FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
MONDAY, APRIL 14, 1997                             (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

  JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REACHES AGREEMENT WITH ARKANSAS CORRECTIONS
     SYSTEM ENSURING EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN
                                 
     WASHINGTON, D.C. --  The Justice Department today reached an
agreement with the state of Arkansas ensuring that women will
receive the same employment opportunities as men in the state's
corrections system.

     Today's agreement, presented to the U.S. District Court in
Little Rock, will resolve a Justice Department suit alleging the
state's Department of Corrections (ADC) violated Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 by engaging in a pattern of employment
discrimination based on gender.

     Under the agreement, the state will take steps to ensure
that female corrections officers assigned to male prisons are
given an equal chance to be hired for a job, obtain assignments
and seek promotions.

     The Justice Department has reached similar agreements with
other state corrections departments which employed similar
practices, including Indiana, Massachusetts, Florida, Delaware,
New Jersey, and North Carolina.

     "A qualified woman should not be denied the opportunity for
career advancement just because she happens to be female," said
Isabelle Katz Pinzler, Acting Assistant Attorney General for
Civil Rights.  

     Before the Department's investigation, women corrections
officers assigned to male prisons were limited to posts such as
guard towers or switchboards.  These assignment restrictions
severely limited the opportunity of women to gain advancement.


     Under the agreement the state will:

     *    open all correctional officer positions and
          assignments at ADC facilities housing male inmates
          to women on an equal basis with men--with limited
          exceptions necessary to protect the privacy
          interests of male inmates;

     *    establish a $7.2 million fund to provide backpay
          to those women identified as victims of
          discrimination; and,

     *    provide priority hiring to up to 400 women, and
          provide priority promotion to up to 42 women,
          along with retroactive seniority and benefits.

     Today's agreement, which settles a suit filed in September
1995, must still be approved by the court.
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97-152