action update april 2010

hen the government takes away someone’s freedom, A Historic Opportunity it must protect that person’s safe- Wty. When the detainee is a child, to End that obligation becomes especially urgent.

Sadly, a recent gov- Attorney General Reviewing Proposed National Standards ernment study found that almost one in eight detained youth t has been more than nine By law, Attorney General Eric Holder has in the U.S. had been months since the National until June 2010 to review the standards and sexually abused in Rape Elimination Commission re- formalize them into federal regulations, mak- the preceding year leased its Standards for the Preven- ing them binding on facilities na- alone — more than I tion, Detection, Response, and Monitor- tionwide. Disappointingly, the Department 80 percent of them ing of Sexual in Detention. These of ’s review of the standards is moving by staff. Instead of standards have the potential to become the slowly. It is now clear that Holder will miss helping troubled kids most important tool so far in the effort to his deadline — perhaps by as much as a year. turn their lives around, an appalling number end prisoner rape in the United States. See STANDARDS REVIEW, continued on page 2 of officers have done the very opposite, abus- ing the children in their care.

You might expect officials to ex- press horror at such findings, and to seek seri- ous change. Some have done exactly that – but many others, including some of the most influential corrections leaders in the country, are instead blocking reform.

Last June, a bipartisan government commis- sion released national standards aimed spe- cifically at ending prisoner rape. These stan- dards are now bogged down in a Department of Justice review. The reason: prison officials claim that it will be too expensive to imple- ment the standards — too expensive to pre- vent staff from raping detainees.

Now we need your help. Until May 10, the Department of Justice is accepting public comments on the standards. Please sign and mail the postcard included in this Action Up- date, urging the Attorney General to finalize the standards — swiftly and fully.

Lovisa Stannow Executive Director just detention international  april 2010 | action update action update

Standards Review Attorney General Weighing Cost, continued from page 1

Definitions, Compliance Factors Some corrections leaders are pressuring the Department to weaken the standards, argu- ing that they will be too expensive. In re- sponse, the Attorney General has commis- n addition to soliciting public comments implementing the Commission’s standards sioned a cost projection study of standards on the National Elimination will be comparatively inexpensive. U.S. implementation. This study is not a cost- Commission’s recommended standards detention facilities are constitutionally benefit analysis; it is based on estimated I(see page 1), the Department of Justice required to protect the safety of inmates, expenses provided by corrections adminis- is requesting input on three specific questions. regardless of PREA. If they are meeting trators. Officials who oppose the standards, These questions stem from objections to the such basic obligations, complying with or who are seeking to bolster corrections standards by some key prison administrators, the standards will cost little. Moreover, appropriations, have an obvious incentive who wish to limit the scope of these measures. any assessment of the price of protecting to inflate their estimates. Beyond the ques- inmates from must be tionable utility and accuracy of such a study, What would be the implications of referring to understood in light of the dramatic benefits it dangerously encourages a focus on cost “sexual abuse” as opposed to “rape” in the final of doing so. Prisoner rape is expensive — to without regard for safety or human rights. standards? the corrections agency, the individual, and JDI’s Response: Based on the definition of “prison society at large — and the costs are not only On March 10, the Department of Justice rape” provided in the Prison Rape Elimination financial, but moral. opened a 60-day public comment period, Act (PREA), some critics have argued that soliciting input on the Commission’s final sexual , staff-on-inmate voyeurism, Should the Department consider varying recommendations and posing specific ques- and indecent exposure by staff should not be compliance requirements according to facili- tions related to cost, the definition of rape, covered by the standards. Yet, these are often ties’ size, personnel or resource limitations, or and whether the standards’ requirements precursors to other forms of sexual abuse, and other factors? should vary at different types of facilities. responding to them constitutes vitally im- JDI’s Response: Sexual abuse in detention is portant preventive action. Any serious effort a and a human rights violation, and JDI has mobilized a new coalition to dem- to address the problem of prisoner rape must unacceptable in any setting, whether a large onstrate the strong support for the standards confront the full spectrum of coercive sexual prison or a small jail. The standards rep- that exists across U.S. society — including activity and staff sexual misconduct. resent the bare minimum needed for any among corrections officials, who recognize facility to meet its constitutional obligation the urgency of ending prisoner rape and un- Would any of the Commission’s proposed standards to protect inmates from abuse. Varying the derstand the importance of the standards. violate PREA by imposing “substantial additional expectations of compliance based on factors The Raising the Bar for Justice and Safety costs compared to the costs presently expended by such as the size and resources of a facility Coalition is submitting comments urging Federal, State, and local prison authorities”? will undermine the goal of the standards the Attorney General to enact the standards JDI’s Response: Relative to the billions of and will add confusion to their otherwise fully and quickly. dollars spent on corrections every year, straightforward expectations. The fiscal benefits of the standards will be substantial, as the costs of sexual abuse in detention are enormous. States lose mil- Tell the Obama Administration– lions of dollars every year in prisoner abuse lawsuits alone. Based on JDI’s work with Stop the Rape of Now corrections officials who are already adopt- ing the measures, we know that the expense he Department of Justice is soliciting public comments on the national standards ad- need not be significant. dressing sexual abuse behind bars — standards that have the potential to save tens of Tthousands of inmates the devastation of rape every year. JDI urges all its supporters Most importantly, stopping prisoner rape is to take advantage of this public comment period and the right thing to do. That is why Attorney send a message to the Attorney General urging him General Holder should act swiftly to adopt to adopt the standards currently before him, which the standards as binding federal regulations, were developed by the National Prison Rape Elimina- without watering them down. Anything tion Commission. Please sign and mail the postcard less will signify acceptance of the status quo included in this Action Update, or visit JDI’s website — the continued sexual abuse of more than (www.justdetention.org), to submit your comments in 100,000 adults and children each year. support of the standards. The public comment period ends on May 10, 2010. just detention international  april 2010 | action update “Paths to Recovery Opened Our Minds” Pilot project changes prison staff views on sexual abuse in detention

ood and dedicated correc- tunnel vision — wanting the facts, but forget- tions officials know that sexual abuse ting that the victim has needs. Paths to Re- in detention is a terrible problem for covery has opened our minds to addressing Gits immediate victims — and for the victims’ needs. staff as well. These are people who take pride in their jobs and their profession and nothing It has certainly been a big adventure, allow- could be more contrary to their mission than ing outsiders like JDI and Women’s Center allowing those in their care to be raped. – High Desert into the prison, and learning about the new standards. Sometimes, it’s Sgt. Charles Contreras is an investigative ser- been a challenge, but I think it’s a positive geant at California Correctional Institution challenge. (CCI), one of the state’s largest men’s pris- ons. He is a champion of one of JDI’s pilot programs for addressing sexual assault behind bars. The project, Paths to Recovery, puts many of the National Prison Rape Elimina- VOCA Funding Rules tion Commission’s recommended standards into practice at CCI. Working with JDI and to Change, Allowing a local rape crisis center, Women’s Center Services for Inmates – High Desert, CCI has created a Sexual As- sault Response Team (SART), trained staff and inmates, and begun allowing outside Sgt. Charles Contreras DI applauds the Department of Justice counselors to provide confidential crisis coun- for its March 10, 2010 announcement seling to survivors of sexual abuse. Staff have come to realize that sexual abuse is Jthat the Attorney General is seeking to an issue within the institution that we are re- eliminate a regulation that bars the use of Sgt. Contreras talked with JDI about the sponsible for addressing. Training the investi- Victims of Crime Act funds — the life blood importance of Paths to Recovery, which he gative staff on the dynamics of sexual assault of community rape crisis centers — to assist credits with changing the culture of the insti- and how to respond to incidents made us incarcerated prisoner rape victims. JDI has tution for the better. more efficient in the way we handle sexual as- advocated for the removal of that misguided sault allegations. Simply put, thanks to Paths policy for years. It is significant that the De- Why is Paths to Recovery important for CCI? to Recovery, as staff we are now better able to partment of Justice recognizes that victims of First and foremost, it’s important to recog- do our jobs. sexual abuse behind bars should be able to re- nize that an inmate who has been abused is a ceive the same crisis intervention services that sexual assault victim. He needs medical treat- For inmates, Paths to Recovery has made it are available to victims in the community. ment and he needs staff to be sensitive during easier to file a report.T hat’s a good thing. As the investigative process. We must make it staff, we want those who have been sexually clear to the inmate that he can trust every- abused to tell us what has happened. Inmates one on the SART. The follow-up counseling who wish to file a report but who do not want Follow JDI on Twitter! and referrals that victims receive through JDI to tell us directly have the option of calling Just Detention International has joined Twitter, and Women’s Center – High Desert are also the Office of Internal Affairs sexual assault the social networking website. important. Inmates get this aftercare whether hotline. Or they can write a note to our medi- the case is substantiated or not. Victims need cal staff, or talk directly with the JDI staff and Via our “tweets,” we share with supporters, pris- to heal. Sexual abuse worsens and weakens the rape crisis counselors. oner rape survivors, journalists, and others the the facility — makes it less safe. Having a most up-to-date information about our work. SART has helped us respond better, for the What lessons can other corrections facilities learn To find JDI on Twitter, visit http://twitter.com/ good of the entire facility. from your experience? JustDetention and become a follower. One of the most important lessons is that A large Twitter following will help increase What changes have you seen at the prison? outside groups are there to assist us. They awareness of the problem of sexual abuse in Through time and training, staff have learned can let us know what a victim might be going detention. to take sexual abuse allegations seriously. through. A lot of times we get caught up in just detention international  april 2010 | action update action update

Rampant Sexual Abuse Survivors Offer in Juvenile Detention Facilities Insights to the Justice Department n January, a long-awaited officials so blatantly abuse their power, it is study from the Department of Justice’s no wonder that most youth do not believe risoner rape survivors are IBureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) revealed reporting is a good option. central to the effort to end sexual that youth in juvenile corrections facilities are violence behind bars. In January, sexually abused at alarming rates. According to the study, youth with histo- PJDI brought five members of its ries of victimization are more than twice as Survivor Speakers List — Garrett Cun- A shocking 12.1 percent — almost one in eight likely as other detainees to be abused while ningham, Hope Hernandez, Scott How- — of the detained youth who participated in incarcerated. Predators disproportionately ard-Smith, Troy Erik Isaac, and Kimberly the survey reported being sexually abused at target teens who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, Yates — to address the Department of their current facility during the previous year transgender or gender non-conforming. Justice PREA Working Group. Speaking alone. In the worst places, more than 30 per- about the devastating sexual violence they cent of young detainees were victimized. For anyone who has doubted the need for had endured, each of the survivors high- the national standards currently under re- lighted the importance of the national stan- All survivors of sexual violence in detention view by the Attorney General (and de- dards currently under review by the Justice face obstacles to reporting abuse, including fear scribed elsewhere in this Action Update) this Department. of stigma and further assaults. Young survivors BJS survey should serve as a wake-up call. lack experience in corrections settings and of- When troubled children are being raped “With better policies and practices, I would ten fear adult authority figures.T he BJS survey by the very government employees who never have been assaulted,” said Yates, who found that the vast majority of perpetrators in are charged with keeping them safe — not was raped by an officer while in federal cus- youth facilities were staff members, whose very occasionally, but regularly, and across the tody, after prison officials had ignored prior job it is to keep youth safe. When corrections country — then our systems are failing us. reports of the officer’s attacks.

“The standards are about accountability — corrections officials must be account- able for abuse committed on their watch,” Media Spotlight on insisted Howard-Smith, a survivor of re- peated sexual assaults by other inmates in Prisoner Rape a Colorado prison. “I want the Attorney General to institute strong standards that he national epidemic will make sure such violence doesn’t happen of sexual violence behind bars to anyone else.” Thas finally begun receiving the media attention it deserves. Signifi- cantly, in early 2010, The Washing- ton Post and published strong editorials urging Attorney General Eric Holder to codify national standards address- ing sexual abuse in detention. JDI staff and members of its Survivor Speak- just detention international ers List have also been featured promi- 3325 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 340 nently in dozens of press reports. Los Angeles, CA 90010 Tel: (213) 384-1400 The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ ground- the country as well as a two-part series in Fax: (213) 384-1411 breaking report revealing widespread sexual The New York Review of Books. abuse of detained youth generated nation- East Coast Office wide coverage. In the last few months, JDI “Prisoner rape remains a neglected crisis, 1025 Vermont Ave., NW, Third Floor staff and survivor advocates have appeared and a misunderstood one,” explains Lovisa Washington, DC 20005 on CNN and National Public Radio, and in Stannow, Executive Director of JDI. “Any Tel: (202) 580-6971 dozens of printed stories, including in USA media coverage that describes sexual abuse Fax: (202) 638-6056 Today, The Economist, and Associated Press. in detention as the crime and human rights [email protected] During the same period, JDI has published violation that it is brings us one step closer to www.justdetention.org op-ed pieces in numerous newspapers across finally ending this type of violence.” just detention international  april 2010 | action update