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The Justice Department has been very slow-footed in responding to a report last June by the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, according to an editorial in the Washington Post.
The report was delivered to Attorney General Eric Holder June 23, 2009, and by law he was given one year to consider its recommendations and adopt the proposed standards to reduce the scourge of sexual violence in the nation’s prisons. But it looks as if the Justice Department will miss next week's deadline.
“The department will not say, but those following this issue closely estimate that the Justice Department is unlikely to take action until the end of this year. At that time, federal prisons will be obligated to adopt whatever standards Justice approves. State and local facilities will not be forced to embrace the measures for another year after that. In the meantime, more prisoners—including juveniles—will have been senselessly brutalized.”
The editorial says the department has “abdicated its responsibility to lead.”
“Prison rape is not a comfortable topic for most Americans, regardless of their religious or political affiliation,” said Pat Nolan, a member of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission and a vice president of Prison Fellowship. “As a society, we have the responsibility to protect those we send to prison from abuses such as rape and sexual assault. At Prison Fellowship, we strongly believe the time to bring prison rape to an end is now.”
To read the editorial, click here.
To learn more about prison rape, the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission and the standards, visit Justice Fellowship’s Prison Rape resource page. |
