Support Robert Seth Hayes – Hallmark Doesn’t Make the Birthday Card that I Need | Moorbey'z Blog

25.4.17

Support Robert Seth Hayes – Hallmark Doesn’t Make the Birthday Card that I Need | Moorbey'z Blog: Support Robert Seth Hayes – Hallmark Doesn’t Make the Birthday Card that I Need | Moorbey'z Blog - No matter how it happened, we’re now living in a world that incarcerates more people than ever before – there are more than 10.35 million people in prison (and counting) across the globe. However, the United States leads the world in incarceration rates for both men and women. In addition to my father and the growth of incarceration among men, particularly Black and Brown men, we also incarcerate more women than any other country. At the time of my father’s arrest there were under 6,000 women in US prisons and jails. Today, there are more than 200,000 women in prison, with the fastest growth beginning around the late 1980s early 1990s. When you include probation, parole, and the entire carceral system, there are more than a million women ensnared by decades of harsh criminal justice policies. This distinguishes the US from the rest of world. The US holds the unique distinction of only having 5% of the world’s women living in the US, but 30% of all women prisoners. Add to that, almost 10,000 pregnant women are incarcerated annually, and in one year, nearly 1,400 babies were born to women in US prison and jails.