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Attorney General Eric Holder has been receiving pressure to face the on-going problem of rape in prisons from various groups.  Groups such as Southern Baptist Convention, Human Rights Watch, NAACP,  Southern Baptist Convention , National Press Club and many more joined to form a request letter to Holder.  In joining they are promoting that while inmates should be punished for their crimes, sexual abuse and other sex crimes are unacceptable. They are requesting that he adapt standards that hold prison officials accountable for the rapes that occur on a daily basis in American prisons.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics foundation, in 2007 one out of every 28 inmates had been sexually assaulted within the past year- and 60,000+ annually!  This is disturbing.  To make stats worst, (as if they need to be) the ratio for juvenile detainees is one out of every eight.  Today, over 115 adults and 9 juveniles will be a victim of sexual assault.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act was formed in 2003 by congress in order to put a foot down and establish a zero tolerance policy on prison rape.  From this, The National Rape Elimination Commission was developed in order to enforce that standards be held by prison officials that would bring this issue to an end.  In doing so, a standards guide to decreasing the occurrences of sexual abuse was proposed which was derived from insight on real life experiences.  As a part of meeting up to these standards, prisons are also subjected to being audited for progress in the elimination of prison rapes.  What have the results shown so far?  Well, in California and Oregon where the standards were implemented immediately, they have proven to be practical and helpful.

The U.S. attorney general needs to approve the standards in order for other prison systems to adapt this.  They have been in Attorney General Holders hands since June 2009.  With so much going on in Mr. Holders professional life as far as international and domestic issues, it is anticipated that the standards will be in limbo on his cue for another year.

The good news about all of this is that you don’t have to be a Fort Lauderdale sex crime attorney or a Miami criminal attorney to help.  On the Justice Fellowship’s page there is a link called End Prison Rape Now that will supply resources including a sample letter to Attorney General Eric Holder that will inform you and others on how to join the effort.  You can also write to Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20530.