THE STUDY SAMPLE COMPRISES ALL WOMEN ADMITTED TO THE INSTITUTION FROM 1959 THROUGH 1974. OVERALL THERE IS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN SENTENCE LENGTH BETWEEN BLACKS AND WHITES. BUT WHITES RECEIVE LONGER SENTENCES THAN BLACKS FOR CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS, WHILE BLACKS RECEIVE LONGER SENTENCES THAN WHITES FOR CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY. FOR MOST CRIMES, BLACKS SERVE A LONGER PORTION OF THEIR SENTENCES THAN DO WHITES. THUS, EVEN THOUGH BOTH GROUPS RECEIVE EQUAL SENTENCES, BLACKS ARE INCARCERATED LONGER THAN WHITES. AMONG OFFENDERS WHO ARE RELEASED FROM PRISON, WHITES ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE RELEASED ON PAROLE, WHILE BLACKS ARE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE THEIR SENTENCES REDUCED AND THUS BE RELEASED WITHOUT SUPERVISION. THERE ARE INDICATIONS THAT THE MISSOURI DATA ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SITUATION FOR FEMALE FELONS NATIONWIDE. IT APPEARS THAT RACE IS A POWERFUL, ALTHOUGH NOT THE ONLY, VARIABLE INFLUENCING THE PROCESSING OF FEMALE OFFENDERS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. SUPPORTING DATA ARE INCLUDED. (LKM)