It�s not to hard to see the differences between what is offered to male and female inmates in the New Hampshire prison system.
Take recreation for example.
Here in Goffstown the facility is frequently filled with the sounds of sowing.
Sfx: sowing machine.
Long-time inmates Sam McLaughlin says that�s pretty much women�s only option.
3:06 quilts, clothes, wall hangings, we can paint...trying to think...basically anything with fabric, yarn and string.
Fellow inmate Valerie Hall.
Track 2
:01 ...I am not a feminist, I hate to claim that, but the only opportunities we have are sowing, knitting, crocheting, bead work, it�s all these traditionally feminine recreational hobbies, that aren�t interesting to some women. And the men have both those opportunities as well as wood working, ceramics, they have a huge art department. And at least this is what I understand from officers.
What makes things worse, say the two inmates, is male inmates at the state prison in Concord can build and sell furniture.
They can earn money that can be sent home.
Goffstown Prison English and Social Studies teacher Karen Carruth says the inequity doesn�t stop there.
The job training, known as the industries program, aims to provide inmates with relevant jobs and work experience.
Carruth says the biggest problem with Goffstown�s industries program, is that it doesn�t exist.
Track 21
:07 if you walk inside the walls you see that there is no industries program, the women do not have a job to go to, other than the jobs that run the prison itself, that make it function...You see that the industries room is empty.
Sfx: country music
And indeed, on a recent tour of the facility, the industries room was nearly empty except for some tables, chairs and a lonely radio.
It didn�t used to be like that says McLaughlin.
1:48 the one job we did have in industries that paid more, was taken from us, and given to the men in Berlin.
About a year and a half ago 6-7 inmates reported to this room for work Mondays through Fridays.
It was data entry work
But even when those jobs existed inmates Valerie Hall says the program had little value.
2:38 but you know that�s not really that much of an opportunity for the rest of the people. There are 120 people here, you know what I mean? Yeah. But even that was taken away.
Inmate Sam McLaughlin.
....So we didn�t have much and then that was taken away, and given to the men.
The Department of Corrections says budget cuts forced the department to eliminate staffing for the program.
But budget cuts aren�t Goffstown�s only problem.
Acting DOC Commissioner Les Docal.
Track 12
:00 ... The space restrictions, at G. prohibit us from providing the same programs, work programs to the female inmates as we do to the men. That�s the biggest difference in the incarceration of the two populations.
A review of education and vocation classes reveals other significant differences as well.
Male inmates can get vocation training in auto Body, auto mechanics, building trades, food service, horticulture, small engine repair, business education and even an introduction to the workforce class.
Women at Goffstown get a business administration program and a struggling cosmetology class.
The men�s prison in Concord is a state certified high school.
Inmates, there can earn a diploma.
In theory, women could get a diploma through the prison in Concord, but in practice, Goffstown inmates have access only to GED-prep courses.
At the same time, not all education programs or other services for men are equal across the prison system.
Still, the state has a legal obligation to provide women with comparable services to men.
In 1992, a federal court ordered the state to provide women with programs and services on parity with those provided to men.
Just last fall, the National Institute of Corrections conducted an independent review of the state�s correction system for women.
The Institute was acting on a request for the review by the state Department of Corrections.
The report found little evidence over the past decade quote that the key components of the lawsuit were consistently embraced during the last decade end quote.
Track 3
:03 I disagree with that.
Assistant Attorney General Michael Brown represents the department.
...Quite frankly, I am pretty familiar with the operation at the women�s facility. They have done some extraordinary things down there...and I doubt very much that the national institute of corrections got it right in that instance.
Brown points out there are about 80 inmates in Goffstown and over 1400 in Concord.
He argues with those economies of scale, it�s hard to justify classes that would only serve a few inmates.
Besides, says the assistant AG, you can�t look at just one program area to determine if the state is meeting its legal obligations.
Track 26
:40 the issue of parity involves something as simple as having a cell for a female inmates, b/c you have cells for male inmates... so it�s not just a cell, but it is food service, heat, lights, supervision, opportunity for recreation, the same kind of range that you would have in a men�s facility.
And when Brown looks at more than just heat and food, he says he sees women receiving much of what they need.
Track 24
2:31...historically, the women�s facility has used a combination of state staff and community based resources, and volunteers...and provide women with a depth and breadth of programs to their needs, so that when they go back out into the community, they are not going to be stuck with a skill set that they are not going to use.
Inmate Sam McLaughlin isn�t so sure.
:48 the woman come in here without any skills. A lot of them have never worked. A lot of them steal. For drugs...but if they could come in here and get the skills to be a secretary, or even count change. A lot of them can�t even count change....and if they learned how to do that, at least they could get a job at Kentucky Fried Chicken....
Assistant Attorney General Michael Brown argues that small size of Goffstown gives the women something the men don�t get.
6:15 ... int eh larger facility more bureaucratic, more isolated, inmates are relegated to units, they can�t speak to the warden, for example. At the NH state prison for women the warden has to walk down the same hallway they do.
The National Institute of Corrections analysis says both inmates and staff report an absence of programs and meaningful activities for women.
It does appear women inmates have fewer choices.
So why hasn�t anything been done?
One, New Hampshire, unlike some states, has no official commission that monitors prison conditions.
Two, the female inmates have no political voice.
And three, taking the state to court would be expensive.
ACLU attorney Larry Vogelman.
2:10 ... Prison litigation is pretty costly, and prisoners don�t have the money to pay for it. And absent some sort of institutional organization like legal assistance who did it earlier, most private practicioners in law firms can�t do it, unless there is the possibility of attorney�s fees at the end.
So far, no attorneys have stepped forward.
The DOC, for their part, is optimistic a bill to study the New Hampshire prison system for women will pass.
That body would include looking at the question of parity.
In the mean time Valerie Hall waits for the end of her ten year sentence.
She says it�s hard to be optimistic about the future.
Track 6
:30 ... It just gives this bleak outlook to women who want to get out, who want to do better, but they are trapped by their record, and their lack of education, and their lack of opportunity when they get out. They have nothing. And they end up returning to the same lifestyle that brought them in the first place. It�s really sad. I truly believe, if there were more education opportunities there would be more rehabilitiation, if that�s what anyone is interested in.
For NHPR News, I�m DG.
