Solutions to jail rapes are available

Third of four parts.

Jacksonville’s jail is a facility where sexual abuse is rampant.

From 2010 to 2013, the jail here reported more assaults per inmate than in Hillsborough, Orange and Broward county jails.

Only in Miami-Dade’s jail, the largest in the state, is sexual abuse more prevalent. But not by much.

Indeed, Miami-Dade’s jail was once targeted as one of the worst for sexual assault in the country by the Prison Rape Elimination Commission, so it’s no compliment to say Duval’s jail is a little better than the worst.

The tragedy of this county’s jailhouse rape statistics became obvious after the case of Mark Baker, a 25-year-old who was arrested in 2010 on the basis of a misdemeanor charge that later was dropped. He was drunk and suicidal when arrested and so was stripped and placed in the jail’s suicide-watch cell block for his own safety.

What a terrible irony.

Although he was released the following night, during the hours Baker spent naked in a 6-foot by 8-foot cell with another naked prisoner — a violent sex offender — he was sexually assaulted twice.

STEPS NEED TO BE TAKEN

Upon his release, Baker’s drinking increased. He was dead of an apparent overdose within two years.

Baker’s case and others show that the county desperately needs to take additional steps to cut down on jailhouse rape.

What’s been shown to decrease sexual assault behind bars?

The biggest deterrent to jailhouse rape rests with its leadership, according to Linda McFarlane, the deputy executive director of Just Detention International. If the head of the jail or prison is committed to eliminating sexual abuse, it creates a culture of prevention among both staff and inmates.

Prisons and jails also should create supportive and transparent partnerships with outside agencies interested in eliminating sexual abuse behind bars. Miami-Dade County, for example, just concluded a reorganization of its jail in which it worked with Just Detention International, among others.

LEADERSHIP, DESIGN ARE KEYS

In addition, one of the common themes of 2003’s federal Prison Rape Elimination Commission study was that there was a direct link between how a facility was designed and the prevalence of rape that occurred within its walls.

The most effective prevention method for jailhouse rape seems to be direct supervision, in which correctional officers are in the same room as inmates.

The current jail is built on old standards that place officers behind barriers, allowing for only intermittent direct supervision of inmates.

In the suicide cell block, for example, officers only checked on the prisoners in person every 15 minutes — which was obviously long enough for a serious rape to occur.

The county could also choose to find other placements than jail for suicidal or mentally ill prisoners.

ALTERNATIVES ARE NEEDED

For instance, about 10 years ago San Antonio set up a separate facility that has been used to deal with mentally ill people who previously would have been held behind bars.

As this page has previously reported, that separate facility is less expensive than a jail and also is more effective. So San Antonio is both saving money and lives by separating mentally ill people from jail cells.

Such an arrangement might have prevented Baker’s rape but wouldn’t prevent the dozens of other sexual assaults that occur in other cell blocks.

Jails have become society’s default substitute for mental institutions and thus are fated to fail.

Finally, steps also need to be taken by the community to ensure that jailhouse rape is taken seriously.

It is not a laughing matter, although it’s the foundation of much prison humor. It’s a crime that has a victim and can have horrendous consequences.

We must break the stereotype that violence and sexual assaults are unavoidable components of prison life. We must engender a public expectation of non-violence.

PARENTS ARE STILL GRIEVING

All we need to do is look to Mark Baker’s case to realize that something more must be done.

There was so much that went wrong.

The fact that even one person was sexually assaulted behind bars in an attack that may ultimately have led to his death is simply unacceptable.

Baker’s mother, Kathleen Woody of Silver Spring, Md., says she still is physically sickened when asked to recall what her son went through in a Duval jail cell. Both Woody and Baker’s father, Martin Baker, are also consumed with worry over their second younger son who is severely disabled.

Who will take care of him long-term now that his brother is dead?

Baker and Woody are left trying to pick up the pieces.

They had filed a lawsuit after their son’s death, and the resulting out-of-court settlement has led to some jail policy changes. There’s some consolation in that.

“There was a purpose to his life even in death,” Martin Baker says.

Even if forcing policy changes at Duval’s jail was that purpose, Baker said he still does not understand it.

Woody says the settlement helped absolve her son of any culpability in the sexual assaults.

“We have vindicated Mark,” she says, “and he deserves vindication. He was pretty darned brave.”

Their one regret is that their son’s case didn’t force enough change. But they haven’t given up hope.

“We hope that Jacksonville uses this gift to arrive at thoughtful reform,” Woody said.

There are many reasons to hope so.

Tomorrow: Florida is one of the few states that has failed to respond to a federal law designed to prevent prison rapes.

Originally posted here