National Prison Rape Elimination Commission
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
bipartisan panel established by the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act
Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003
The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 is the first United States federal law passed dealing with the sexual assault of prisoners. The bill was signed into law on September 4, 2003.-Background:...
. The commission was charged with studying sexual assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
s in U.S. jails and prisons and presenting a report based on its findings. The report was released in June 2009 and stated, in part, that approximately 60,000 U.S. inmates are sexually assaulted each year. NPREC sunsetted
Sunset provision
In public policy, a sunset provision or clause is a measure within a statute, regulation or other law that provides that the law shall cease to have effect after a specific date, unless further legislative action is taken to extend the law...
on August 22, 2009.
History
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
signed the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003
Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003
The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 is the first United States federal law passed dealing with the sexual assault of prisoners. The bill was signed into law on September 4, 2003.-Background:...
(PREA) on September 4 of that year. The commissioners were appointed in June 2004. The commission was a major component of the PREA legislation and it was given subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
powers as well as authorization to conduct a broad based study of prison rape
Prison rape
Prison rape commonly refers to the rape of inmates in prison by other inmates or prison staff.In 2001, Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 140,000 inmates had been raped while incarcerated. and there is a significant variation in the rates of prison rape by race...
in the United States. In 2005 the commission received a federal earmark of US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
987,000 to begin the implementation of the mandated provisions of the 2003 law that established the panel.
The panel obtained information from a variety of sources, including a round of public hearings in locations nationwide. The first public hearing was held in Notre Dame, Indiana
Notre Dame, Indiana
Notre Dame is a census-designated place north of South Bend in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States; it includes the campuses of three colleges: the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary's College, and Holy Cross College. Notre Dame is split between Clay and Portage Townships...
on March 31, 2005. Hearings continued into at least late 2007 in other locations, including Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, New Orleans, and San Francisco, where commissioners heard from victims of prison rape as well as federal lawmakers. After seeking outside input from aforementioned sources and others the commission announced the release of "draft standards for the reduction of prison rape" on May 5, 2008. Following a public comment period the standards were eventually incorporated into the final report.
The panel's original period of existence was until three years after its inception, when it would release its report. The miscellaneous provisions the Second Chance Act of 2007, largely a law designed to help reintegrate criminal offenders into the community, extended the existence of the NPREC from 3 years to 5 years after its inception date. Per the legislation that established the commission NPREC sunsetted
Sunset provision
In public policy, a sunset provision or clause is a measure within a statute, regulation or other law that provides that the law shall cease to have effect after a specific date, unless further legislative action is taken to extend the law...
sixty days after the report was released, which was August 22, 2009.
Report and recommendations
In late June 2009 NPREC released its mandated report. The report cited data that showed each year in the U.S. detention facilities (jails, prisons, et al.) 60,000 inmates are sexually abused. The report noted that too often prison rape is seen as a joke rather than the problem it represents. NPREC Commissioner Brenda V. SmithBrenda V. Smith
Brenda V. Smith is a law professor at American University's Washington College of Law. From 2004-2009 she served on the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission. Smith was appointed to the Prison Rape commission by current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi...
stated that sexual abuse in prison or jail is not a random event that can only "happen to other bad people", she added that the commission heard harrowing tales from victims, some of whom spent only one night in custody.
The report set out a series of recommendations aimed at curbing the number of rapes in U.S. incarceration facilities. Among the recommendations were better staff training in recognizing assaults, addressing overcrowding, and providing proper mental health care and medical care for victims. In addition NPREC recommended that harsher penalties exist for staff who engage in assault or contribute to a permissive atmosphere.
There were other findings presented in the report as well. NPREC found that inmates who are short, gay, young, or female were victims of sexual assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
more often than other groups of inmates. The NPREC report also showed that inmate reports of sexual violence are not always taken seriously by staff and, thus, not always reported to the proper authorities. The report's finding that 2.9 percent of inmates reported sexual abuse
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
by staff versus 2.0 percent of inmates who reported rape by other prisoners was called surprising by commission chair Reggie Walton. Walton was specifically surprised by the incidence of male staff on male inmate sexual assault.
Following its release, the report was sent to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
Eric Holder
Eric Himpton Holder, Jr. is the 82nd and current Attorney General of the United States and the first African American to hold the position, serving under President Barack Obama....
. Holder has one year to develop national standards, based on NPREC's report, for reducing prisoner rape. The national standards will then be presented to the states. States are not required to comply with the standards but those that do not risk a five percent federal prison funding decrease.
Mission
The NPREC was charged with studying federal, state and local government policies and practices concerning sexual assaultSexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
s and crimes within the prison and jail systems. The study culminated with the release of the aforementioned report on its findings, conclusions and recommendations to the President, Congress, the U.S. Attorney General and other state and federal officials.
Members
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
. The vice-chair was John A. Kaneb
John A. Kaneb
John A. Kaneb is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of HP Hood LLC as well as the president of the Catamount Companies.-Career:Kaneb bought a controlling interest in Gulf Oil and tripled its sales to US$4.6 billion before selling it in 2005. The Kaneb family acquired HP Hood LLC in 1995...
; the other six members were: James E. Aiken
James E. Aiken
James E. Aiken is the president of James E. Aiken & Associates, Inc. He serves as a consultant to attorneys and as an expert witness in civil and death penalty cases. He has served as an expert witness on prison conditions and future inmate dangerousness at U.S. Federal Courts in multiple...
, Jamie Fellner
Jamie Fellner
Jamie Fellner is Senior Counsel for the United States Program of Human Rights Watch. The U.S. Program focuses on human rights violations within the United States. From 2004-2009 she also served on the U.S...
, Pat Nolan
Pat Nolan
Patrick J. Nolan is an American lawyer, politician and conservative activist.-Early Political Activism:Nolan began his career as a conservative activist at the age of 14 in the Goldwater for President campaign. Pat was a leader in the Youth for Reagan for Governor in 1966 and in each of Reagan's...
, Gus Puryear, Brenda V. Smith
Brenda V. Smith
Brenda V. Smith is a law professor at American University's Washington College of Law. From 2004-2009 she served on the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission. Smith was appointed to the Prison Rape commission by current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi...
, and Cindy Struckman-Johnson
Cindy Struckman-Johnson
Cindy Struckman-Johnson is a professor of psychology at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota. She is also a commissioner on the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission.-Education:...
.
See also
- Just Detention International (formerly Stop Prisoner Rape)
- "No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. PrisonsNo Escape: Male Rape in U.S. PrisonsNo Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons is the title of an influential, book length, 2001 report by Human Rights Watch on prison rape in the United States...
"
Further reading
- Fellner, Jamie. "Jails must take measures to stop prisoner sex abuse", editorialEditorialAn opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
, Houston ChronicleHouston ChronicleThe Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
, June 24, 2009, retrieved July 2, 2009. - Mariner, Joanne, et al. "No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons", Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, 2001, ISBN 1564322580, retrieved June 5, 2008. - "Rape in Prison", editorial, The New York Times, June 23, 2009, accessed July 1, 2009.
External links
- Official website
- Report and Standards, NPREC Report, released June 23, 2009