Florida lags in complying with national standards on prison rape

Epidemic. That’s a good word to describe Florida when it comes to sexual crimes perpetrated on inmates behind bars.

And although we’ve been concentrating on Jacksonville’s jail, the statewide prison system is perhaps more dangerous for inmates

It has, for example, the dubious distinction of tying with Texas for having the most prisons with high rates of staff sexual misconduct and inmate-on-inmate sexual abuse, according to a recent report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Two men’s prisons in Florida — Santa Rosa Correctional Institution and Apalachee Correctional Institution — were near the top of the bureau’s national list for high rates of inmate sexual abuse by staff.

Apalachee also topped the list of facilities nationwide with the worst inmate-on-inmate sexual assault, as did the Northwest Florida Reception Center in Chipley.

A single all-female facility in Florida, the Broward Correctional Institution, made the list for high levels of staff-on-inmate sexual assaults.

“The state has an appalling record,” says Jesse Lerner-Kinglake, communication director of Just Detention International, a nonprofit fighting prison sexual abuse worldwide. “The word ‘alarming’ doesn’t do justice for what’s happening there.”

Despite Florida’s horrific ranking, Gov. Rick Scott has — for the second year in a row — refused to comply with national standards regarding jailhouse rape. In fact, as of yesterday, the deadline for federal compliance, the U.S. Department of Justice hadn’t heard a peep from Scott.

This state is one of a handful, including Texas, that have failed to comply with federal codes set in place in 2012 to battle sexual assault in prisons. Now all face reductions in prison-related federal grant dollars because of their refusal.

RAPE IN PRISON

These states’ refusal to join the majority of states in complying with guidelines certainly isn’t due to a lack of jailhouse rapes.

In fact, it was a tragic 1996 case in Texas’ prison system that gave birth to the anti-rape guidelines.

In that instance, a 17-year-old prisoner who had been beaten and raped hanged himself by his bed sheets in his prison cell.

In response to that, a federal commission hammered out the Prison Rape Elimination Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2003. The list of regulations that states must abide by was finalized in 2012 and includes numerous measures to cut down on such assaults.

The act provides a common-sense framework for eliminating rape and sexual abuse in prison. And states were given one year to either report they had complied or were working to comply with the regulations, including separating juveniles from adult prisoners.

These federal standards include things such as beefing up a facility’s reporting system so assaulted inmates have numerous ways to report, increasing training on sexual abuse prevention for both inmates and corrections staff, screening new inmates for risk factors such as prior sexual abuse, providing protection for transsexual inmates and eliminating cross-gender pat-down searches and viewing.

None of these seem to be particularly burdensome.

If they would help to decrease or eliminate prison sexual assault, it seems like these are things a state would want to put into place within its prison system.

THE STATE’S POSITION

It’s unclear exactly why Florida refuses to comply since Scott and his staffers refuse to talk or even send a letter in response to the federal request for compliance.

Speculation is that Scott may consider the request to conform to the Prison Rape Elimination Act as an overreach by federal authority into his state’s business.

If that’s the case, it’s a shame the governor chose such an important issue for state’s rights.

Indeed, the stance he and Florida have taken seems myopic in terms of both inmate health and the economy.

For instance, the Justice Department has estimated the effects of prison sexual abuse cost the nation as much as $51.9 billion per year.

Sexual abuse can spread diseases, cause physical injuries, instigate serious mental health issues and even result in a victim’s death.

And the victims targeted are often the most vulnerable in the prison system — those who are physically vulnerable, are mentally ill, have suffered previous sexual abuse or are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

Scott’s position is even more inexplicable considering the Florida Department of Corrections had even applied for and received a grant for both 2013 and 2014 before the governor refused to comply with federal rape-elimination guidelines.

One hand taketh and the other pusheth away.

There are so many major issues in Florida’s prison system and such a long history of mismanagement that every effort should be made to find improvements.

THE IMPACT OF SCOTT’S INACTION

The most immediate repercussion of the governor’s non-compliance last year with the Prison Rape Elimination Act was a financial penalty of over $750,000 assessed against the state.

It’s expected a similar penalty will be assessed.

But that’s pennies compared to the state’s annual prison budget. If the federal government is serious about implementation, it should increase the states’ penalties for non-compliance.

The more serious consequences are to the inmates housed in Florida’s prisons who will be denied the protections under federal law.

It’s not that these men and women aren’t guilty of crimes, sometimes horrific ones, but serving time in the state’s prisons shouldn’t mean they must accept rape as a consequence.

For the governor, it’s time to do what’s right.

Originally posted here