SCOTTISH courts are sending too many women to jail, Jim Murphy has warned.
The Scottish Labour leader said the number of women sent to prison had doubled over the past 15 years.
He called for a new approach to sentencing in which more women - and especially mothers - would serve community sentences or be locked up in small scale facilities closer to their home.
Scotland's only women's prison, Cornton Vale near Stirling, currently houses around 430 inmates.
The Scottish Government has announced plans to replace it with a new £75million facility, accommodating 350 people, near Greenock.
But addressing a Press lunch in Edinburgh yesterday, Mr Murphy said: "We are genuinely getting something wrong here.
"It's time for the Scottish Government to think again about building a one major super-prison in Inverclyde."
He added: "I know there will be some who accuse me of being a 'soft touch' on this issue and of course there are women who need to be put behind bars for the most serious and violent crimes.
"But 20 per cent of woman in jail are there because of shoplifting. And too many have children.
"The knock on effects of that on the family cannot be underestimated.
"It usually ends up in social services becoming involved.
"Research shows just five per cent of fathers are around to look after the children when the mother is sent to prison.
"The children of mothers who have been imprisoned are also more likely to end up in jail too. Including daughters. we must do something to break this cycle."
Under Labour's plans, more would be spent on rehabilitation of women offenders. Many would serve custodial sentences in a "community justice centre" built near the country's main cities.
In a parallel announcement, Mr Murphy said Scottish Labour's justice spokesman Hugh Henry was beginning an investigation into clearer sentencing of all criminals, following long-running complaints about the system of automatic early release.
The Scottish Government is planning to end automatic early release for a small number of serious offenders.
Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson said: "Our justice system exists to keep communities safe and uphold the laws of our land.
"Judges need to have a whole range of options, including prison, in order to do that.
"Women don't get to have a free pass just because of their gender."
Former Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini recommended improved rehabilitation in a report on women's offending published in 2012.
ends
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