Going through the channels tonight I came across one of those MSNBC Lockup shows and it showed in Riker's Island, there is a ward where mothers who went into prison pregnant get to be with their kids and raise them behind bars for up to a year if they're not abusive or neglectful to their kids. And people are very mixed about this idea, SHOULD they be allowed to do this? I personally think it's a better idea than most prisons that take the babies away at birth and put them up for adoption. Other times when the idea is considered, stories open up explaining how inconsolable the kids get when visiting hours are over and they have to be separated from their mothers for another week or however long until they get to see them again.

Obviously it's not a perfect situation but most aren't anymore, especially with a lot of people including women, including pregnant women, going to prison. I've heard of similar programs in other prisons that let the mothers keep them for like 18 months, or if the mothers only have like a year left to serve, etc. I don't know, what Is the answer?

I saw the same Lockup episode a while back, or at least one similar if there has been more than one.

I think it is a good idea if the moms are spending a short time locked up and will have custody upon release. But I think those moms should have a support system paying for formula and diapers.

I would be against it if it entailed moms being with the baby for months only to make an adoption plan. That would be dysfunctional for everyone involved.

Yeah, even fucked up muslim countries (that we should not be wasting America blood & money for) where women are put in prison for being raped, let them keep their baby with them. It is kind of basic and probably benefits the infant.

Nurturing a baby. . . well, maybe. But then what happens when the toddler gets a little older and there's nowhere for that child to go? If the babie's father doesn't want it, or the g-parents don't want it, then what? I don't think it's a good idea at all for a 3-year-old to exist in a prison. And 3 is where my earliest memories start.

If she's getting out soon, and she's not crazy, I say let them stay with her. Better than shucking them in some foster care system and her going through hell to get their kids back.

So the babies are basically living AT the prison with the mothers?

::: shrugs :::

I guess if the mother is getting out soon, it couldn't hurt....but if she's got 20 to life, then they may as well not pretend.