Speak out against sexual assault behind bars. Prisoner rape devastates more than 100,000 women, men, and children each year.
On March 10, 2010, the Department of Justice opened a 60-day public comment period on national standards addressing sexual violence in detention. Released last June by a bipartisan federal commission, these common-sense measures have the potential to help end sexual abuse of inmates. But the standards are opposed by some powerful corrections leaders. These officials argue that it is too expensive to stop prisoner rape, and they seem to have a great deal of influence over the Department of Justice.
Send a letter to the Attorney General urging him to enact strong standards to end sexual abuse behind bars. Your message will be entered into the official record as a public comment. The comment period closes on May 10, 2010.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s concern for prisoners has been established for a century. In 1910, the General Assembly declared that the church ought to stand:
For the development of a Christian spirit in the attitude of society toward offenders against the law. The Church holds that a Christian society must seek the reformation of offenders, and that it must endeavor to prevent the commission of crimes by furnishing a wholesome environment and by such education as will develop moral sense and industrial efficiency in the young (Minutes, PCUSA, 1910, Part I, p. 232).