Warren, Booker reintroduce Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on Tuesday reintroduced the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act. 

The bill, introduced with Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Karen Bass (D-Calif.), aims to reform the way women are treated behind bars.  

The legislation would make it easier for incarcerated women to stay in touch with their families, reintegrate into their communities and receive “trauma-informed” care, according to a statement from the lawmakers. It would also mandate that incarcerated women receive “basic hygienic products” for free.{mosads}

“For too long, our criminal justice system has treated incarcerated women as an afterthought,” Warren said in a statement. “The Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act starts to change our country’s approach to helping women in prison by ensuring that they are treated with dignity and equipping them with the tools, resources, and services they need to successfully return to their families and communities.”

“Women face unique circumstances in prison. They are often victims of sexual abuse and trauma, and a majority are moms to small kids. The current federal prison system is not properly designed to address these unique circumstance,” Booker said in the statement. “It’s time we restore justice to our broken justice system.”

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), along with Warren, Booker and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), first introduced the legislation in 2017.

Harris, Booker and Warren are among more than a dozen candidates vying for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2020.