[Senate Hearing 107-937] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] S. Hrg. 107-937 THE PRISON RAPE REDUCTION ACT OF 2002 ======================================================================= HEARING before the COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION __________ JULY 31, 2002 __________ Serial No. J-107-99 __________ Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 87-677 WASHINGTON : 2003 ____________________________________________________________________________ For Sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001 COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont, Chairman EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah JOSEPH R. BIDEN, Jr., Delaware STROM THURMOND, South Carolina HERBERT KOHL, Wisconsin CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin JON KYL, Arizona CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York MIKE DeWINE, Ohio RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama MARIA CANTWELL, Washington SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas JOHN EDWARDS, North Carolina MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky Bruce A. Cohen, Majority Chief Counsel and Staff Director Sharon Prost, Minority Chief Counsel Makan Delrahim, Minority Staff Director C O N T E N T S ---------- STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS Kennedy, Hon. Edward M., a U.S. Senator from the State of Massachusetts.................................................. 1 prepared statement........................................... 67 Hatch, Hon. Orrin G., a U.S. Senator from the State of Utah, prepared statement............................................. 61 Sessions, Hon. Jeff, a U.S. Senator from the State of Alabama.... 6 WITNESSES Bruntmyer, Linda, Amarillo, Texas................................ 8 Dumond, Robert W., Clinical Mental Health Counselor, and Member, Board of Advisors, Stop Prisoner Rape, Hudson, New Hampshire... 13 Earley, Mark, President, Prison Fellowship Ministries, Reston, Virginia....................................................... 9 Saperstein, Rabbi David, Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Washington, D.C................................ 11 Wolf, Hon. Frank R., a Representative in Congress from the State of Virginia.................................................... 2 SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD American Civil Liberties Union, Rachel King, Legislative Counsel, Washington National Office, and Elizabeth Alexander, Director, National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, statement and attachments...................................... 24 Bruntmyer, Linda, Amarillo, Texas, prepared statement............ 30 Dumond, Robert W., Clinical Mental Health Counselor, and Member, Board of Advisors, Stop Prisoner Rape, Hudson, New Hampshire, prepared statement and attachment.............................. 34 Eagle Group, Frank A. Hall, Managing Director, Washington, D.C., letter......................................................... 53 Earley, Mark, President, Prison Fellowship Ministries, Reston, Virginia, prepared statement................................... 55 Human Rights Watch, Wendy Patten, U.S. Advocacy Director, Washington, D.C., prepared statement........................... 63 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Hilary Shelton, Director, Washington, D.C., prepared statement. 69 National Association of Evangelicals, Richard C. Cizik, Vice President, Government Affairs, Washington, D.C., letter........ 72 National Commission on Correctional Health Care, Edward Harrison, President, Chicago, Illinois, prepared statement............... 73 Pryor, Bill, Attorney General of Alabama, prepared statement..... 76 Salvation Army, George E. Hood, Major, National Director of Public Affairs, letter......................................... 78 Saperstein, Rabbi David, Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Washington, D.C., prepared statement........... 79 Southern Baptist Convention, Shannon Royce, Director of Government Relations and Counsel, Washington, D.C., letter..... 82 Struckman-Johnson, Cindy, Professor of Psychology, University of South Dakota, prepared statement and attachment................ 83 Wolf, Hon. Frank R., a Representative in Congress from the State of Virginia, prepared statement................................ 86 THE PRISON RAPE REDUCTION ACT OF 2002 ---------- WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2002 United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, D.C. The Committee met, Pursuant to notice, at 1:34 p.m., in room SD-226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Edward M. Kennedy, presiding. Present: Senators Kennedy and Sessions. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD M. KENNEDY, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS Senator Kennedy. We will come to order. Today, the Judiciary Committee considers a serious problem in prisons, jails, and detention centers. In 1994, the Supreme Court ruled that, ``Being violently assaulted in prison is simply not part of the penalty that criminal offenders pay for their offenses against society.'' Nevertheless, we know that hundreds of thousands of inmates across the nation, not only convicted prisoners, but pre-trial detainees and immigration detainees, as well, are victims of sexual assault each year. Prison rape has devastating physical and psychological effects on its victims. It also has serious consequences for communities. Six-hundred-thousand inmates are released from prison or detention every year, and their brutalization increases the likelihood that they will commit new crimes after they are released. Infection rates for HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, and hepatitis C are far greater for prisoners than for the American population as a whole. Prison rape undermines the public health by contributing to the spread of these diseases and often gives a potential death sentence to its victims. It is long past time to address this epidemic. Last month, Senator Sessions and I proposed the Prison Rape Reduction Act, a bipartisan bill to deal with the problem of prison rape while still respecting the primary role of States and local governments in administering prisons and jails. Our bill asks the Department of Justice to conduct an annual statistical review of prison rape to identify institutions with high incidence of rape. It authorizes $40 million a year in grants to strengthen the ability of State and local officials to prevent these abuses. It establishes a commission to conduct hearings over 2 years and recommend national standards on a wide range of issues, including inmate classification, investigation of rape complaints, trauma care for rape victims, disease prevention, and staff training. An extraordinary coalition of churches, civil rights groups, and concerned individuals have joined together to act on this issue. It is not a liberal issue or a conservative issue. It is an issue of basic decency and human rights. I commend this coalition for its impressive moral leadership and I thank Chairman Leahy for the opportunity to hold this hearing. In the House of Representatives, our legislation is sponsored by two human rights leaders, Congressman Frank Wolf and Congressman Bobby Scott. We are privileged to have Congressman Wolf here today. With its growing support in Congress and the broad coalition of other supporters, we hope that this bill can be signed into law this year, and I thank all the witnesses for being with us and look forward to their testimony. I particularly want to recognize a constituent of ours, John Caneb from Massachusetts, who is in the audience and has been very much involved in this issue and commend him for his great interest in this and all of the help he has been in terms of moving this process forward. [The prepared statement of Senator Kennedy appears as a submission for the record.] Senator Kennedy. We are fortunate this afternoon to have some really outstanding witnesses. Our first is a very special one, Congressman Frank Wolf. Few Members of Congress can claim a list of accomplishments comparable to Frank Wolf's. In his 22 years as a Representative of Virginia's Tenth Congressional District, Congressman Wolf has been a leader in developing mass transportation, promoting family-friendly workplaces for Federal employees, and drawing attention to the harmful effects of legalized gambling. As Chairman of the House Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary Appropriations Committee, he is also one of the strongest voices in Congress for human rights. He is Co- Chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, a member of the U.S. Helsinki Commission. He has worked to improve human rights and basic living conditions for refugees around the world. He is the lead sponsor of the Prison Rape Reduction Act in the House, along with Congressman Bobby Scott. We are honored to have him before our committee today. Thank you very much, Congressman, for being here and for the good work that you do on this legislation and so many other pieces of legislation, as well. STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK R. WOLF, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF VIRGINIA Representative Wolf. Thank you, Senator, and thank you for your comments. I appreciate your holding these hearings, particularly in the last week the Senate is in session, knowing how busy everything is. So it is a tribute to you that you have taken the time and I want to thank you. I appreciate you giving me this opportunity to be here today to testify on a vitally important issue to the nation's prison system, the ongoing problem of prison rape. I also want to acknowledge the efforts, and I am speaking for my Virginia colleague, Bobby Scott, who could not be here today but whose efforts, along with yours and Senator Sessions', make this issue truly bipartisan. This legislation, the Prison Rape Reduction Act of 2002, will go a long way in addressing a problem that has too long been quietly swept under the rug. I also want to thank the many groups that support this legislation, including Prison Fellowship, its President Chuck Colson, and Mark Earley, and NAACP, the Family Research Council, La Raza, the Human Rights Watch, Salvation Army, Rabbi Saperstein, and many others. With this broad array of support, I am hopeful, somehow, we can have this legislation passed before the end of this Congress. I also want to recognize the efforts of Michael Horowitz, who has spearheaded this entire effort and whose tireless dedication on this and other issues really deserves special recognition. Prison rape, to be sure, is not a dinner conversation issue. For years, no one--no one--has talked about it, much less acted on it. But as you know, Mr. Chairman, you and Senator Sessions, this issue is one of compassion and the broad base of support it has shows that it transcends one's political affiliation. Society, hopefully, is finally coming to grips with this vile act. Of the two million prisoners in the U.S., a conservative estimate is one in ten--one in ten, and if you looked at the figures coming out today of the Department of Justice, the prison population is still increasing--but one in ten have been raped. A 1996 study of the Nebraska prison system reported that 22 percent--22 percent--of male inmates had been pressured or forced to have sex against their will while incarceration, and over these, half submitted to forced sex at least once. Other reports and investigations have all demonstrated that there is a shockingly high rate of sexual abuse in U.S. prisons. Prison rape, like all other forms of sexual assault, is torture, the infliction of severe emotional and physical pain as punishment and coercion. Long after the body has healed, the emotional state remains traumatized and shamed. The individual is stigmatized, stigmatized in the prison and sometimes stigmatized outside. As you said, Senator, the Supreme Court has made it clear. ``Being violently assaulted in prison is simply not part of the penalty that criminal offenders pay for their offenses against society.'' Deliberate indifference, and that is what we have had, deliberate indifference to prison rape violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. This is not just a matter of protecting inmates. Society also pays dearly for ignoring prison rape. All major studies show that prison rape costs the taxpayer in recidivism and increased violent crimes. Inmates, often non-violent first-time offenders, will come out of a prison rape experience severely traumatized and will often leave prison more violent than when they entered. Finally, the high incidence of rape within prison leads to the increased transmission of HIV, hepatitis, and other diseases, which society will have to pay for. While these policy realities of prison rape seem clear, to view this issue from the perspective of an individual inmate-- and that is how you have to view it, from an inmate's position and they are where they are and what they are at that time--is necessary to understand the true nature of this abhorrent act. Rape may be the ultimate humiliation, with very serious and long-lasting psychic damage to the victim, as well as to close loved ones who are secondary victims. Prison rape receives virtually no attention, no attention by the media. Where has the media been? You almost never ever see an article in the major media outlet with regard to the issue of prison rape. The politicians have been quiet, and the public at large has been quiet on the issue also. What actually happens to the victim of prison rape, prison rape survivors become rapists themselves in a demented attempt to regain what they think of as their ``lost manhood.'' Some prison rape victims retaliate by murdering their rapist, receiving added years to the sentence. Another outcome of prison rape is suicide. Researchers have found that suicide is the leading cause of death behind bars and sexual harassment is the leading cause of prisoner suicide. No matter where the survivor ends up, severe psychosis is the most common outcome of prisoner rape. Sexual assault can often break a prisoner's spirit. In the advanced stages of rape, trauma syndrome, a survivor's mood often swings between deep depression and rage. Prisoner rape may be the quickest, the most cost-effective way of producing a sociopath. According to researchers, the fact that most men on death row were sexually abused earlier in life should come as no surprise. Indeed, it is a fact that society ignores at its own peril. In April of 2001, the group Human Rights Watch published a report entitled ``No Escape'' that was a comprehensive investigation into the prison rape epidemic. Human Rights Watch deserves to be commended for this effort and I think that Members of Congress concerned about this prison system should read this report. The report shows that many of the inmates that are victims of rape were young and were often placed in prisons as non- violent offenders. Also, many were scheduled for short sentences and would soon be returning to society. The report also published some of the actual letters written by inmate victims of prison rape. For example, an inmate in Florida writes the following. He says, ``I was young, and yes, I was weak. My weight was only 120 pounds. The first few months I was raped and beat up many times. I would always fight back. I wanted my attackers to know that I was not a willing subject for their evilness. I went to the guards for help and was told there was nothing that could be done, that I would have to stand up like a man and take care of my own troubles.'' I have attached excerpts from other letters, and last night in preparing for this testimony, I went back and read some of the letters. I did not want to read them out loud. But I think anybody who has anything to do in the prison system ought to read these letters. They are painful. They are just unbelievable, and when you think that you are in an institution run by the government where you would see the guards that you could think that you could go to--when we have a problem, we see a police officer, we go to him, and here the guards sometimes are telling you that there is nothing they can do. The letters will be put in the record. Everyone ought to read these letters and then imagine, what if this was somebody in my family? What if this were a relative? What if this were the next-door neighbor? What if this were somebody on my staff? What if this were somebody who was picked up for some minor crime? The letters are actually brutal and I think they ought to be forced reading for anybody in the criminal justice system. Mr. Chairman, in closing, we are learning more stories of prison rape. These accounts have only recently been catalogued, as often inmates have been afraid to speak out for years. Throughout my career, I have long believed that criminals deserve tough sentences, and I still believe that being tough on criminals serves to protect our larger society. But ignoring prison rape has nothing to do with being tough on criminals. Deliberate indifference will only serve to undermine the entire criminal justice system. A man who is sentenced to time should serve that time, but he is not sentenced to being raped and possibly contacting HIV. I am hopeful and believe, particularly with this hearing, this legislation will provide a chance to gain a full picture of how widespread the abuse is and offer incentives for correctional facilities to finally address it. For too long, it has been ignored, and with this hearing, that has come to an end. I appreciate your leadership and that of Senator Sessions and the hearing, which will give us a record that maybe perhaps we could take this, if we run out of time, and just stuff it on some appropriations bill somewhere whereby it becomes law so we can really do something to make a difference. With that, Mr. Chairman, I thank you very much. Senator Kennedy. We know who will be stuffing it on some appropriations bill. [Laughter.] Senator Kennedy. That is powerful testimony, Congressman. Just very quickly, you have covered the ground, but I would like to hear again about why people should be concerned about what is happening. There are so many reasons why this demands attention and demands our focus and assistance in trying to make an impact on this conduct. You have already thought about this from so many different dimensions. Why should people outside the prisons be concerned about it? You have illustrated some of the reasons, but if we are interested in having a peaceful society and having communities free from violence and stress, to the extent that that can be the case, why is it important that we support and give attention to this problem? Why should the average person be concerned about this? If we do not do it, what are their risks, and if we take some steps, what are their advantages? Representative Wolf. I think when you incarcerate someone, you cannot just put them away with the idea they are in a warehouse. I think you have to treat them with compassion, give them education, training, and this is a situation whereby they actually come out more violent. When you read the letters, as I am sure you will, you will see that you are actually turning these people into violent people when they come out. Years ago, before I was elected to Congress, I was involved in a program with former Redskin player Charlie Harraway. We would go down to Lorton. It was called ``Man to Man.'' It was a Christian program and you would counsel the prisoners. Sometimes a prison would tell you--in Lorton, they were living mainly on a dormitory basis. Violent criminals in a dormitory basis--a prison that was built in the old days, they thought was a good way to do it, really was not working. The prisoner would say, ``I can never really completely sleep. I literally have to half stay awake because I am not sure what is going to happen to me in the middle of the night. Somebody is going to come and attack me. Somebody is going to put a shiv in me. A gang will grab me.'' It is the fear that they have. So I think society has an obligation and a burden, but also with regard to a duty to see that these prisoners are treated fairly serving their time so when they do come out, you do not have more HIV and you also do not have sociopathic people coming out who want to take this out on society. So I think it is just the right thing to do, but I think society benefits by treating people with compassion and treating them well. Senator Kennedy. That is, I think, an excellent comment and statement and absolutely an accurate one. I recognize Senator Sessions for any questions. STATEMENT OF HON. JEFF SESSIONS, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF ALABAMA Senator Sessions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your leadership on this important issue. I am pleased to join with you on it, and Congressman Wolf, it is great to have your leadership in the House and that of Congressman Scott. I was a Federal prosecutor for a long time and talked to a lot of mothers. I had a policy that I would talk to anybody about a case that was coming through my office, and frequently would have very, very painful discussions with mothers and family when their members would be sent off to the penitentiary. It is tough enough to go to jail. We ought not to have any doubts that these people who are being punished for violation of our law are being subjected to sexual abuse in the process. I do not think we can defend that. That is not justifiable. I hope and pray the numbers that we have been hearing are exaggerated, but I have no doubt that too much of it is going on. I believe our legislation, Mr. Chairman, will help us tell the public and to family members of people who are going to jail that we are not going to tolerate this kind of behavior. We are going to put a stop to it if there is any way possible. Of course, prisons are dangerous places. They are populated with a number of people, not all, but a number of them that are quite dangerous and perfection is not possible, but we can do better, a lot better, I am convinced, and I appreciate both of your leadership on this question. It is not just legal or political, it is a moral question. I believe that we are on the right road to dealing with it. I was pleased that my Attorney General, Bill Pryor, who is a strong believer in the legal systems and independence of States, believes that this is appropriate legislation and supports it. I noticed recently the Southern Baptist Convention has come forward with an endorsement of the legislation. That goes in addition to the many, many others that have already been received, I think. So I feel good about where we are and I look forward to working with you. Thank you. Representative Wolf. Thank you very much. Senator Kennedy. Let me, if I could, Congressman, you have visited a lot of prisons in other parts of the world. Do you think this is something that is endemic in prisons? Where do we come out on all of this? Are we better? Are we worse? There is a general sense that we have got a great deal to do. Representative Wolf. I do not know, Senator. It is not an issue--I have been in prisons in other countries. It is really not an issue you can really raise with a man, so I do not really know the answer. Perhaps the Prison Fellowship people or some of the other groups would know. Senator Kennedy. If it is bad in other countries, it does not help us and should not give us any satisfaction. We have an enormous challenge, an incredible problem, one that has not gotten the focus and attention that it should have for all the excellent reasons that you and Senator Sessions have pointed out, so we thank you so much for being here. We want to continue to work very closely with you. Representative Wolf. Thank you, Senator. Senator Kennedy. Thank you very much. [The prepared statement of Mr. Wolf appears as a submission for the record.] Senator Kennedy. We have a very excellent panel. I will ask them if they would come forward when I introduce them. Linda Bruntmyer is a resident of Amarillo, Texas. She has suffered a devastating loss and demonstrated extraordinary courage in telling her story so that future tragedies can be avoided. Film maker Gabriel London has featured her in his documentary, ``No Escape: Prison Rape in America.'' Mark Earley is making the transition from politics to the ministry. He was a member of the Virginia State Senate from 1987 to 1997 and was the Virginia Attorney General from 1997 to 2001. Mr. Earley recently became President of the Prison Fellowship Ministries, a nonprofit ministry that provides support and spiritual guidance to thousands of prisoners, ex- prisoners, victims, and their families. Chuck Colson, the founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries, has spoken eloquently against prison rape and Mark Earley is continuing his record of service and moral leadership. Robert Dumond is a clinical mental health counselor in Hudson, New Hampshire. For over 30 years, he has provided services to crime victims and offenders. He served as Director of Mental Health for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections. He developed the first curriculum for rape awareness training. He has researched, written, and lectured extensively on the subject of sexual assault and serves on the New Hampshire Department of Corrections Citizens Advisory Board Committee and on the Board of Advisors for the Organization to Stop Prisoner Rape. We are delighted to have him here. And an old friend, Rabbi David Saperstein, is our final witness. He is well known to everyone here. For 25 years, he has been the Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Rabbi Saperstein has been a strong advocate for human rights, civil rights, and social justice. He has written several books, led religious coalitions, and serves on the board of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights of the NAACP. In 1999, he was selected as the first Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Rabbi Saperstein also teaches First Amendment and Jewish law at Georgetown University Law Center. We welcome you. I think each of our witnesses has a unique insight into the problem of prison rape and I thank them all for being here. We look forward to their testimony. We will start with you, Ms. Bruntmyer. STATEMENT OF LINDA BRUNTMYER, AMARILLO, TEXAS Ms. Bruntmyer. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to testify. My name is Linda Bruntmyer and I am here today to tell you about my son, Rodney Hulin. When Rodney was 16, he and his brother set a dumpster on fire in the alley of our neighborhood. The authorities decided to make an example of Rodney. Even though only $500 in damage was caused by the fire, they sentenced him to 8 years in an adult prison. We were frightened for him from the start. At age 16, Rodney was a small guy, only five-foot-two and about 125 pounds. And as a first offender, we knew he would be targeted by tough, older, adult inmates. Then our worst nightmare came true. Rodney wrote us a letter telling us he had been raped. A medical examiner had confirmed the rape. The doctor found tears in his rectum and ordered an HIV test, because, he told us, one-third of the prisoners there are HIV positive. Only that was the beginning. Rodney knew if he went back into the general population, he would be in danger. He wrote to the authorities, requesting to be moved to a safer place. He went through all the proper channels, but he was denied. After the first rape, he returned to the general population. There, he was repeatedly beaten and forced to perform oral sex and raped. He wrote for help again. In the grievance letter, he wrote, ``I have been sexually and physically assaulted several times, by several inmates. I am afraid to go to sleep, to shower, and just about anything else. I am afraid that when I am doing these things, I would die at any minute. Please, sir, help me.'' Still, officials told him that he did not meet the emergency criteria. We all tried to get him to a safe place. I called the warden, trying to figure out what was going on. He said, ``Rodney needs to grow up.'' He said, ``This happens every day. Learn to deal with it. It is no big deal.'' We were despaired. Rodney started to violate the rules so that he would be put in segregation. After he was finally put into segregation, we had about a 10-minute phone conversation. He was crying. He said, ``Mom, I am emotionally and mentally destroyed.'' That was the last time I heard my son's voice. On the night of January 26, 1996, my son hung himself in his cell. He was 17 and afraid and ashamed and hopeless. He laid in a coma for the next 4 months before he died. Sadly, I know that Rodney is not alone. The human rights group Stop Prisoner Rape gets calls and letters every day from men and women who are asking for help, to help them move to a safer place, asking them to help protect their loved ones who are being raped, asking them to help because there was no one in authority that would step in and say, no, this is not justice. This is not right. I support this legislation because I know it would stop prisons from ignoring pleas for help from people like my son. We know that what happened to Rodney could have been prevented. There are ways to protect the vulnerable inmates and ways to respond to the needs of prisoners who have been sexually assaulted. Even so, vulnerable prisoners are being sexually abused across this country every day. Rodney tried to ask for help. I tried, too. But nothing was done. I am asking, please, sir, please support this legislation. It is urgently, desperately needed. Rape in prison should no longer be tolerated. It destroys human dignity. It spreads diseases. It makes people more angry and violent. It kills. It is not what we mean when we say justice. Rape should not be considered a part of a punishment. Rape is always a crime. Senator Kennedy. Thank you very much, Linda. Ms. Bruntmyer. Thank you. Senator Kennedy. We know that this is a horrific incident and we know that it is enormously difficult for you to be able to relive that time, so we are very, very appreciative of the fact that you are willing to come here and tell us about it. It is very helpful to us. The best way that we can try and thank you for it is to do something, and we will. Thank you very much, though. Ms. Bruntmyer. Thank you. [The prepared statement of Ms. Bruntmyer appears as a submission for the record.] Senator Kennedy. Mr. Earley, thank you very much. We look forward to your testimony. STATEMENT OF MARK EARLEY, PRESIDENT, PRISON FELLOWSHIP MINISTRIES, RESTON, VIRGINIA Mr. Earley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Sessions. Thank you all very much for holding this hearing. I particularly want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Sessions, Congressman Wolf, and Congressman Scott, for your leadership in supporting this legislation. My name is Mark Earley. I am currently the President of Prison Fellowship Ministries. Prior to that, I served for the last 4 years as Attorney General of Virginia. Many of you know Prison Fellowship was founded in 1976 by Chuck Colson. It is today the largest prison outreach and criminal justice reform organization in the world, in all 50 States and 95 countries around the world. Our goal is to bring the redemptive love of Jesus Christ to prisoners, ex-prisoners, families, and victims of crime. Many of our staff are ex- offenders. I want to speak just for a second about the problem. The problem of prison rape, as you have just heard, is real. It is unjust, it is tragic, and unfortunately, often hidden. For 26 years of Prison Fellowship's ministry, our staff employees and volunteers have heard from many of the prisoners we have served the kinds of stories we all just heard from Ms. Bruntmyer. We have been able to see behind the curtain of secrecy that so often exists. This is a problem that affects everyone. Ninety-five percent of all inmates will return to society and they will return in a way that will either help them to reintegrate or hinder their ability to reintegrate. If they have been victims of sexual assault and rape, the deck is stacked against them from becoming productive members of society. Congressman Wolf eloquently spoke about the psychological ravages that occur from prison rape and Ms. Bruntmyer's son is an example of what ultimately happens in far too many cases, and that is psychological depression, leading to suicide. The problem also affects more prisoners than we think. Out of the two million prisoners in the United States, the estimates are between 250,000 and 600,000 have been forced to have sexual contact. In 1996, Nebraska was the subject of a survey showing 22 percent of prisoners had been forced to have sexual contact. An anonymous Southern State was surveyed on the condition of anonymity. One-third of prisoners said they had been subject to prison rape. The guards estimated one-in-five, the prison officials, one-in-eight. Either of those statistics are devastating. Prison Journal had a study in 2000 showing 21 percent of all inmates in America have been raped. The problem is that studies are too few, and part of what this legislation will remedy is to force us to keep statistics to shine a spotlight on the problem. The other systemic part of this problem is that it is fostered by acceptance and indifference at every level. Many in society believe that those in prison deserve whatever happens to them in prison or believe that whatever happens is inevitable. Both are wrong. Some in authority, unfortunately, look the other way in order to preserve the peace. Jack Cowley was a warden with the Oklahoma Correctional System for 20 years. He shared with me, before I came yesterday, he said, ``Prison rape, to a large degree, is made more serious by the deliberate indifference of many prison officials. Oftentimes, these officials will purposely turn their back on unspeakable acts in order to maintain peace, allowing aggressive predators to have their way. Additionally, many prison rapes involve intimidation of the weaker inmate to the point where they reluctantly give consent in order to survive, but it is rape nonetheless. Therefore, many of the officials believe in managing a 1,000-person prison designed for only 500 becomes much easier and they permit it to occur as a means of prison control.'' Having served as Attorney General in Virginia and having been in the legislature for 10 years, obviously, all of us in politics want to be tough on crime. Prison rape is a crime. It is a crime that no one, either in jail or out of jail, should ever be subject to. This proposed legislation today that is the subject of this hearing has a tremendously broad coalition of support and you are to be commended for leading such a coalition. Its goal is to eliminate rape. I would like to just focus my comments on one piece of the legislation which I think is going to be very important, and that is that it enables the collection of statistics. In society, we measure what we care about, and unfortunately, we have not cared about this problem. We need to begin. Measuring statistics will imprint this issue upon the moral conscience of America. It will imprint it upon the moral conscience of prison officials, and it will discourage prison officials from using it as a means of prison control. It will enable us to pinpoint the prisons that need help, to allocate attention and resources accordingly. Issues of federalism should not be a concern with this legislation. This legislation forces a State to do nothing. It has no unfunded mandates. It does encourage States to adopt Federal standards, but it even allows them to opt out of those Federal standards by a vote of their legislature. Indeed, if the Congress wanted to, based on existing constitutional law, it could go much further, but this is a bill which respects the sovereignty of States. Therefore, objections based on a federalism argument should not be an issue. Finally, I would like to close with a quote of Winston Churchill, who said this. ``One of the best tests of whether we are truly a civilized people is the temper and mood of the public in regard to the treatment of crime and criminals.'' You have afforded us a great opportunity to pass this test, a test which we have failed in the past. Thank you. Senator Kennedy. Thank you very much. That is very helpful. [The prepared statement of Mr. Earley appears as a submission for the record.] Senator Kennedy. Rabbi Saperstein? STATEMENT OF RABBI DAVID SAPERSTEIN, DIRECTOR, RELIGIOUS ACTION CENTER OF REFORM JUDAISM, WASHINGTON, D.C. Rabbi Saperstein. Good afternoon. I am here representing the National Reform Jewish movement. I am pleased to speak in support of the Prison Rape Reduction Act of 2002. This important legislation would address a profound violation of human rights whose shameful prevalence has been overlooked in this country for far too long. I want to commend you, Senator Kennedy and Senator Sessions, as well as Representatives Wolf and Scott, for your passionate, bipartisan leadership on this issue. We could not have, we could not ask for Congressional champions more dedicated to upholding the basic values of human dignity. The scourge of prison rape demands a response. Tragically, there are hundreds of thousands of Linda Bruntmyers, hundreds of thousands of mothers and fathers who see their children brutalized, victimized, and are unable to do anything about it. Tragically, there are hundreds of thousands of Rodney Hulins, too, those who are the victims and have nowhere to go for help and are caught up in a Kafka-esque system that grinds down their spirits and their bodies. No society that considers itself to be a moral and compassionate society can stand idly by the blood of our neighbors. We must speak out. That has brought us here and has led you to introduce and to further this legislation. We know the statistics. We have heard them here. But behind each of those are real human beings. We must not allow this terror to continue. The bill at issue today provides a responsible and measured approach to the problem, setting up mechanisms for the study, reporting, and prevention of prison rape. It promises to bring to the forefront this tragic plague that is too often a punchline and too rarely a subject of genuine concern in our civic life. Mark Earley spoke about some of the provisions of the bill. I was delighted to see also that it will set up a commission to deal in some depth with this. As one who is honored to have served as the chair of a Federal commission established by a unanimous Act of Congress, I can testify to the potential of such commissions to be a vitally effective goad to executive and legislative officials and to the public conscience. These reforms, if enacted, would for the first time signal a serious engagement with the problem by the Federal Government. Such an engagement is vital precisely because turning our back on prison rape not only violates the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment, it also betrays our most fundamental moral values. I am here today to tell you that we can prevent prison rape. We must prevent prison rape. We can no longer stand idly by. From 1971 to 1973, I served as a volunteer chaplain in a Federal penitentiary in Danbury, Connecticut. It is a better facility as far as correctional facilities go, and yet even there, I counseled people who were the victims of sexual abuse and sexual assault, and there, for the first time, I encountered the response of prison officials, who said, ``There is nothing that we can do.'' Well, there is something we can do and that is what is uniting us here. Because of the profound moral clarity of the issue, a remarkable coalition of conscience has come together in support of your legislation--Jewish, mainline Protestant, Evangelical, Unitarian, civil rights, human rights, criminal justice reform advocates, health care professionals, youth workers, liberals, conservatives, and everyone in between, because we all believe that prison rape is wrong and that we can and must do something about it. Many of us work together frequently, some of us a little less commonly. For example, it is not so common for Reform Jews and conservative Evangelicals to find common ground to work together, but when we do, you can be sure that the issue at stake is one that cuts to the heart of a principle so basic that no reasonable person can stand in the way of its genuine manifestation. One of the Bible's most radical innovations was to put forward the notion that human beings are created ``b'tselem elohim,'' ``in the image of God.'' The use of that divine image to describe the human state serves to raise up humankind to proclaim the infinite worth and potential of each individual person and the implications of such a concept are far-reaching and profound, imposing on individuals and societies the obligation never to stand by while others are degraded, to recognize the potential in all for redemption, and to assist the most vulnerable. That this includes the prisoner is reflected directly in the Bible. In Biblical times, there was not imprisonment for criminal activity, but the closest analogy we have--the status of those who were taken as prisoners captured in wartime--sees in Deuteronomy clear prohibitions against their abuse, including, according to the rabbis, rape of both men and women. Rape is a sin, a vile sin, in the Bible. It is at minimum a civil wrong requiring payment of damages by the perpetrator for compensation. The Bible recognizes the immense pain, suffering, shame, and blemish that those who are targeted and victimized are intended to suffer. In other places, rape is categorized as a capital offense. But we recognize that to allow the epidemic of prison rape to continue unabated is to reject the spirit of the divine that connects us all. Therefore, I urge the other members of this committee to join with you in passing out as soon as possible and bringing to the floor for passage the Prison Rape Reduction Act. We need to act expeditiously. For every day we delay, there are other Rodney Hulins who continue to be victimized, and that we can no longer accept. Senator Kennedy. Thank you. [The prepared statement of Rabbi Saperstein appears as a submission for the record.] Senator Kennedy. Mr. Dumond? STATEMENT OF ROBERT W. DUMOND, CLINICAL MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELOR, AND MEMBER, BOARD OF ADVISORS, STOP PRISONER RAPE, HUDSON, NEW HAMPSHIRE Mr. Dumond. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, Senator Sessions. I would like to thank the Senate Judiciary Committee for the opportunity to testify here today. I would also like to thank you, Senator Kennedy and Senator Sessions, for your leadership in proposing this historic legislation, as well as Congressmen Wolf and Scott. Prison rape has often been accepted as an inevitable consequence of incarceration. We cannot and must not allow this to occur. Your leadership will alleviate the agony of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of individuals who have suffered in silence. My name is Robert Dumond. I am a licensed clinical mental health counselor who for over 30 years has provided services to crime victims and offenders in a variety of settings, most notably within the office of the Essex County District Attorney Kevin Burke and the Massachusetts Department of Corrections. Having extensively researched prison sexual assault, I am here to provide a scientific context to this scandal. While everyone recognizes that sexual assault is a problem, the actual incidence of prison sexual assault in the United States is unknown. Currently, no national database exists. In 35 years, there have only been 15 empirically-based studies to study the problem and only two have included women. As you have heard, we have, however, a reliable baseline of incidence data to draw from, from two large studies of Midwestern prisons conducted by Cindy Struckman-Johnson and her colleagues. I know this is going to be repetitive, but I think it bears repeating. She found that 22 to 25 percent of the prisons are victims of sexual pressuring, attempted sexual assault, and completed rape. One in ten is going to experience a completed rape during the course of their incarceration. Two-thirds of those who reported were victimized repeatedly, an average of nine times. Some males experienced 100 incidents per year. Others experienced assaults daily. Using this data, it is reasonable to conclude that in States with larger, urban, more heterogeneous populations, the incidence would be much higher. This was demonstrated in a 1982 study of a California medium-security prison in which one in seven inmates reported being the victim of a completed rape. One of the goals of this legislation is to scientifically collect the actual incidents of prison sexual assault in institutions nationally. No inmate is immune from victimization. Certain inmates, however, appear to be especially vulnerable. These include the young, the inexperienced, first-time offenders, the mentally disabled, and homosexual and effeminate men, to name but a few. As you have heard, the crisis of being a sexual assault victim is global and devastating. In prison, however, it is even more debilitating. Victims often experience physical assaults as well as their attacks and they may experience repeated trauma. Once targeted, male victims may endure years of sexual slavery. The mental health consequences are catastrophic. Victims experience a variety of symptoms, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and exacerbation of preexisting psychiatric disorders, and they may also consider, attempt, or complete suicide as a means of alleviating their suffering. This is more disturbing when we realize that we currently house more individuals with mental illness in the United States in jails and prisons than collectively in the psychiatric facilities nationwide. In addition, most correctional facilities have few or inadequate services to treat victims carefully. As you have heard, the public health consequences are equally overwhelming. Victims may contract HIV, AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, other communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C, which are rampant in corrections nationally. These may be spread to others in the prison population and to the general community. Prison sexual assault destabilizes the safety and security of American jails and prisons. For over 25 years, it has been recognized as a contributing factor in prison homicides, institutional violence, and riots. Administrative and programmatic solutions have long been recommended but too often ignored. Many prison administrators have been largely unaccountable for the sexual assaults committed under their care. The study you heard of by Joanne Mariner of Human Rights Watch in 2001 surveyed 50 State correctional departments and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Her study confirms this denial. Effective management can only be implemented when we have accurate data. Only 23 of 46 corrections departments currently maintain statistics about sexual assault. None of the States that reported had statistics that were in any way consistent with the two large-scale studies of Struckman-Johnson. Staff training has long been recognized as a vital issue in addressing the problem. Only six States currently and the Federal Bureau of Prisons provide such training. Criminal prosecutions are virtually nonexistent. This legislation provides a tangible, comprehensive strategy to address the complex challenges of prison sexual assault. With accurate incidence data, correctional managers can make rational decisions about staff deployment, resource allocation, inmate placement, thereby improving the safety and security of America's jails and prisons. This is also a crisis which can be managed without significant monetary expenditures. The bill's emphasis on visibility and accountability will be highly effective. Prison officials with records of poor practice will be held accountable for their inaction and deliberate indifference. The National Prison Rape Reduction Commission will also play a key role in developing reasonable standards of care for providing staff training, treatment of victims, and ensuring the best professional practice. Stop Prisoner Rape endorses this legislation as a critical step in curbing one of the most pervasive and devastating abuses that has been allowed to continue in the United States. They and I urge your support. Prison rape is preventable. Prison rape is predictable. We have ignored this problem for much too long. Hundreds of thousands of prisoners, many of whom are the most vulnerable, have silently endured these crimes. We have the technology. We have the resources and the means to address this issue. But we have lacked the political will to implement the remedy. Please, please do not allow this scandal to continue. My heartfelt thanks for your time and attention. Senator Kennedy. Thank you very much. [The prepared statement of Mr. Dumond appears as a submission for the record.] Senator Kennedy. I thank all our panel for excellent testimony. Ms. Bruntmyer, let me ask you, after you went through this horrific experience, were you able to reach out to anyone or was anyone able to reach out to you? Have you been able to work with different groups where there are other families that have lost loved ones, or have you felt sort of solitary in this whole crisis? What could you tell us about the efforts that have been made to reach out to you or that you have tried to work with other kinds of individuals who might similarly be affected? Have you been able to do it, or has it just been too difficult emotionally? If your answer to that was, it has just been too difficult, I certainly would understand it. But I am just wondering how you have been able to survive and how you have been able to deal with this. Ms. Bruntmyer. I have a support group that I do in my home for families. I do help them with their children, their loved ones in prison to know what is the process of sending a book, how to sit down and write a letter. We were told, when we went through it with Rodney, we have no rights. We found out we do have rights and Rodney had rights. We did not know that. And today, we try to save kids. We try to help them. We are there for the families. Senator Kennedy. It would certainly seem that as this commission is set up to try and sort of develop this kind of understanding of what is happening, that they would certainly spend some time with you and your group and other similar groups to be able to see what can be done to provide help and assistance to you and to the other groups and what can be done in terms of taking steps to prevent this. Let me ask just the panel, in listening to all of you, I gather there is sort of this culture of tolerance that is out there. How do you break through that cultural tolerance? How do you think that that can be done? We can get the information. We can get the statistics. We can get the training. I suppose included in that is the prosecution, perhaps even, in terms of individuals who tolerate this or knowingly let this go by. How do you think, as people that have seen this, thought about it, talked about it, studied it, how do you break through this sort of culture? What ideas or suggestions do you have in this area? Mr. Dumond. Senator, I would like to address that by addressing a couple of issues. You have heard the strong moral argument, which has been articulated, and clearly, we have to keep maintaining the fact that this can occur to any individual who is incarcerated in the United States. Senator Kennedy. Right. Mr. Dumond. As an aside, there but for the grace of God go I. Any one of us in this room, had we had the kind of experience that many of these men and women had, could have been incarcerated. A second issue which I think may be effective is the cost- benefit analysis. We currently expend an average of about $20,000 to $22,000 to $25,000 minimally for each inmate each year. When you consider maximum-security prisons, that cost can escalate to $75,000 to $80,000. From a cost-benefit analysis, does society do itself a disservice by allowing for prison sexual assault when these individuals, A) will get out, B) will harm other people, and C) return back to prison? So the cost- benefit analysis, I think, clearly has to be considered as a major factor, and that can be instrumental in causing a sort of a change or a sea change of how our attitude about this issue. Rabbi Saperstein. Let me also add two things. The first is, putting a human face on this crisis is indispensable to raising the conscience of the country. If everyone in the nation could take 3 minutes and listen to Linda Bruntmyer tell her story, it would transform the way this would be dealt with. But structurally, the inclusion in this legislation of the commission, whose job it will be to help accumulate the statistics, along with the Attorney General and the Justice Department, whose job it will be to hold hearings on this-- there is not a single community in the country where you could not go and hear a variant of the tragic story that we heard today. And if that commission is doing its job and holding hearings around the country, getting attention in the local papers, it will be an indispensable component to raising the consciousness of the nation and mobilizing local legislators like yourself to follow in your footsteps here, to begin to look for legislative steps to take at the local and the State level, as well, where really much of this job must be done. And that, I think, is the brilliance of this legislation, that it really aims to empower the States, not to force the States to do things, but to empower the States to act effectively in this arena, giving them the tools, the training, the guidelines, the experience of best practices across the country, and the information necessary to do that. So in very real ways, Senator Kennedy, the answer to your question is your legislation. Senator Kennedy. Thank you. Mr. Earley. Senator, I was going to mention the same thing. I do not think you can underestimate the fact that simply because now this legislation has been proposed and it has such a broad coalition of support and it is a bipartisan effort in the Senate and in the Congress, I think the actual barrier has been broken. Today, with two million people in prison in America, you do not have to go far to touch a family that is impacted by crime or who has a son or daughter or mother or father or husband or wife in prison. I think with the establishment of a national commission and being able to have actually some concrete data--you heard we have only had, what, 15 studies in 35 years--that is going to enable this. I think the decency of the American people is such that once this is clearly articulated by its national leaders at the national level, there will be a profound systematic change that can occur rather quickly. Senator Kennedy. Let me ask you, Mr. Earley, again on this federalism issue, could you talk about this for another moment or two. I know the administration is looking this legislation over and making up its mind and I know this would be something that they will be interested in. Senator Sessions has obviously had a long tradition on the issues of federalism and it seems to me we have tried to deal with this question. I would be interested, as a former Attorney General, your own view of whether you think this is a fair balance. Mr. Earley. I think it is. In fact, I think it is more than balanced. I mean, the Congress could, I believe, based on the Farmer case, approach this issue with a much bigger stick. I do not think it needs to. I think it is taking the right approach, and as I mentioned in my comments, this legislation, I think, is carefully crafted. It requires the States to do nothing. It has no unfunded mandates. It even has an opt-out provision. The only punitive issue in this bill, and it would be wrong to call it punitive, is it withholds certain Federal monies if the State decides to opt out of the standards that would be articulated by the commission to the Attorney General of the United States and then adopted by the Attorney General. So again, I think it strikes just the right balance, and I do not think, having served with the Attorneys General for the last 4 years, this is an issue that is important to all of them, Democrats and Republicans, the federalism issue, and I do not think you will hear that as an objection to this bill because of the thought that has gone into crafting it. I commend you on that, because that is tough. Let me just finally ask, I would be interested if you find some places or institutions that are particularly noteworthy, it might be useful. I do not know whether it comes to mind now, but I think as this moves along, if you find that there are some that are particularly noteworthy, we ought to try and highlight those. I do not know whether we would get a chance to go visit or whatever, but we would be glad to hear about them. I think it is important that we try and give some focus and attention and recognition to those that are really doing a good job on this, and I think in this way attempt to encourage others to try and sort of do that. Mr. Dumond. Mr. Chairman, just as a model to consider, since 1979, the San Francisco jail under Michael Markum has had very strong commitment to preventing prisoner sexual assault. It has a long tradition of identifying this as a problem, of noting it to new inmates who are coming in, of making people aware. Also, one of the telling things about Mariner's report was that it identified that in institutions where there was a zero- tolerance attitude from the top, this problem was not manifest with the same degree that we have seen in some of the statistics. So clearly, there are corrections environments that are doing a good job, that are handling this in a responsible manner. We need to use those as models and certainly consider them as we craft what we are going to do from this point on. Senator Kennedy. I think that is an excellent response, particularly to those that say, well, this is just going to happen so they cannot do anything about it. It is inevitable. This is the way it has been for no matter how many hundred years and it is going to be that way in the future. If we are able to identify those institutions that are really making a difference on it, and no one underestimates the complexity and the difficulty of doing it, but those that are making systematic progress on it, we ought to do everything we can to highlight it or mention it. We invite all of you and those that are going to be reading through the record on this to be in touch with House sponsors and Senator Sessions and myself so that we can try and highlight those that are doing a good job. Senator Sessions? Senator Sessions. Thank you. Ms. Bruntmyer, thank you for sharing that story with us. It is just very, very moving and all of us who have played a role in the criminal justice system in America cannot feel good that there are others also that suffered as Rodney did. He was sentenced, even though he was young, as an adult, is that correct, and was sent to adult prison? Ms. Bruntmyer. Yes, sir. Rabbi Saperstein. Mr. Chairman, one of the things when we had our juvenile crime bill, I favored expanding juvenile jails and some people criticized that as saying you want to lock up young people. But really, what most people are failing to realize is we are certifying as adults a much, much larger of young people than we ever have before. The main reason is there is not enough space in the juvenile system. So I just say that. I think we could do better by expanding our juvenile system. Do you think, Mr. Dumond, that juvenile facilities are more protective of the people there than maybe an adult prison, or it depends? Mr. Dumond. I would like to say yes, Senator. The evidence does not seem to appear the case. Senator Sessions. Really? Mr. Dumond. There has really been a paucity of studies in juvenile facilities. One of the studies that was done was done by Ken Wooden, ``Weeping in the Playtime of Others,'' in 1976. Also, Bartollas and Sieveides did a study of juvenile institutions. Forst, Fagan and Vivona in 1989 were able to identify that juvenile institutions, individuals in juvenile institutions were five times more likely to be sexually assaulted than others. So clearly, I think this is not a problem where we designed a system to be better protective of our juveniles. I think many of you are aware, in the local media here in Washington, there has been an outcry about a number of young people who have been sexually assaulted while in foster care. I think that is endemic of the kind of situation that occurs nationally. Senator Kennedy certainly will remember in our own home State of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the training schools in part were closed because there were allegations, serious allegations, of sexual assault and misconduct against some of the juveniles. So clearly, this is not a problem where--I would like to say, yes, we have protected children better. We have not. Senator Sessions. Does our legislation, in your view, is it comprehensive enough to cover surveys of juvenile facilities also? Mr. Dumond. Again, I am not sure---- Senator Sessions. We may need to look at that and make sure that that is---- Mr. Dumond. That may be something we want to---- Senator Sessions [continuing]. Clearly covered, because we need to know that. Mr. Earley, let me ask you, to follow up on Mr. Dumond's suggestion that there are prisons that are a lot better than others, do you think that is true and do you agree that with strong leadership, that incidents of sexual abuse could be dramatically reduced? Mr. Earley. I do. I think in any organization, whether it is a prison system or anything else, the signal that is sent down from the top, you cannot overestimate its significance. One of the things in this bill that will help in the long run is that you all have put in a requirement that those organizations that accredit correctional facilities throughout the United States will have now as part of its new regimen of deciding accreditation what these institutions are doing for this problem. So that is going to require, as well as, I think, the desire of those who run the prisons--I do not think they are much different than us and I think if they are focused on this problem with strong leadership, it will make a huge difference. Senator Sessions. Mr. Dumond? Mr. Dumond. Senator Sessions, I would like to add to Mr. Earley's comments. In regards to professionalization, corrections in America was vastly improved in the 1960's because it took a very hard look at the way it handled itself. By providing for intensive training, by professionalizing what it did, by accrediting and having accreditation agencies that would sponsor an examination of agencies, we were able to make corrections better. It is a glaring example of how we have failed and denied this issue that the American Correctional Association, for example, does not have a current standard regarding sexual assault. There is a standard, again, for the record to be considered, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care has had a standard regarding sexual assault since about 1986. So certainly, this is an issue that when we set the tone, when we raise the bar, it is likely that we will get a positive response. Senator Sessions. For the correctional officers who go through training and certification to meet certain standards, are you satisfied that they receive enough training on this subject or do you think they do not? Mr. Dumond. Absolutely not. I guess I am proud to say, and again, Senator Kennedy will support me on this, I believe, Massachusetts was one of the first States to provide for intensive training of its correctional staff. We did this back in 1994. And as I indicated, I think Massachusetts has done a fairly good job. Can it be better? Absolutely. But certainly, we are eons ahead of what many States are currently doing, and, in fact, many States are doing nothing. Senator Sessions. What about the standards? Exactly how would you articulate what a good standard should be and how would that affect behavior in a prison? Mr. Dumond. I think that is an excellent question, Senator. No. 1, any standard that is articulated or promulgated has to be empirically based. I think we have to have sound scientific data to attach and identify so that we make our standards responsive to the data that we now understand. Second, we have to implement an ongoing training system. One of the things that is built in nationally to corrections, every correctional staff in almost every State Department of Corrections and in the Federal Bureau of Prisons must take about 40 hours of comprehensive training each year to update their skills. We have the mechanisms and the tools to impact upon this in a very substantive manner. We now need the curricula and we need to provide that to corrections training officers so that this is something that corrections officers will identify. As an aside, Nacci and Kane, who were researchers with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, back in 1982, 1983, and 1984 identified that staff training was an essential ingredient and part of the problem. They also identified that one of the issues that has been largely overlooked, many corrections officers look at sexual assault or sexual events that occur in prison and assume that it is consensual. By doing that, they are really avoiding and denying the fact that many of these individuals are coerced into being sexually assaulted on an ongoing basis. We have to have a complete understanding of the severity of this issue. We have to hold people accountable who are corrections officers and correctional managers. If you are not doing your job, you will be held accountable for that. Senator Sessions. Now, on a standard, this would tell a correctional officer, if they have a complaint from an inmate or a concern of an inmate or an expression of concern by a guard that something may be unhealthy going on, it would help them to have a step for them to take that would be objective and professionally based. Mr. Dumond. Exactly. Senator Sessions. Do you think that the key to reducing prison rape would be to listen and make it absolutely clear from the beginning of a person's incarceration that if they feel threatened or are threatened that they should report it, and something does happen to protect them? Mr. Dumond. That something will, in fact, occur. There are a number of steps that we need to do. Even educating inmates themselves when they come into prison that they may be sexually victimized, that is a way to empower them to handle the situation. One of the tasks that has been identified and one of the issues that many inmates confront, when they come to prison, they often have nothing. What they do is other prisoners will give them things, and then when they cannot pay them back, they will be forced to give sexual favors to pay them back. That is something that an inmate who has never been in prison before needs to know, and that is something that they need to be able to address, and also that the outcome will be taken seriously. If I come to you as a correctional staff person and I say, ``I have been sexually assaulted,'' you will take me seriously. You will try to provide me with protection. You will try to move me out of that particular unit. You will try to get me some mental health or medical treatment for my injuries, and you will help me from being victimized in the future. Unfortunately, as you have heard, this is not the case for many inmates. Senator Sessions. Mr. Earley, you said that we ought to be tough on crime, and were not not being tough on crime, and you are exactly correct. In fact, when we do not prosecute people who sexually assault someone, whether they are in prison or not, we are being soft on crime, do you not agree? Mr. Earley. Absolutely. Senator Sessions. I mean, it is a crime just as much to assault somebody sexually in prison as out of prison as a matter of law, is it not? Mr. Earley. Right, and many times, it can be more aggravated because that person in prison has a loss of control and they are dependent upon the State much more for their security. Senator Sessions. With regard to that, do you feel that when the State takes a person's liberty and places them where they do not desire to be--in the slammer--that they have a particular responsibility to see that they are not subjected to extra-legal actions and punishments? Mr. Earley. Absolutely. I think Mr. Dumond made an important point, and all of us who have been involved in government are aware of this. Unfortunately, in all of our institutions where we require people to be against their will, whether it is mental health institutions, juvenile detention facilities, or jails, we have a systemic problem with people oftentimes being exposed to dangers that they would not be exposed to on the outside and being taken advantage of. In many cases, in prisons, for example, we have looked the other way because of this sort of prevailing public attitude and we have, I think, perhaps all been guilty of it, and that is, well, you know, they are in prison. They deserve what they get. I think the decency of the American people, the decency of people who run our institutions can be appealed to and it can be put a stop to. Mr. Dumond. Mr. Sessions, one of the things that you may also be aware of, if you were to talk to any corrections officer who was new to corrections and you asked them what the mission of corrections would be, they will tell you three things. It is the care, custody, and control of inmates. Clearly, having and allowing for the sexual assault of inmates under the care of the jurisdiction of a governmental agency does not meet the requirement of care, custody, and control. So we are actually violating the basic mission of American corrections by not addressing this problem. Senator Sessions. I believe there is one more thing that was mentioned previously--I believe you did, Mr. Dumond, and maybe you, Mr. Earley--that somehow, some in the prison system might see prison rape as a management tool. What do you mean by that? Mr. Dumond. Just for the record, that is not my statement, but I will tell you that the research has been very strong in indicating and many analysts have suggested that it is a way to control the competing forces within a prison environment, and I will give you an example. If I have some strong inmates who then can be sexually satiated with weaker inmates and I can get them to conform to the prison institution by allowing this to take place, then I can manage my institution in a better fashion. Clearly, that is inappropriate, and clearly, that is wrong and can never be accepted. But that has been suggested by some very serious analysts, including Dr. Jim Gilligan, also of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, who is a forensic psychiatrist, in his book in 1997, Violence: An American Epidemic. He suggests very strongly that there may have been a collusion by correctional institutions in allowing for prison sexual assault to occur as a management tool. Senator Sessions. Mr. Earley? Mr. Earley. Senator Sessions, if I could, I did not read this because of time, but this is just a brief excerpt. An L.A. Times article in 1999 reported the case of Eddie Dillard, a 23- year-old gang member from Los Angeles, which is a frightening example of what you were just talking about. Dillard was serving time for assault with a deadly weapon when he kicked a female guard. He was transferred to the cell of Wayne Robertson, known within prison walls as the ``booty bandit.'' Robertson was an enforcer for the guards, helping them rein in troublesome newcomers while officials looked the other way. When Dillard protested the transfer, he was told, ``Since you like hitting women, we have got somebody for you.'' Robertson, the person to whom he was transferred in with, beat, raped, and tortured Dillard for days. The guards were later criminally charged, and while they were ultimately acquitted, there was no dispute as to the facts, merely as to whether or not liability extended to prison officials. So I think that is an example. Senator Sessions. And it would indicate to me that that prison is out of control, would you not agree? Mr. Earley. It certainly was during that time. Senator Sessions. The inmates are running the prison. That is not the way the system should be and I hope that is not too common, but I am afraid it is more common than we would like to admit. Rabbi Saperstein, thank you for your leadership on this issue. You spoke very clearly that even though a person might be housed behind bars, they are the same creature of God that they were before they went in and will be the same as they will be when they are out. I think every human being is entitled to safe conditions, even in prison. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your leadership on this issue. You are champion of a lot of issues of this kind. It is important, and I have enjoyed very much working with you. Senator Kennedy. I thank you, Senator Sessions. We are reminded by our panel and others that this is a long-standing problem. Listening to this, we always ask ourselves why we have not been able to get on this before. But having said that, I think we can give the assurance to our panelists and those who are represented that we are committed to getting something done and we want to work with all of you and others to try and make sure that what we are going to do is going to be meaningful and we are going to keep at it. That is what Senator Sessions wants to do, what I want to do, and so we are in for the duration of this and we want to try to make a difference. I believe we can. Senator Sessions. Mr. Chairman, I would offer Senator Hatch's statement, who is a supporter of this legislation, also. Senator Kennedy. The statement will be included in the record. All statements will be included. Very good. [The prepared statement of Senator Hatch appears as a submission for the record.] Senator Kennedy. The committee will stand in recess. Thanks very much. 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