The Problem of Prison Rape

Roderick Keith Johnson, a gay 37-year-old ex-con, was a sex
slave to five different prison gangs over the course of an 18-month
stint at a maximum-security unit in Iowa Park, Texas. Gang members
repeatedly raped him, and for a price usually between $5 and $10,
other inmates bought his services from gang members. In March 2002,
lawyers from the
ACLU’s
National Prison Project brought a suit against the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice alleging that prison officials
ignored his requests to be transferred to safer quarters and,
consequently, violated his constitutional right protecting him from
cruel and unusual punishment,

Daniel Brook wrote in a Legal Affairs piece last
year.

On Tuesday, October 18, a Texas jury rejected Johnson’s lawsuit,
The Associated Press reports. Criminal justice
professors and civil rights activists had speculated that a win for
Johnson in Texas could have been a catalyst for reform. The ACLU
and the California-based group Stop
Prisoner Rape say they receive more rape complaints from
prisoners in Texas than any other state, according to a
United Press International story.

While most courts and prison officials have generally viewed
inmate rape ‘as a problem without a solution,’ there are some
prison systems that have taken steps toward reform, according to
Brook. San Francisco County now builds jails so that an officer
standing in a guard station can see inside every cell on the block.
Also, prisoners are separated based on their likelihood of harming
other inmates. While there’s been some success, prison rape
continues to occur. Studies have found that more than 20 percent of
male prisoners are forced into sexual contact.
— Archie Ingersoll

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The Problem of Prison Rape

Go there too >>

Jurors Reject Texas Prison Rape Lawsuit

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