Posted on 02/12/2007 11:22:29 AM PST by B-Chan
"I've been sentenced for a D.U.I. offense. My 3rd one. When I first came to prison, I had no idea what to expect. Certainly none of this. I'm a tall white male, who unfortunately has a small amount of feminine characteristics. And very shy. These characteristics have got me raped so many times I have no more feelings physically. I have been raped by up to 5 black men and two white men at a time. I've had knifes at my head and throat. I had fought and been beat so hard that I didn't ever think I'd see straight again. One time when I refused to enter a cell, I was brutally attacked by staff and taken to segragation though I had only wanted to prevent the same and worse by not locking up with my cell mate. There is no supervision after lockdown. I was given a conduct report. I explained to the hearing officer what the issue was. He told me that off the record, He suggests I find a man I would/could willingly have sex with to prevent these things from happening. I've requested protective custody only to be denied. It is not available here. He also said there was no where to run to, and it would be best for me to accept things . . . . I probably have AIDS now. I have great difficulty raising food to my mouth from shaking after nightmares or thinking to hard on all this . . . . I've laid down without physical fight to be sodomized. To prevent so much damage in struggles, ripping and tearing. Though in not fighting, it caused my heart and spirit to be raped as well. Something I don't know if I'll ever forgive myself for."
***
The letter excerpted above was one of the first to reach Human Rights Watch in response to a small announcement posted in Prison Legal News and Prison Life Magazine, two publications with a wide audience in U.S. prisons. Having been alerted to the problem of prisoner-on-prisoner rape in the United States by the work of activists like Stephen Donaldson of the organization Stop Prisoner Rape, we had decided to conduct exploratory research into the topic and had put a call out to prisoners for information. The resulting deluge of letters--many of which included compelling firsthand descriptions such as this--convinced us that the issue merited urgent attention. Rape, by prisoners' accounts, was no aberrational occurrence; instead it was a deeply-rooted, systemic problem. It was also a problem that prison authorities were doing little to address.
The present report--the product of three years of research and well over a thousand inmate letters--describes the complex dynamics of male prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse in the United States. The report is an effort to explain why and how such abuse occurs, who commits it and who falls victim to it, what are its effects, both physical and psychological, how are prison authorities coping with it and, most importantly, what reforms can be instituted to better prevent it from occurring.
***
The Scope of this Report
This report is limited in scope to male prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse in the United States. It does not cover women prisoners, nor does it cover the sexual abuse of male prisoners by their jailers. Human Rights Watch investigated the problem of custodial sexual misconduct in U.S. women's prisons in two previous reports and the issue has been a continuing focus of our U.S. advocacy efforts. As to custodial sexual misconduct against male prisoners, we decided not to include that topic within the scope of this report even though some prisoners who claimed to have been subject to such abuse did contact us. An initial review of the topic convinced us that it involved myriad issues that were distinct from the topic at hand, which is complicated enough in itself.
Even though the notices that Human Rights Watch circulated to announce our research on prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse were written in gender-neutral language, we received no information from women prisoners regarding the problem. As prison experts are well aware, penal facilities for men and women tend to differ in important respects. If the problem of prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse exists in women's institutions--a possibility we do not exclude--it is likely to take somewhat different forms than in men's prisons.
For several reasons, the primary focus of this report is on sexual abuse in prisons, rather than jails. Most importantly, all of our information save a handful of letters came from prison as opposed to jail inmates. Many of these prisoners did, however, describe sexual abuses they had suffered when previously held in jails, allowing us to gather some information on the topic. Nonetheless, the bulk of our prisoner testimonies and documentation--and all of the information we collected from state authorities--pertain specifically to prisons. Already, with fifty separate state prison jurisdictions in the United States, the task of collecting official information was difficult; obtaining such information from the many thousands of local authorities responsible for city and county jails would have been infinitely more so. Yet we should emphasize that our lack of specific research on jails should be not interpreted as suggesting that the problem does not occur there. Although little research has been done on sexual assault in jails, the few commentators who have examined the topic have found the abuse to be similarly or even more prevalent there.
It is evident to Human Rights Watch, even without having completed exhaustive research into the jail context, that the problems we describe with regard to prisons generally hold true for jails as well. This conclusion derives from the fact that most of the risk factors leading to rape exist in prisons and jails alike. We therefore believe that our recommendations for reform are largely applicable in the jail context, and we urge jail authorities to pay increased attention to the issue of prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse.
While this report does not deal specifically with juvenile institutions, we note that previous research, while extremely scanty, suggests that inmate-on-inmate sexual abuse may be even more common in juvenile institutions than it is in facilities for adults. Indeed, a case filed recently by the U.S. Justice Department in federal court to challenge conditions in a Louisiana juvenile institution includes serious allegations of inmate-on-inmate rape.
Finally, our choice of U.S. prisons as the subject of this research, over prisons elsewhere in the world, in no way indicates that we believe the problem to be unique to the United States. On the contrary, our international prison research convinces us that prisoner-on-prisoner rape is of serious concern around the world. We note that several publications on human rights or prison conditions in other countries have touched on or explored the topic, as have past Human Rights Watch prison reports.(8) Interestingly, researchers outside of the United States have reached many of the same conclusions as researchers here, suggesting that specific cultural variables are not determinative with regard to rape in prison.(9)
***
Methodology
The report is primarily based on information collected from over 200 prisoners spread among thirty-seven states. The majority of these inmates have been raped or otherwise sexually abused while in prison, and were therefore able to give firsthand accounts of the problem. Numerous inmates who were not subject to sexual abuse also provided their views on the topic, including information about sexual assaults that they had witnessed. A very small number of inmates who had themselves participated in rape also contributed their perspectives. Much of the information was received via written correspondence, although Human Rights Watch representatives spoke by telephone with a number of prisoners, and personally interviewed twenty-six of them. Prisoner testimonies were supplemented by documentary materials such as written grievances, court papers, letters, and medical records.
Prisoners were contacted using several different methods. Human Rights Watch posted announcements in a number of publications and leaflets that reach prisoners--including Prison Legal News, Prison Life Magazine (which has since ceased publication), and Florida Prison Legal Perspectives--informing them that we were conducting research on the topic of prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse and that we welcomed their information. Several organizations that work with prisoners, including Stop Prisoner Rape, put us in contact with additional inmates.
The prisoners who collaborated in our efforts were thus a largely self-selected group, not a random sampling. Previous researchers have conducted quantitative studies using statistically valid techniques in certain U.S. prisons -- most recently, in 1998 in seven midwestern state prison systems -- but, given that there are some two million prisoners in the United States, this would be difficult to achieve on a national scale. The research on which the present report was based was thus qualitative in nature: it sought to identify systemic weaknesses rather than to quantify actual cases of abuse. The result, we believe, sketches the outlines of a national problem, bridging the gap between academic research on the topic and the more anecdotal writings that occasionally appear in the popular press.
The prisoners with whom Human Rights Watch was in contact, we should emphasize, did not simply serve as a source of case material. Rather, their comments and insights--based on firsthand knowledge and close observation--inform every page of the report.
Besides prisoners, we also obtained valuable information from prison officials, prison experts, lawyers who represent prisoners, prisoners rights organizations, and prisoners' relatives. Written materials including academic studies, books, and articles from the popular press supplemented these sources. In addition, Human Rights Watch conducted an extensive review of the case law relevant to prison rape in the United States.
This thread makes me want to go back to my old tag line:
"Most Freepers would have responded 'Damn right I'm without sin! I'll throw that first stone!"
You would think:
1. the Duke-Lacross-Nifong disaster,
2. the travesty that is the Scooter Libby trial,
3. the Travis County prosecution of Sen. Kay Baily Hutchinson for being a Republican
4. the Travis County prosecution of Tom Delay
would teach the don't-break-the-law-and-you-have-nothing-to-fear morons something.
Just because someone is guilty of a crime does not mean they should be assaulted and raped. It's really not a funny matter.
I've always been a strong believer that it is society that extracts justice, not a bunch of thugs in a prison. While I am not always pleased by what passes for justice in our society, I am always appalled to read of rape.
It may not be part of their job description (though I suspect that "enforcing rules" is part of that description), but just as cops must follow an ethic of justice, so should guards. If it needs to be written more clearly in their contract, then do it. If we need to professionalize our guards so as to have an ethic of justice, then do it.
Hey now... my cousin and his son are both guards at a Federal Pen. I think you judge a little quickly. People do it because it pays better than a lot of other jobs, there is job security, and maybe they want to do something meaningful.
That said, their biggest beef is that the inmates all have lawyers and they'll sue them at the drop of a hat. The guards can't touch them, the inmates know it, and yes, the inmates run the asylum to a large extent.
While your at it:
1. Don't be a white male when the DA is running for re-election and needs the black vote (Dke-Lacross-Nifong disaster)
2. Don't be a Republican in Washington D.C. -- (the travesty that is the Scooter Libby trial)
3. Don't be a Republican Senator from Texas (Travis County prosecution of Sen. Kay Baily Hutchinson for being a Republican)
4. Don't be an effective Republican Speaker of the House (the Travis County prosecution of Tom Delay)
Rape is horrifying regardless of gender. However, I'm wondering that this fellow is in jail on a 3rd DUI while I just read another where a fellow is footloose and fancy free while committing his 5th DUI. Interesting!
Worcester driver charged in fifth DUI stop
Worcester Telegram ^ | 2/12/07 | Kalke
Posted on 02/12/2007 12:33:32 PM PST by pabianice
Personally, I don't have a lot of sympathy for those in the slam (and that's with two in my family having spent time there). But locking two potentially violent lawbreakers in the same room, or having them mix in a large common area, unsupervised, is just a stupid idea.
Whatever the penalty is for whatever crime committed, even the death penalty, rape ain't part of it.
Owl_Eagle
If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.
"Personally, I'd consider quitting the booze."
I suspect that the author of this letter will move on to stronger methods of masking their emotional pain after their stint in Prison.
This is why we need you to post more often to more threads.
If there is no loss of property or life, and no personal injury, there should be NO JAIL TIME. If the punishment fit the crime, then ALL financial crimes (theft, breaking and entering, embezzlement, etc) should be restitution and a financial penalty (the old book taught 4X what you stole). "Work Camps" (shudder at the historical verbiage, but we could come up with another name), for those who are recicivist offenders/scofflaws. This would get rid of a great many people who pose no physical threat to society and who are like the pathetic person who entered a fairly soft prisoner, and who will come out an enraged, hardened animal.
It is interesting that in ancient times there were no "prisons" as such. Penalties for crimes were financial restitution, public flogging, and death. That is it. It was William Penn and crowd who were responsible for changing our system from one which focused on "justice" (you break the law, you pay) to "reform" (helping the prisoner back into society). Those were the first prisons in the colonies.
This is pretty shocking and disgusting.
Then I think about the man who murdered my aunt and was sentenced to less than 20 years.
Prison is hell and Im ok with that.
Many people are having a hard time coming to terms with the idea that "the law" is a nebulous concept, increasingly applied for the political advantage of the state and its actors as much as for the pursuit of justice. The black-and-white world of "good guys" and "bad guys" that they grew up with is soothing and comforting, but it is no longer an accurate model of reality - if it ever was.
The last thing we need is a bunch of trained rapists leaving the prison system. Especially those that rape men.
That probably goes a long way towards explaining the callous attitude I've seen in a lot of COs. I can't imagine how I'd be able to cope working under those conditions.
LOL, the only one I'm at risk of is number 1.
I work in Durham, NC. But I do try to avoid black strippers, whores, exotic dancers, etc.
Ya know, if other prisoners, like the ones at Gitmo, have a right to pray five times a day and be supplied with engraved copies of the Koran, then surely this guy deserves to be protected from rapists.
ML/NJ
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