Stop Prisoner Rape........

[Joanne98]

*Stop Prisoner Rape Opens Washington, D.C. Office*

Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., March 12, 2008. Stop Prisoner Rape
(SPR), an international human rights organization based in Los Angeles,

is pleased to announce the opening of its Washington, D.C. office.

SPR is the only organization in the U.S. focusing exclusively on the
problem of sexual violence in detention. Whether perpetrated by
corrections officials or by inmates with the acquiescence of staff,
sexual abuse of detainees constitutes torture under international human

rights law, violates domestic criminal law, and is a breach of the
Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The focus of SPR’s mission is to hold government agencies accountable

for failures to protect the safety of detainees. As part of that
effort,
SPR helps to draft and promote relevant state and federal legislation,
and offers expert analysis, training, and survivor testimony to
policymakers and corrections officials at the federal, state, and local

levels.

SPR was instrumental in securing passage of the Prison Rape Elimination

Act (PREA) of 2003, the first piece of federal legislation addressing
sexual abuse in detention. Since then, the organization has led the
call
for the law’s meaningful implementation. SPR’s new Washington, D.C.

office will focus much of its attention on that work. In addition, the
new office will increase SPR’s participation in an initiative to
amend
the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) of 1996, a federal law that was

intended to limit frivolous lawsuits by prisoners, but instead has
become a major impediment for inmates seeking redress after a sexual
assault.

“In recent years, SPR has helped to bring the problem of rape in
detention firmly into the public debate, highlighting the fact that
this
type of violence is both preventable and unlawful,” said Lovisa
Stannow,
SPR’s Executive Director. “With a presence in Washington, D.C., we
will
be able to maximize our effort to protect the inalienable right of
detainees to be free from sexual abuse.”

Melissa Rothstein, SPR’s former Program Development Director, is the
organization’s new East Coast Program Director. Ms Rothstein is a
graduate of Columbia Law School and Columbia University School of
Social
Work. She previously served as a Pro Se Law Clerk in the Second Circuit

of the U.S. Court of Appeals, and as an attorney and social worker at
an
appellate public defender office in New York City.

Contact Information:

Stop Prisoner Rape
1025 Vermont Ave. NW, 3rd Floor
Washington, D.C. 20005
Tel: [phone]

[liberalnurse]

1. This is just not a priority these days.

Inmates have way too many liberties as it is....Prison life is a pampered lifestyle.

[slampoet]

4. Have you been to jail ?

[balantz]

5. First of all WTF?

Did you forget your sarcasm smiley?

Or are prisoners just worthless scum that have lost their value as human beings?

Prison is a pampered lifestyle? Which prison have you lived in?

Basic human dignity should know no walls.

Many will return to society. Do we want them to have the anger of rape in them that might possibly be visited upon someone else?

[midnight]

6. Does look like you forgot your sarcasm logo.

[Peace Patriot]

2. I have noticed the ROUTINE mention of potential prison rape used as a threat

against rebellious youngsters, and against suspects and innocent persons who are being interrogated by cops, in our many, many, many TV cop shows. It is sometimes treated as a joke as well. What strikes me about this is that no one--none of the characters, neither the supposed representatives of law and order, nor other characters (non-cop citizens, lawyers, judges), object to it. Everybody simply ACCEPTS that, if you go to prison, you WILL be raped--especially if you are not physically strong and violent (able to, or used to, defending yourself from physical attack).

I first noticed the use of this threat against a young person I knew who was getting into some minor trouble. It was spoken by a cop who intended it as a deterrent. I happened to overhear it. I was not party to the conversation, so I couldn't object. And I doubt that the threat would have been issued if I had been. But it struck me then--as it does now, when I see how frequently it appears in TV shows as a threat or a joke. One character who hates another may wish the other one to go to prison so that he WILL be raped. Cops threaten recalcitrant witnesses with prison not because of some part they played in a crime, but so that they will be punished for their silence by being raped. White collar criminals--"soft" accountants or other non-violent thieves--are told that they will be put in a cell with a beefy lifer who will rape them--for months, for years. And if this is standard fare on TV--that no one questions, that no one seeks to remedy, that no one considers wrong--what may the reality be? Where are the writers getting this idea?

Well, I am very glad for the Stop Prison Rape human rights foundation! God bless their work! This heinous police state that we are living in--that we have allowed to develop--desperately needs cleansing and reform, on this matter and so many others. Something like 70% of U.S. prisoners are in jail with long prison terms, for non-violent crimes--prostitution, drug use, drug peddling, minor theft. This is truly sick. And it is VERY COSTLY--both in dollars, and to society. For if you punish minor offenses with rape and brutality, what kind of society are you, and what are you creating? We would be better off to GIVE the $30,000 per year it costs to imprison non-violent offenders, and tell them, "Here's your chance--get a life!" Or give them $15,000 outright, and spend the rest on drug rehab or whatever medical care they need. Really. I am at that point with this broken justice system. It is a total and complete frigging waste of money, and produces the exact opposite of what we supposedly intend: MORE crime, MORE bad drug use, MORE prostitution, MORE violence, and MORE desperation.

But first we have to reform our election system, and start electing real representatives of the people, who will not take police state lobbying money, and will bring progressive values and real wisdom to government policy. If every human rights group and other progressive groups in the country were to speak as one, and demand transparent vote counting, we might start getting somewhere with restoring democracy and good government. They are "crying in the wilderness" otherwise, when they take their issue to Washington DC.

[bloo]

3. hear hear

you can judge us by the way we treat the weakest and most helpless among us. when we turn a blind eye to sexual slavery in the prisons, then we get what we deserve in form of violence, hatred and fear the victims bring back to us. prison should not be a field trip, there should be discipline and control, and austerity. but violence and rape? it only comes back to us.