Women from Worc.County are 12 Times More Likely to Go to Jail Pre-Trial than Men

Monday, June 22, 2015

Patrick Sargent, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Women detained in Worcester County prior to conviction are twelve times more likely to be put in jail before trial than men. A recent GoLocalWorcester analysis of 2015 reports from the Massachusetts Department of Corrections show that more than 2,700 women were admitted to jail pre-trial between 2011 and 2014.

Over that same period, only 224 men were sent to jail before their trials started.

Worcester County alone constitutes for more than 20% of all female pre-trial admissions in the state. The only county with more women in jail prior to their trials is Essex County - responsible for nearly 30% of the more than 8,000 admissions.

In the final quarter of 2014, Worcester County did see a significant drop in female admissions with only three - as compared to an average of 191 for the previous nine quarters. However, this is only due because Worcester County now shifts its pre-trial females to the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center in Hampden County

Pre-Trial Women Admissions in MA by Jurisdiction 2012-2014 - Image Credit: Mass.gov (2014 Final Quarter Report - Mass Dept. of Corrections)

Pre-Trial Male Admissions in MA by Jurisdiction 2012-2014 - Image Credit: Mass.gov (2014 Final Quarter Report - Mass Dept. of Corrections)

What Are the Possible Reasons for This Difference?

Possible reasons for the drastic difference between men and women and pre-trial admissions has to do with a few factors:

1. Ability to Pay: Most women awaiting trial in Massachusetts are not able to make bail (80% cannot make bail of $2,000 or less and a third cannot make bail of $500 or less).

2. Punishments due to Ability to Pay: Judges are inclined to assign harsher punishments to pre-trial detainees than to those who are able to make bail according to a study (case credibility determined by money instead of the verdict).

3. Overcrowding: Facilities across MA are overcrowded by up to 155%

Other factors include: the MA DOC population is 84% male. The male custody population from 2012 to 2014 dropped 8% from 10,867 to 9,830, while the female custody population went up 2% during that same time period. Also, many counties in Massachusetts do not have the capacity to house females and are therefore held in state facilities.

Numbers Steadily Increase

Image Courtesy of Mass.gov

In 2014 alone, there were nearly 5,000 pre-trial admissions in Massachusetts - with more than 3,200 women.

“Pre-trial females have been significantly increasing,” states a prison population report from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. "Many counties in Massachusetts do not have the capacity to house females and are therefore held by the state’s facilities. Accordingly, females had a much lower percentage of state criminal commitments, 35%, while county commitments accounted for 28%, and 34% were pre-trial detainees."

According to the report, pre-trial females have increased every year since 2011 from 21% (2011) to 26% (2012) to 33% (2013) to 34% (2014).

However, 4,897 women were released from jail pre-trial in 2014 and female pre-trial detainees admission and release numbers have improved following the shift to the correctional center in Hampden County.