Hey, what better way to stop prison rape than to cynically dismiss a different example of gang rape?
I think that the capability to hold TWO political causes at the same time is vastly underreported.
300 replies have been made, the main points of contention have been argued, and it's a non issue anyway. Whether you choose to accept it or not, tons of people get gang raped against their will all the time.
I think that the capability to hold TWO political causes at the same time is vastly underreported.
I feel pity for whatever her name is. I don't want anyone to get gang raped. That said, it goes unstopped every day in our prisons and our prisoners didn't sign their rights away. At least, their right to be excluded from cruel and unusual punishment (and they didn't sign them away, though one could construe they did by committing crime)
Who denied it? I'm pretty sure you and me are already in basic agreement about how heinous prison rape is.
Personally, the blase at ude of citizens toward prison rape is almost as shocking to me. People don't deserve to be raped, just because they went to prison. Making prisoners civilly dead, fining and imprisoning them -- in Texas, sometimes, killing them -- ought to be punishment enough.
I doubt the visibility of this issue is much enhanced by posting it at the end of a thread that is already so played-out.
Note I said 'accept.' Many people choose to ignore the issue completely, and make jokes out of it. Or illegitimately make such a remark like was made, that highlighting prison rape is much more of an issue than this bull somehow means I am attempting to "down one and up the other" ... like I said, that girl didn't deserve to get gangraped, but crying about the lack of justice and making the headlines is an abomination of that same justice, because there's been tens of thousands of equally normal people in the same situation -gangraped without justice - and these people didn't sign their right to a jury away. These people also were raped numerous, even uncountable times, and contracted STDs which ruined their lives, besides the unthinkable psychological distress ..
I agree, but visibility of the issue isn't the entire reason I started posting about prison rape. It's because this case of gang rape is viewed as horrifying and worthy of our Legislative branch arguing and passing specific legislature over, while a much more prevalent and horrifying issue that is somewhat easily fixable is ignored by everyone .. those same leaders you and I elect to protect us from these things, ignore quite possibly the worst form of torture known to man.I doubt the visibility of this issue is much enhanced by posting it at the end of a thread that is already so played-out.
Last edited by z0sa; 10-20-2009 at 01:47 PM.
we'll just classify all prisoners as enemy combatants.
I will agree prison rape is ignored, and that the prevalence of the problem -- as well as its quotidian frequency -- should put it somewhat higher on our moral radar than solitary occurrences of rape.
For better and for worse, people like Ms. Jones get all the oxygen and receive the lion's share of concern.
Amplify?...somewhat easily fixable...
The italicized weasel word does not inspire confidence IMO.
The fact prison rape occurs so frequently should naturally lead to a complete lack of confidence in our government ... it's easily fixable if we actually worked to update our delapidated prisons with many more cameras and many more better trained personnel.. personnel that was specifically instructed to alert higher positions about possible sexual predators and defend the prisoners with a purpose against rape .. outside of being rape central and overcrowded, there's not much else to be expected, you ARE a criminal being punished after all ... but that punishment shouldn't entail being unable to escape your aggressor or even get help after repeatedly being raped. And the psychological problems of prison rape are hugely eminent - these victims IMO are mostly petty criminals, lacking the knowledge, know how or physical attributes to make friends that will help defend them from said rape when they get inside, so these go on to harbor extreme anger and aggression against the system. Understandably, because that system essentially forces them into a tiny corner to be beaten and raped while their dignity is trampled. And also previously mentioned is the incredulous nature of the what the aggressors force their victim into ... like wearing vaseline and koolaid for lipstick and speaking in a high pitched voice. No dignity left .. so they end up being much worse individuals than before they committed their crime. Therefore, not only do we get these tortured individuals due their imprisonment, the actual imprisonment causes the opposite of "reprogramming" so to speak - it actually make people much worse off than if they had just continued their crime as it was ....
That's sort of a rant, but getting back on track how "pressing" of an issue is prison rape when you weigh those extremely important dollars.. I mean votes on the other side of the scale? Nothing defending those evil prisoners would make it to the floor or even past one of the various committees...
Last edited by z0sa; 10-20-2009 at 02:18 PM.
You sure about that?Nothing defending those evil prisoners would make it to the floor or even past one of the various committees...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_...on_Act_of_2003
I'm aware of its existence, however futile it is ... I actually found that alarming, considering the DoJ's report in 2006 that basically states "prison rape doesn't happen much." It makes the general populace believe something is being done, but the actuality is, next to nothing is being done.
Texas Counties are involved to this day in PREA education: http://www.county.org/education/even...prea/index.asp
http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/M...k_marapr04.mspRoderick Johnson's attorneys are confident that they can find a sympathetic jury, but prison rape cases are notoriously hard to prove, and even jurors convinced by inmates' allegations can remain unmoved. In Butler v. Dowd, a Missouri jury found that three inmates had been raped due to deliberate indifference from the staff, violating the inmates' Eighth Amendment right to be free of "cruel and unusual" punishment. In another case in Connecticut, James v. Tilghman, a jury found that corrections officials' decision to place an inmate in a cell with a suspected sexual predator similarly violated the prisoner's cons utional rights.
In those cases, the juries awarded the inmates $1 and nothing, respectively. Both "awards" were upheld on appeal.
It's a sad state of affairs. Everything I've read or heard points to "local ins utions" being worse, even FAR worse, due to incredible overcrowding. I've heard one of the worst county lockups in the known universe is the Bexar County one.
http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...isonrapes.htmlIn a national survey of imprisoned criminals, Texas has gained a dubious new distinction: Five of the 10 prisons with the highest reported rates of rape are in Texas. They are the Estelle Unit outside Huntsville, Clements in Amarillo, Allred near Wichita Falls, Coffield near Tennessee Colony and Mountain View outside Gatesville. All are men's prisons except the one at Gatesville.
Nationwide, more than 60,500 convicts reported being sexually victimized in prison — either by another prisoner or by staff — during 2006, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics' December survey of more than 1.3 million of the 2.4 million total U.S. prisoners.
Of those Texas prisons, Estelle had the highest reported prevalence of sexual victimization, with 15.7 percent of inmates reporting. Clements had 13.9 percent; Allred, 9.9 percent; Mountain View, 9.5 percent; and Coffield, 9.3 percent.
The U.S. total was 4.5 percent.
Texas prison officials said only 234 cases of alleged sexual assaults were reported statewide in all Texas prisons during 2007.
"The actual reports we have are not consistent with the results in the survey," said Mic e Lyons, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. "But because it's anonymous, there's no way for us to verify that additional number."
Even so, as the U.S. Justice Department's Review Panel on Prison Rape opened a two-day hearing in Houston on Thursday, the opinion that Texas has a big problem persisted.
"The need for genuine reform of the (Texas Department of Criminal Justice) is evident, as sexual abuse continues to plague Texas state prisons, derailing justice and shattering the dignity of victims," Lovisa Stannow wrote in an op-ed column in Thursday's Houston Chronicle. Stannow is executive director of Stop Prisoner Rape, a human rights organization.
OTOH:
http://blog.taragana.com/n/inmate-ad...reform-134544/A federal judge was so appalled that a former Colorado prison guard accused of raping an inmate was allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor that he imposed $1.3 million in damages in the inmate’s civil lawsuit
Looks like it's on Obama's radar, too:
http://sentencing.typepad.com/senten...-released.htmlJune 23, 2009
Major report on combatting prison rape finally released
As detailed in this Washington Post article, a long awaited report from the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission has finally been released:Nearly six years after President George W. Bush signed legislation to reduce prison rape, a blue-ribbon commission is calling on corrections officers to identify vulnerable inmates, offer better medical care and allow stricter monitoring of their facilities.The full report and other related NPREC materials are available at this link, and the report's executive summary is available here.
The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, in a study to be released today, affirms that more than 7.3 million people in prisons, jails and halfway houses across the nation have "fundamental rights to safety, dignity and justice."
The number of rapes committed by detention staff members and other inmates remains a subject of intense scrutiny. A 2007 survey of state and federal prisoners estimated that 60,500 inmates had been abused the previous year. But experts say that the stigma of sexual assault often leads to underreporting of incidents and denial by many of the victims. Too often, the report says, sexual abuse of prisoners is viewed as a source of jokes rather than a problem with destructive implications for public health, crime rates and successful reentry of prisoners into the community....
The panel hosted hearings and visited 11 corrections sites before issuing its report. Among the strongest recommendations: Staff members should be subject to robust background checks and given training, which could help victims of sexual assault secure emergency medical and mental health treatment.
Panel members are preparing to send their report to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who will have one year to prepare mandatory national standards. The recommendations will not bind state corrections officers, but states that do not adopt them will have their criminal justice funding cut, panel members said.
when you've got all prison administration denying all but a handful of rape cases even exist, while 100x (or so) prisoners stating otherwise, you've got a huge, huge problem, don't you think?
Except the instance of this woman's suffering has led to a law designed to prevent corporations from allowing this to occur in the future, which is really what the thread was all about.
Just because one is in favor of this legislation does not mean that one can't also be against prison rape. After all, you can't expect board members to categorically list the things that find immoral/wrong/distasteful/etc etc.
As I stated above, the sensational aspects of the story (she was innocent, not in jail where people might expect this to happen, overseas) also are leading to this.
That's how the world works; atrocities happen every day, but it takes a unique case sometimes to spur action.
Edit: Question I asked was answered in another post
Link, please?
Asked and answered, I think. We agree on this.
Reformers and activists will count incidences, wardens will focus on officially recognized cases to minimize the problem. Did you really expect to find a different dynamic here?
I disagree that's what this thread was all about. This thread is all about 30 republican senators being pro-business. All i'm doing is establishing a larger context. Gangrape happens all the time. You say later in this post that it takes a "unique" occurrence to get something done. Being gangraped against your will is common occurrence, and not overseas fighting a war that shouldn't be fought. It's happening Here. In America.
Your next step is to ask: what could the USG do that they haven't done, IE the PREA? We can see that the prison administration is not nearly accurately representing the prisoners. If the admins deny it's happening, that means they aren't helping the hundreds in their prison being sexually abused on a daily basis. We must find a way to make administration responsible for highly accurate information regarding the prison rape before we can expect them to stop it.
I don't understand. What legislation? The contractor legislation?Just because one is in favor of this legislation does not mean that one can't also be against prison rape. After all, you can't expect board members to categorically list the things that find immoral/wrong/distasteful/etc etc.
Great. One isolated incident that may never happen again, or a handful of times max, outweighs important, similar domestic problems that need addressing. I fail to see your logic.As I stated above, the sensational aspects of the story (she was innocent, not in jail where people might expect this to happen, overseas) also are leading to this.
That girl isn't even close to the first, or last, to be forced into a shipping sized container and raped (or whatever).
The world shouldn't work that way. Everything we base ourselves as American on is not supposed to work that way.That's how the world works; atrocities happen every day, but it takes a unique case sometimes to spur action.
Wikipedia for prison rape. It listed a few thousand occurrences as official ...
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
