I am being ironic in using 'fine' in this post's title because this post is about something called the 'Prison Rape Elimination Act'(PREA), an act that I had never heard of until I read this article in the NY Review of Books. In 2003 our leaders passed a law that actually attempted to solve a problem, mirabile dictu.
Sure, I knew that rape is relatively common in prisons. What I didn't realize is that many of the rapes are performed on kids. More discouraging, 80% of the rapes are committed by prison staff and, very often, by the female staff. And, for whatever reason fewer than half of the staff accused are actually prosecuted. 25% of the accused staff stay in their jobs, some are even promoted.
It's a very depressing article.
No comments:
Post a Comment