NCJ Number
195489
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology Volume: 92 Issue: 1 Dated: Fall 2001/Winter 2002 Pages: 127-185
Date Published
2001
Length
59 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the problem of prisoner rape in male jails and prisons, especially as it pertains to litigation efforts by those who have become victims of prisoner rape.
Abstract
The authors of this article seek to eradicate the occurrence of prisoner rape by offering its victims a litigation strategy that will help spur change in the correctional system. The article is broken into several parts. In the first section, the authors present the legal standard that is used when victims of prisoner rape bring Eighth Amendment claims; namely, the Farmer standard of “deliberate indifference.” This standard was established by the Supreme Court and involves a two-part test. First, the inmate/victim must show that the circumstances of his incarceration present a substantial risk of serious harm, and second, that the responsible prison officials acted with “deliberate indifference” in failing to keep the inmate/victim safe from harm. In the second part of the article, the authors explore the prison subculture of “aggressive masculinity” and the psychological dimensions of rape. Section three discusses the ways in which prisoner rape is predictable, and therefore, preventable. Finally, in the last section, the authors show how the predictability of prisoner rape should compel prison officials to intervene in order to keep prisoners safe from harm. The lack of action on the part of the prison official, then, constitutes “deliberate indifference” and is therefore actionable in a court of law. By writing this article as a litigation guide for the victim of prisoner rape, the authors hope to protect the rights of all prisoners and to diminish the incidence of prisoner rape.