Toughening DOJ standards on prison sexual abuse

By Doug Carlson - Mar 30, 2011 - 1 -

A civil society demands that criminal offenders be punished for their behavior, in many cases with time behind bars. Justice must be served and lawless actions held to account. But no matter how egregious the crime, one form of punishment is a price too high: prison rape.

Yet it is one of the most underreported crimes in the United States, occurring at alarming rates. Approximately 200,000 adults in detention were sexually assaulted by another inmate or prison guard in 2008, according to the Department of Justice. Among juveniles locked up, more than 17,000 were victims of sexual assault over the 12-month period.

The Justice Department has finally decided to do something about the unacceptable prison rape problem. In February, Attorney General Eric Holder issued a series of proposed standards to help minimize the abuse and provide assistance to the abused. This is welcome news. But much of the so-called solution would only exacerbate the existing problem.

The guidelines stem from recommendations completed in June 2009 by the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, a bipartisan group created by a 2003 law to study and develop zero-tolerance standards on sexual assault in prison.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act encountered few foes. Congress passed it unanimously and President Bush signed it into law. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission supported it, as did a host of other pro-family groups, including Focus on the Family and Prison Fellowship.

But now implementation of the law is cause for concern. Among concerns, the Justice Department’s proposal:

  • Allows cross-gender pat-down searches in adult facilities and cross-gender viewing of both adult and juvenile offenders showering or using the toilet. This is especially troubling given that, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, cross-gender sexual abuse by staff among juveniles is already exceptionally high.
  • Denies many offenders protection from sexual victimization by exempting immigration detention facilities, military facilities, tribal facilities, and nonresidential probation and parole from the standards.
  • Allows for prison and jail inmates who are at high risk of sexual abuse or who have been sexually abused to be placed in involuntary protective custody for at least 90 days. While this may sound good in theory, the practice would result in denial of certain services and programs to these individuals.
  • Removes a confidential reporting option for sexual abuse. This would make victims less likely to come forward out of fear of further abuse.
  • Imposes a very limited timeframe—20 days—for victims to report their sexual abuse. Research shows that sexually abused individuals, so traumatized by their abuse, often require significant periods of time to pull themselves together emotionally and psychologically to file grievances.

Basic human rights—food, water, freedom of religion—are non-negotiable. Protection from sexual violence is among them. To prevent prison rape, the Justice Department must put in place the strongest standards possible as recommended by the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission.

If you agree, please take a few moments to submit a comment to the Department of Justice. To do so, click here to take you directly to the comment page. Or go to regulations.gov, enter “OAG-131” in the search box, and hit “Search” to submit your comments. Below, we have provided a sample comment, which you can copy and paste or edit as you desire.

SAMPLE COMMENT

Robert Hinchman, Senior Counsel
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Legal Policy
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Room 4252
Washington, DC 20530

RE: Docket No. OAG-131; AG Order No. 3244-2011
National Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Prison Rape

Dear Attorney General Holder:

I write to submit comments on the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed standards regarding sexual abuse in detention.

As a person of faith, I hold as sacred the basic right of all people, including those in custody, to be free from sexual abuse. While I share the Department’s stated intent to protect individuals behind bars from experiencing sexual assault, I believe some standards must be strengthened to better protect incarcerated adults and youth from abuse. Among my concerns, the Department’s proposed rule:

  • Allows cross-gender pat-down searches in adult facilities and cross-gender viewing of both adult and juvenile offenders showering or using the toilet. Cross-gender searches and viewing should be barred in all facilities except for emergency situations.
  • Exempts many facilities from the standards. By applying the standards to only certain facilities, preferential treatment is afforded to some but denied to others. Everyone should be protected from sexual victimization and provided assistance should sexual assault occur.
  • Allows for prison and jail inmates who are at high risk of sexual abuse or who have been sexually abused to be placed in involuntary protective custody for at least 90 days. Involuntary protective custody should not result in denial of certain services and programs to these individuals.
  • Removes a confidential reporting option for sexual abuse. This would discourage victims from coming forward out of fear of further abuse. The confidential reporting option for the sexually abused should be retained.
  • Imposes a very limited timeframe—20 days—for victims to report their sexual abuse. Sexually abused individuals, so traumatized by their abuse, often require significant periods of time to pull themselves together emotionally and psychologically to file grievances. This timeframe should be extended.

I hope the Department will consider these concerns as it prepares final standards to protect prisoners from sexual abuse.

Thank you.

Further Learning

Learn more about: Family, Abuse, Sexual Abuse,

{comment_total} comments

1 On Mar 31st, 2011, at 4:45pm, James C. Bevis wrote:

I support humane treatment of inmates in all areas and strongly advocate faith-based rehabilitation programs.I have worked in pison & ministry for 25 years. It concerns me, however, when we keep adding additional laws, red tape, and more paperwork to people working in prisons and jails.We are continuously asked to do more with less. Inmates are already subject to the laws of the land and can be charged for assault, murder, rape, etc. and carried to outside court.Protective services are already available when requested and deemed necessary. When we add additional redundant, repetitive laws if we are not careful we bog down and create a more difficult situation.

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