Group says there’s a better way to handle prison moms

A group of Iowans who advocate for the women in Iowa’s prisons gathered at the statehouse yesterday for a rally. Muriel Griffin of Indianola says the group wants an end to so-called “mandatory sentencing” which sets the terms for convicts.Griffin says people convicted of drug offenses should not automatically be sent to prison. She believes they need treatment instead. In addition, Griffin wants more women sentenced to community-based settings rather than the state women’s prison in Mitchellville.Griffin says she’s friends with a women in Mitchellville who rarely gets to see her children, who live in Burlington. Yesterday’s rally on behalf of mothers in prison was timed to coincide with Mother’s Day weekend.