice releases new report, The Punitiveness Report-HARD HIT: The Growth in Imprisonment of Women, 1977-2004

A new report commissioned by the Institute on Women & Criminal Justice finds that female imprisonment in the U.S. has skyrocketed 757 percent since 1977. "The Punitiveness Report-HARD HIT: The Growth in Imprisonment of Women, 1977-2004" takes an in-depth look at female prison population growth patterns and regional trends, and it provides the first state-by-state analysis of female imprisonment from 1977 to 2004, with findings from all 50 states. The report was authored by Dr. Natasha Frost, Assistant Professor at Northeastern University, and Judith Greene and Kevin Pranis of Justice Strategies. Read the Press Release.

Press Inquiries: Sarah From, (646) 336-6100, ext. 7749 or E-mail: sfrom@wpaonline.org

WPA Meets with NYS Attorney General Eliot Spitzer

On February 27, 2006, WPA Executive Director Ann Jacobs joined other advocates at a meeting with New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to discuss the need for adequate services to help formerly incarcerated people transition back into the community.  This meeting was at the invitation of Senator Velmanette Montgomery (D-Brooklyn). Read the Press Release.

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Media Coverage

WPA has been featured in national and local publications including Glamour, The New York Times, and The Women’s Review of Books. Please see below for a list of recent articles about WPA. 

• The Delaware News Journal featured WPA in their Mother's Day feature on prison visiting programs for women (May 11, 2008).
  

• An Associated Press story on incarcerated mothers cited data from WPA's Institute on Women & Criminal Justice (May 9, 2008).
  

• The New York Times published a Letter to the Editor from WPA April 27, 2008.
  
  

• WPA's Reentry Services were highlighted in a news segment on the Spanish-language channel Telemundo 47 on April 3, 2008.
  

• WPA was featured on the Brian Lehrer Show, the flagship public affairs program of WNYC public radio, on February 20th, 2008. Click here to listen.
  

• WPA discussed issues facing incarcerated mothers on The Radio Mom, an online radio show for socially-conscious moms, on December 14, 2007. Click here to download or listen online.
  

• Matthew Gruchow, "County Sees Sharp Increase in the Number of Women in Jail," Argus Leader, 18 June 2007.
  

• Tim Langer, “State Needs Prison Nursery Program for Female Inmates,” The Exponent Telegram, 19 March 2007.

• Tom Breen, “West Virginia Looks at Prison Nursery as Women Prisoners Increase,” Associated Press, 26 February 2007.

• Camille Spencer, "Another Case of Shrinking the Gender Gap: Prison," The St. Petersburg Times, 10 February 2007, 1A.

• Jessica Mayrer, "Meth 22," The Missoula Independent, 15 February 2007.

• Sarah Etter, "Gender Bender," Corrections.com, 1 January 2007.

• "Agency of the Month- Women's Prison Association: Changing Lives for 160 Years," New York Nonprofit Press, December 2006.

• David Crary, “Mountain States Imprisoning More Women,” The Associated Press, 21 May 2006.

• Ann Jacobs, "Improving the Odds: Women in Community Corrections," Women, Girls & Criminal Justice, August/September 2005.

• Gary Fields, "After Prison Boom, A Focus on Hurdles Faced by Ex-Cons," The Wall Street Journal, 24 May 2005, A1.

• “How You Can Help a Woman Reach for Freedom,” Glamour, July 2004, 148. 

• Fox Butterfield, “Women Find a New Arena for Equality: Prison,” The New York Times, 29 December 2003, A9.

• Judi Villa, “Women doing hard time,” The Arizona Republic, 18 October 2003.

• Ann Jacobs, “Women in Prison,” (letter to the editor), The New York Times, 2 Aug 2003, A 16.

• Maxim Kniazkov, “Prison population growth pushes number of US inmates to over 2.1 million,” Agence France Press, 28 July 2003.

• Elizabeth Stull, “New Office Provides Services for Ex-Offenders & Families in East New York,” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 24 June 2003, 16.

• J. Zamgba Browne, “Republican Drug Laws Devastate Women and Children,” The New York Amsterdam News, 21 May 1998, 3. 

• Vinette K. Pryce, “Women in Prison, Children Alone,” The New York Amsterdam News, 22 October 1998, 6.

• Ann Jacobs, “More Than Halfway,” The Women’s Review of Books, July 1997, 24-25.

• Michael T. Kaufman, “A Family’s Values Endure, Six Generations Later,” The New York Times, 12 Apr 1995, B3.

• Francis X. Clines, “An Unequal Justice,” The New York Times, 10 July 1992, B1.