Liberals and conservatives have united in calling for the U.S. attorney general to implement standards against a form of prison violence.
Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act in 2003, but even though standards were completed within 14 months, Attorney General Eric Holder has yet to implement them. The American Civil Liberties Union, Focus on the Family, and other religious and civil rights groups are accusing Holder of “dragging his feet” on adopting national standards to prevent rape in prisons.
Pat Nolan, vice president of Prison Fellowship, tells OneNewsNow the attorney general’s office is saying it could be another year before the standards are implemented.
“The reason this is significant is the Bureau of Justice Statistics did a survey of prisons and found that in an average year, 60,000 inmates are sexually assaulted,” Nolan reports. “That’s over 119 a day; one out of every 20 inmates is sexually assaulted within a year; and [among] juveniles, it’s even worse — it’s one of every eight.”