People increasingly are being put in prison in North Carolina, and many of these inmates are mothers who might lose their children while incarcerated.
To overview the plight of these women, the Stone Center held a discussion Tuesday night titled "Incarcerated Women: Challenges to Criminal Justice System." Natalie Bullock Brown, co-host of UNC-TV's program "Black Issues Forum," moderated the talk.
Meg Scott Phipps, the former agriculture commissioner in North Carolina who spent three years in prison for extortion, conspiracy and mail fraud, served as one of the three panelists.
"In the three years I spent in prison, I met some great women who need our help," Phipps said.
The discussion focused on women who are separated from their children in prison and the effect that separation has.
Phipps discussed how quickly children can be taken away from women while serving their sentences.
"Within 18 months, children are put up for adoption, no questions asked," Phipps said.
Melissa Radcliff, executive director of Our Children's Place, was another panelist. The organization aims to keep these incarcerated mothers and their children together.
Our Children's Place is slated to open in 2009 in Butner, and its mission is to house women who have committed nonviolent crimes, have been assigned short stays in prison and have children not yet in kindergarten.
The organization plans to start with about 10 women who would have served their sentences by the time their children enter school.
"Children with parents in prison are six times as likely to become involved in the prison system," said Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, another panelist. She also serves on the board of directors for Our Children's Place.
At the forum, Kinnaird voiced her concerns with the prison system in North Carolina and the federal system.
"No other place, except maybe China, puts people in prison at the rate we do," Kinnaird said. "When we are incarcerating this many women with children, we are incarcerating an entire generation."
In North Carolina, 38,684 people are incarcerated, and females account for 2,738 - or 7 percent - of those people, according to the N.C. Department of Corrections.
But this is not a new issue. There have been calls for nationwide reforms in the area of prison sentencing.
"In California they've taken all drug offenses out of prison time," Kinnaird said. "That's what I'd like to see happen here."
She said it has been a hard-fought campaign to convince the public that letting these women move to a more nurturing community for their children is a worthwhile pursuit.
"The Department of Corrections has said they're not in the business of raising children," Kinnaird said.
More than 100 people, mostly students, attended the discussion, some of whom were very passionate about the subject.
"It's interesting to find out that so many people are fighting against such a good movement," said senior James Williams, commenting on those who oppose the reforms Kinnaird advocated.
After the discussion, panelists held a question-and-answer session.
"It's important to have an elected official, director of a nonprofit organization and former agricultural commissioner and former inmate sharing different perspectives on the same problem and working for a common solution," said Emily Johnson, a student at Duke University School of Law, who attended the panel.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
