The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), passed by Congress 12 years ago, has come under scrutiny by advocates, legislators and some governors, says Deirdre Bannon, reporting for The Crime Report.
The advocacy communities have found themselves at odds with each other over some of the amendments to the law. Some advocates argue that the existing law will be strengthened by the amendments, while others say that the amendments will only deprive the law of its vital contents.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, spearheaded one of the controversial amendments, as he moved to have the financial penalties for non-compliant states reduced. The provision that linked funding to state programs under the 1984 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) would be affected and place the existing programs under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) guidelines.
Advocates against the amendment believe that enacting these new guidelines under PREA will weaken the current law. Another group of stakeholders and advocates argues the amendment will strengthen the existing law as it keeps in place the penalties for noncompliance.
The stakeholders and advocates, with approximately 20 members, are led by Elizabeth Pyke of the National Criminal Justice Association and Chris Daley of Justice Detention International. Pyke emphasizes that the amendment will strengthen the requirements for annual reports state by state. What this does is make more information public and removes the option for states to file a pledge in 2018 to comply, when all states will be required to be in compliance with PREA.
The stakeholders see this amendment as an immediate necessary implementation to fully cover and document prison rape. “For organizations like ours, who are continually documenting incidents of prison rape, there is a great sense of urgency. We want PREA implemented yesterday,” Daley told The Crime Report.
While there is a compromise being discussed by the two sides, finding a legislative sponsor from the Senate Judiciary Committee has been a challenge not yet overcome.
In the meantime, Pyke and Daley are working in collaboration with Cornyn’s office to sponsor their own compromise to the amendment and then present it to the Judiciary Committee, the report disclosed.
The report also mentioned other components of interest concerning the need for PREA, such as the 5 percent penalty that will penalize a state 5 percent of its federal funding for corrections programs if they are in non-compliance. Others include audit data, which is missing, and the threat of lawsuits.
Although there have been several governors who have rejected PREA standards, correctional officials from those states have been working to come into compliance.
Daley said, “There is a sexual assault crisis in detention facilities around the country, and there is an urgent need to end such abuses. PREA represents the best tools we’ve ever had to end this abuse.”
