Females behind bars

While my sympathies have never rested with criminals justly imprisoned for their actions, I’ve also gained awareness of how many older females our nation incarcerates, on charges ranging from from drugs and theft to homicide.

In recent years, those women, mothers and grandmothers have included Belynda Goff and Willie Mae Harris, both of whom spent decades in Arkansas’ prisons following life sentences after questionable convictions for murdering their husbands.

Both now are free, basically for time served, though I believe they should have been released years earlier based on my understanding of the inadequate trials each woman received. I found relevant, potentially exculpatory evidence was omitted at their trials.

Mother of three Goff, now 59, went to prison in 1996 and spent 23 years behind bars before being freed in June 2019 by Circuit Judge Scott Jackson.

Willie Mae Harris (aka Miss Willie) had her sentence commuted and was released on parole last year at age 72 after 34 years in prison where illness claimed her eyesight.

In both instances, they had been offered plea deals before trial for much lesser sentences. Each had refused.

Their cases amplify many points made in the fact-laden 2011 book, “Woman Aging in Prison: A Neglected Population in the Correctional System,” by Ronald Aday and Jennifer Krabill.

Their research cites many details of older incarcerated females. I seriously doubt the percentages they discovered have changed much in the 10 years since.

The authors said many women arrive in prison after years of unhealthy living, victimization and drug use and, as they age in place, become even more vulnerable to the rigors of incarceration.

The exposure to the stresses of prison life frequently make them even sicker and more costly to manage. Here I think of Miss Willie becoming totally blind in prison.

During the mid-2000s, the involvement of older women with crime and criminal justice agencies became the subject of increased scrutiny, the book finds, but the special needs of female inmates have been largely overshadowed by a preoccupation with the male prison population. “The fact that female inmates account only for a fragment of the total prison population has been used to excuse the system’s failure to address the unique needs of female offenders.”

And the definitions of aging have changed because of rigors in the penal system. “Most experts now agree 50-year-old inmates possess health characteristics of someone at least 10 years older,” and many states use this age to characterize what constitutes an elderly inmate, the book finds.

It adds that it’s become apparent that, as baby boomers continue to age, the criminal justice system will see increasing numbers of older offenders in coming decades.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics shows women comprised more than a fourth of all those convicted of felony theft of property offenses, 18 percent of felony drug crimes, and 10 percent of violent felonies (including 4 percent involving weapons). The crimes committed by older women have been heavily concentrated in drug and property-related offenses with significantly fewer involving violent crimes.

Here in Arkansas, the only statistics I could obtain through a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Corrections show we have 207 females over the age of 50 currently held in the state system.

I asked Cindy Murphy of the department for any specifics involving their crimes. She responded that there isn’t one document that compiles and details such information. However, a Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Report does list the top 10 offenses and average sentence length for females.

The bottom line for me, valued readers, especially in light of my experiences with older female inmates such as Goff and Harris, is that our state (along with others) would be well-served to regularly re-examine and review each female’s conviction, sentence and the circumstances behind them.

Violence against women

On the important subject of females and violence, I also noticed a wire service story the other day that said Turkey has abandoned the Istanbul Convention accords aimed at preventing violence against women.

Not a wise decision, especially when a story a week earlier reported that one in three women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence, and just 40 percent seek help of any sort afterwards.

Such violence most often comes at the hands of an intimate partner. “Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation, and the immediate and long-term physical, sexual, and mental consequences for women and girls can be devastating, including death,” a United Nations report found. “Violence negatively affects women’s general well-being and prevents women from fully participating in society. It impacts their families, their community, and the country at large.

“It has tremendous costs, from greater strains on health care to legal expenses and losses in productivity. At least 155 countries have passed laws on domestic violence, and 140 have legislation on sexual harassment in the workplace (World Bank 2020). But challenges remain in enforcing these laws, limiting women and girls’ access to safety and justice. Not enough is done to prevent violence, and when it does occur, it often goes unpunished.”

I’ll have more to say on findings about this important subject on another day.

Death from within

Russian President Vladimir Putin, not among my favorite people on the planet, nonetheless made an interesting and relevant observation reported in this newspaper earlier this month after he slowed the Twitter feed for users in Russia.

He said child pornography, child prostitution and the sale and distribution of drugs can be found online with children as the target audience. The internet must respect “the moral laws of the society in which we live. Otherwise this society will be destroyed from the inside.”

New priorities

Daryl Van Tongeren, assistant professor of psychology at Hope College in Michigan, explained in a recent wire story how the pandemic has altered people’s perceptions of existence: “They’re going to say, `I’m going to emerge from this pandemic with a new set of values and I’m going to live my life according to new priorities.’”

What a great idea for all of us to contemplate, especially since many have lost friends and loved ones to the killer disease over the past year. Godspeed, Mary Patrick and John McPhee.

Public disenchantment

Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, another who doesn’t make my list of favorites, grossly understated something I agreed with when the Associated Press quoted him saying people have lost faith in government and the good it can do for them.

“People are going to see that government actually is making their lives better, which is how Americans used to think of it, and we’ve gotten away from it.”

Public disenchantment and lost faith likely has something to do with the extent of corruption, selfishness and prioritizing partisan politics. Elected government exists to serve the entire nation with a commitment to integrity and honor.

Bidding pets farewell

Reader T.A. Sampson sent a message the other day that I believe readers with deep affection for pets can relate to:

“I’ve arrived at the age where I’ve had to put down so many dear furry friends. As difficult as that is, we know in our hearts it is the last act of kindness we have to give them.

“Sometimes they become so old, so infirm, but it just is not that time yet and you find yourself wishing they would just pass in the night. After my mare passed in that manner, I will never wish that again. As emotionally wrenching as those final moments are, you are with them as they take their final breath.

“The last thing they know is your hug, your smell, your voice and that they are loved. … We’d had a very special relationship.”

Now go out into the world and treat everyone you meet exactly like you want them to treat you.