Background

In 2021, the Justice-involved Women and Children (JIWC) Collaborative formed a small policy workgroup, which reviewed state and federal statutes around pregnant and postpartum women in prison. They reviewed 491 state law records and 65 federal law records from Westlaw*, which were then uploaded to Dedoose, where they were qualitatively coded by topic. 

JIWC members are using this state and federal policy clearinghouse to disseminate states’ incarceration policies through policy briefs, scholarly publications and webinars.

We’re currently undergoing website maintenance; please contact jiwc @ umn.edu to request briefs on the following topics related to justice-involved women and children:

• Abortion Access
• Alternatives to Incarceration
• Breastfeeding and Lactation Support
• Death Penalty Laws
• Ensuring Adequate Nutrition
• Reproductive Health Care
• Substance Use Treatment

*The JIWC Collaborative would like to thank Alicia Kubas and Scott Dewey, University of Minnesota Law Library, for their assistance with our policy searches.