Rape in America's Prisons

[Strix]

We expect them not to get raped. 

No, you expect them to get raped. Don't lie to yourself. What you expect is that you won't see it or have to read about it. Just like everyone else.

If you cared or if society cared than they would fund prisons better. Instead they provide minimum funding to prisons which makes prisons run with minimal staff.

The result is that inmates run the prison and will do so for the foreseeable future.  And, news flash, most inmates are not nice people.

[ulmont]

The result is that inmates run the prison and will do so for the foreseeable future.

"Inmates run[ning] the prison" doesn't explain why they're getting raped by the guards.

[Jaron]

Realistically, yes. I am not shocked there is rape in prisons. However, as a citizen of these United States and a proud member of her tax base, I have the moral expectation that when our legal system sends someone off to jail, they will serve their time, but that they will be safe from harm. That is what gives us the high ground..the moral authority to impose such judgements, if you will.

This is not about making sure bad things don't happen to bad people. It is about ensuring full government control of these institutions and making sure they are being used in the manner they are being funded for. I'm not paying a god damn dime to give a rapist fresh and unlimited access to all the ass he can stomach.

[Strix]

The problem is that the article is highlighting one incident of a homosexual sex offender run amok who happens to be in a position of power.

99% of the "rapes" that occur by the guards or other members of staff are consensual sex acts usually between adults. They are "rape" because of statutory law. If you look at the numbers I am sure you will find that the percentage of people who receive a reduced charge or plea for statutory rape is in line with what occurs at prison (plus the added fact that the person being charged just lost a good paying job with good benefits).

Inmates run the prison. No way a guard or staff member would rape a prisoner unless it was some bizarre circumstance (as the article portrays at the youth facility). Inmates hold the power. They can have a guard fired or killed without much effort if they really want to do so.

[Jaron]

You need to take your pick. They are either consensual acts between adults or violations of statutory law. Which is it Strix?

By definition isn't it impossible for them to be both?

[Strix]

You need to take your pick. They are either consensual acts between adults or violations of statutory law. Which is it Strix?

By definition isn't it impossible for them to be both?

No. Which is why it's called statutory rape. It doesn't fit under the definition of rape, so they needed to add a new statute. Which is what they do when it's between consenting parties.

[Jaron]

Then it is rape.

We aren't talking about teenage sweethearts breaking the law because one of them turns 18.

We are talking about prison guards molesting child inmates.

[Barrister]

I don't know about NY State, but in Canada adults who are in positions of authority over youths, who then have sex with those youths, aren't committing 'statutory rape' - they're abusing their position of authority, an entirely separate offence called "sexual exploitation" with a higher sentence.

Also I don't know about NY State prisons, but in provincial and territorial prisons in Canada inmates certainly have influence, but by no stretch can they "have a guard fired or killed without much effort".

And I can tell you that such an allegation would lead to very swift charges from my office.  We're much less likely to see it in Canada though because we jail very, very few young people (too few IMHO).

[Sheilbh]

The problem is that the article is highlighting one incident of a homosexual sex offender run amok who happens to be in a position of power.

Read the rest of the article before you comment.

Also the idea of a consensual relationship between a prison guard and an inmate is laughable.

[Sheilbh]

No, you expect them to get raped. Don't lie to yourself. What you expect is that you won't see it or have to read about it. Just like everyone else.

This is despicable.  We expect some violence and institutional violence within prisons and we tolerate that.  We don't expect and we shouldn't tolerate, or ignore what verges on institutionalised rape.

If you cared or if society cared than they would fund prisons better. Instead they provide minimum funding to prisons which makes prisons run with minimal staff.

Agreed.

The result is that inmates run the prison and will do so for the foreseeable future.  And, news flash, most inmates are not nice people.

From the article:

Across the country, 12.1 percent of kids questioned in the BJS survey said that they'd been sexually abused at their current facility during the preceding year. That's nearly one in eight, or approximately 3,220, out of the 26,550 who were eligible to participate. The survey, however, was only given at large facilities that held young people who had been "adjudicated"—i.e., found by a court to have committed an offense—for at least ninety days, which is more restrictive than it may sound. In total, according to the most recent data, there are nearly 93,000 kids in juvenile detention on any given day.[19] Although we can't assume that 12.1 percent of the larger number were sexually abused—many kids not covered by the survey are held for short periods of time, or in small facilities where rates of abuse are somewhat lower—we can say confidently that the BJS's 3,220 figure represents only a small fraction of the children sexually abused in detention every year.

What sort of kids get locked up in the first place? Only 34 percent of those in juvenile detention are there for violent crimes. (More than 200,000 youth are also tried as adults in the US every year, and on any given day approximately 8,500 kids under eighteen are confined in adult prisons and jails. Although probably at greater risk of sexual abuse than any other detained population, they haven't yet been surveyed by the BJS.) According to the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, which was itself created by PREA, more than 20 percent of those in juvenile detention were confined for technical offenses such as violating probation, or for "status offenses" like missing curfews, truancy, or running away—often from violence and abuse at home. ("These kids have been raped their whole lives," said a former officer from the TYC's Brownwood unit.[20]) Many suffer from mental illness, substance abuse, and learning disabilities.

[viper37]

Also I don't know about NY State prisons, but in provincial and territorial prisons in Canada inmates certainly have influence, but by no stretch can they "have a guard fired or killed without much effort".

Ask Mom Boucher.  It didn't appear to be very hard to have 2 guards killed, outside the prison.

[Jaron]

I just read up on that and I don't see the connection.

[Strix]

I don't know about NY State, but in Canada adults who are in positions of authority over youths, who then have sex with those youths, aren't committing 'statutory rape' - they're abusing their position of authority, an entirely separate offence called "sexual exploitation" with a higher sentence.

Also I don't know about NY State prisons, but in provincial and territorial prisons in Canada inmates certainly have influence, but by no stretch can they "have a guard fired or killed without much effort".

And I can tell you that such an allegation would lead to very swift charges from my office.  We're much less likely to see it in Canada though because we jail very, very few young people (too few IMHO).

It is the same in NY. It's not statutory rape but a charge of abusing one's authority. Basically NY believes that anyone in a position of authority having control of another cannot engage in sexual conduct with that person because they are unable to give consent.

I am quite sure you are wrong concerning Canadian prisons. I am quite sure that inmates get officers fired all the time without much effort. All they do is turn the officer in and testify to what that officer is doing wrong. We aren't talking about inmates getting innocent employees fired. We are talking about officers engaging in activity they shouldn't be doing. A prison guard is the easiest person to injure and kill if an inmate wants to do so. There is literally nothing that can be done to prevent it if the inmate has the connections or will. It doesn't happen that often that they are killed because there is little incentive to do so.

The issue with the article is that they are using an example of a child molester as proof of something bigger and more insidious going on. The only link between the child molester and institutional "rape" is the knee jerk reactions of people reading the article.

[Strix]

Read the rest of the article before you comment.

Also the idea of a consensual relationship between a prison guard and an inmate is laughable.

I suggest you do the same. If you do with an objective viewpoint and not a knee jerk reaction than you will notice how the article starts with a story designed to bring a strong emotional reaction than continues with stats and figures that are muddled. Sometimes the facts are about inmate to inmate relations than they are followed by a comment concerning guard to inmate relations. It is clear the article has an agenda and doesn't care how misleading the information is that supports that agenda.

[Admiral Yi]

Also the idea of a consensual relationship between a prison guard and an inmate is laughable.

I don't see why.  Inmates get horny too.