Kentucky’s Dignity Bill: Transforming Women’s Incarceration with Compassionate Criminal Justice Reform

In 2019, Kentucky took a bold step in criminal justice reform with the passage of the Dignity Bill, spearheaded by state Senator Julie Raque Adams. This groundbreaking legislation sought to address the unique challenges faced by incarcerated women, particularly those impacted by the opioid epidemic. Senator Raque Adams, reflecting on the motivations behind the bill, stated, “We had like this whole criminal justice coalition in Kentucky where we were talking about all these different things we could do to help in this space. Kentucky in particular—we were just incarcerating so many people due to this drug epidemic that we were experiencing and looking at this holistic approach.”

The Dignity Bill emerged from a recognition that the justice system, historically designed by and for men, was ill-equipped to address the needs of incarcerated women. Senator Raque Adams highlighted this disparity, saying, “When it came down to it—I said—we’ve never looked at just the female component to incarceration. Kentucky was the second highest rate for incarcerated women in the entire country, primarily because of drugs. What do we do? How do we tackle this problem?”

Key Provisions of the Dignity Bill

The Dignity Bill introduced several transformative reforms:

1. Ending Shackling of Pregnant Women
   Raque Adams described the inhumane practice that inspired one of the bill’s most significant changes. “A lot of the women coming into our prisons were pregnant. We found out that under Kentucky law, when these women would go into the hospital to deliver her baby, it was required that she be shackled to the bed. What is she going to do, run away while she’s in labor? She is not.” The legislation banned this practice, ensuring women could deliver their babies with dignity. Raque Adams noted the emotional impact of this reform, sharing, “After she delivered the baby, she couldn’t even hold her baby. What an incredibly beautiful moment to miss. That might be the one time you can capture that sense of ‘I have to do better’ when you hold that baby—it’s truly life-changing.”
2. Substance Use Treatment Over Incarceration
   Recognizing the devastating effects of addiction on families, the bill emphasized treatment over punishment. Raque Adams explained, “Rather than incarcerate these people for drug offenses and remove them from either their newborn child or other children—because we also had a big foster care problem in the state of Kentucky…how can we get them clean and not separate them from their families?”The bill introduced provisions for sentence commutation for those who sought treatment, stayed clean, and cared for their children. This approach aimed to address the foster care crisis in Kentucky, where 12,000 children were in foster care, primarily due to drug addiction.
3. Improved Hygiene and Dignity in Court
   The legislation also required prisons to provide undergarments and feminine hygiene products, ensuring incarcerated women could present themselves with dignity in court. “None of these prisons were equipped with any undergarments, feminine hygiene products, nothing to equip these women to try to look more dignified before they go before the judge; that’s like your first impression,” Raque Adams noted.

Transformative Impact

The reforms immediately began changing lives. Raque Adams recalled a poignant moment about a woman she met at a press conference: “She introduced herself and said she wanted to meet me—to tell me she was 60 days sober and 10 days away from having her first child. ‘I am going to be able to have my child at home because of the bill you passed, and I will have a healthy baby.’” Raque Adams expressed how proud she was of the woman’s accomplishments, but as she got into her car afterward, she couldn’t hold back tears, overwhelmed by the tangible impact of her work and the hope it had brought to this woman’s life.

Raque Adams emphasized the fiscal and social benefits of the bill. “When you deliver a drug-addicted baby, it costs the taxpayer close to $450,000. When you deliver a baby from a clean and sober mother, it costs the taxpayers about $5,000. Talk about return on investment!”

A National Model

Since its passage, the Dignity Bill has inspired similar reforms in other states and was incorporated into federal legislation under President Donald Trump. Senator Raque Adams sees the bill as a testament to Kentucky’s commitment to family unification and health equity, stating, “Kids—removed from their families—all say the same thing: I wish I could be with my mom or with my family. The outcomes of a unified family are so much better than if you were torn apart.”

The Dignity Bill and its successor, which expanded healthcare for pregnant women in prison, reflect a compassionate, practical approach to criminal justice reform. Raque Adams concluded, “Changing lives for the better in Kentucky—it’s one of the things I’m super proud of.”