Stan Moody

POB 240
Manchester, ME 04351
207/626-0594
www.moodyreport.wordpress.com

Prison Rape Reform Makes Strange Cell-Fellows

April 1, 2011
Author: Stan Moody

The Maine Department of Corrections has a policy that takes denial to a new
art form. It is a zero tolerance for sex. The maximum security Maine State Prison
houses roughly 1,000 prisoners, most of whom are young, virile males.
Assuming the policy has less to do with prisoner behavior and more with
staff reaction to prisoner behavior, another way of saying it is that there is a policy
of zero tolerance for sex in a raging hormone factory.
Three sexual proclivities predominate. The first is that it can be expected
that as many as 100 prisoners and 25 guards would be homosexual or bisexual,
whereupon violation of the no-sex policy is consensual and routine for some, albeit
clandestine.
The second sexual proclivity is traffic in sex. If you are a female staff
member, it sadly is assumed by fellow staff members that you are either having sex
with another staff member or with a prisoner, whether true or not. You do not have
to work at the prison for long before you learn of the creative ways people get what
they want in the sex department.
The third proclivity is prison rape, an act of violence for complex reasons
that have little to do with sexual urges and everything to do with domination and
control.
Rape in Prison:
To address natural sexual proclivities and ease the transition back into
society, 12 nations and 6 states in the U.S. permit conjugal visits within various
limits. There is no evidence, however, of the restraining effect of such policies on
prison rape.
To the contrary, an article in the Columbia Journal of Law and Social
Problems strongly suggests that the highly competitive American culture is a key
factor in our inordinately high incidences of prison rapes, estimated by the
Department of Justice to be around 88,500 a year. Unreported rapes may be 5-10
times higher and tend to increase with longer sentencing.
Prison Reform, Christianity Today, Pat Nolan, Newt Gingrich, rape in prison, Maine Department of
Corrections, Grover Norquist, Department of Justice, smart-on-crime,
https://moodyreport.wordpress.com, http://scribd.com/stanmoody
 An April 1, 2011 article in Christianity Today offered a new look at an old
problem – what to do about rape in prison. Prison rape has apparently brought
together parties that traditionally are at war – National Association of Evangelicals,
Prison Fellowship, American Civil Liberties Union, Church of Scientology and
George Soros’s Open Society.
In addition, Grover Norquist is getting considerable press attention with the
conservative Smart on Crime project.
The Article begins with a traditional Christian perspective on the problem:
Prison reform is a necessary component of the Christian
command to protect the defenseless…Critics say recent attempts at
reform by the Justice Department do not go far enough to address the
problem of sexual abuse in the U.S. correctional system.
New Prison Rape Standards:
Agreed by the various parties is that the Prison Rape Elimination Act that
institutes reforms on April 4, 2011, has no enforcement mechanism and is light on
criminal penalties. At fault is the shroud of secrecy that encases the prison system,
discouraging reporting of rape and encouraging further abuse of victims. Pat
Nolan, vice president of Prison Fellowship, points out that in a culture that does
not welcome transparency, rules providing no outside enforcement simply continue
policies of secrecy and cover-up.
“The prisons have been monitoring themselves; now we see what’s
happening,” Nolan was quoted in the article as saying. “We need those outside
eyes checking on what they’re doing and holding them accountable for stopping
this.” Costs of such safeguards as electronic surveillance fail to factor in moneys
spent on settling legal claims as rapes come to light.
A recent claim in Michigan, for example, was settled at $100 million.
“We spend $75 billion on prisons,” Nolan said. “Even by the Attorney
General’s inflated estimate, it would be (a fraction) of one percent of that amount
(to implement surveillance standards).”
Conservatives Belly Up to the Bar:
Conservative icon, Grover Norquist, joins the likes of Pat Nolan, Newt
Gingrich and William Bennett in calling for a broad sweeping change in the entire
criminal justice system. They have labeled their efforts the Smart-on-Crime
Project. According to journalist Ed Brayton, they call for reforms in forensic
science, grand jury, mandatory sentencing and forfeiture and for an increase in
spending on DNA testing and on compensation for the wrongly convicted.
Coupled with increased transparency, the interjection of hope, racial equality
and fairer sentencing into the criminal justice system may well do much to reduce
the incidents of sexual violence.
Prison Reform, Christianity Today, Pat Nolan, Newt Gingrich, rape in prison, Maine Department of
Corrections, Grover Norquist, Department of Justice, smart-on-crime,
https://moodyreport.wordpress.com, http://scribd.com/stanmoody
 There is a nagging suspicion, however, about taking seriously the Smart-on-
Crime project. Conservatives now advocating for prison reform include the very
ones who a generation ago were promoting the tough-on-crime agenda that got us
where we are today as by far the world’s biggest incarcerator.
Nevertheless, if Evangelicals, George Soros, the ACLU and the Church of
Scientology are finding common ground in how we are treating the least among us,
there is perhaps room for hope that other social ills can be addressed outside the
tyranny of theocracy.
Sources:
 Philip Ellenbogen, “Beyond the Border: A Comparative Look at Prison Rape in the
United States and Canada.” Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems (Spr 2009):
pp. 359, 360.
 Michelle Person, Bureau of Justice Statistics release, August 26, 2010.
 Alicia Cohn, “Group Criticizes Attorney General’s Proposed Prison Rape Standards.”
Christianity Today (Mar 30, 2011).
 Ed Brayton, “Norquist Pushes Criminal Justice Reform.” Scienceblogs.com, Mar 30,
2011.

Prison Reform, Christianity Today, Pat Nolan, Newt Gingrich, rape in prison, Maine Department of
Corrections, Grover Norquist, Department of Justice, smart-on-crime,
https://moodyreport.wordpress.com, http://scribd.com/stanmoody