You Thought It Too
July 15th, 2008 - 9:09 pm
You’ve got to respect Glenn Reynolds for his years-long — and probably unpopular — crusade against prison rape.
But I’ve got to ask: Glenn, ya think you could lay off for the next 30 months or so?
As for this guy, don’t even ask.
It’s hard to advocate for inmates, for men to admit being raped, and for sane policies to be enacted. (Treating all sex between inmates as rape because inmates aren’t legally eligible to consent doesn’t coincide with reality, if you ask me.) In prison, getting called a “punk” is the worst thing to have happen. Calling someone a punk is a way to start a fight. Every time.
Of course, many of them are “punks” in their terms, which is why they’re so touchy. For many inmates, being a tough guy in an orange outfit is the only time these guys are a Somebody, so it’s dangerous to suggest otherwise. The question is, which are “punks” voluntarily? And to what degree? Zero-tolerance policies are not necessarily the answer, but ignoring the issue makes for a whole lot of people leaving prison with some serious sexual issues that tend to get resolved in manners we’d rather not have happen.
There’s almost no way to solve this issue without radically changing the way people are, the way prisons are, and the way inmates are. But it’s still a worthy effort.
I would think the issue we have to address is being raped something that logically follows from a felony conviction. If so, does this then amount to cruel and unnusual punishment as defined by SCOTUS. I realize that many of these men have done hideous things, but does that mean they deserve to be anally raped as a art of their punishment. Also remember that a lot of these guys are in for nonviolent drug and DWI convictions. As long as we as a country decide to cast a wide net around the term “felony”, I don’t think our justice system can cast a similarly wide net around the execution of felony sentences.
When did the state get into the business of providing rapists with victims?
The citizenry, meanwhile, thinks this situation is great fun. Those who do have no idea what inhumane monsters they are.