JDI Statement on Senate Passage of the Justice For All Act
- June 16, 2016
Statement from Just Detention International’s Executive Director, Lovisa Stannow, on Senate passage of the Justice For All Act:
“Today, the United States Senate took a meaningful step in ending the crisis of sexual abuse in detention through passage of the Justice For All Act (JFAA). Thanks to leadership from Senators John Cornyn and Patrick Leahy, Congress is one step closer to improving the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) by imposing a much-needed deadline for states to comply with PREA and increasing the amount of information that states will disclose each year in regards to their PREA implementation efforts.
Until now, governors have not been subjected to any deadline for implementing PREA. Instead, governors have been able to kick the can down the road simply by assuring the Attorney General that they are trying to comply with the law. Today’s bill seeks to fix that fundamental flaw.
Once this bill becomes law, regulators, advocates, prisoners, and journalists will have access to much more information about how PREA is working. For instance, when the Justice Department posts all PREA audits in one place, it will become possible to track and compare the progress of prisons and jails and to hold those that aren’t doing their job accountable.
JDI also thanks Senators Grassley, Durbin, Hatch, and Klobuchar for their support of JFAA’s passage.”
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Just Detention International is a health and human rights organization that seeks to end sexual abuse in all forms of detention