tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post8259865867779743132..comments2024-03-18T22:21:33.261-07:00Comments on The Debate Link: Cornering Prison RapeDavid Schraubhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04946653376744012423noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-3376136776743997142009-06-24T15:44:32.374-07:002009-06-24T15:44:32.374-07:00THe US just needs prison reform generally, so it d...THe US just needs prison reform generally, so it doesn't follow that jokes are what's preventing one aspect of said reform.<br /><br />The *real* reason there's no reform is because there's no real constituency that cares a lot about it (at least, not one with voting rights) so it's hard to get critical mass among politicians when you can't appeal to self-interest. Oh, and I strongly suspect given the amount of money involved that plenty of companies have a profit motive to lobby against reform.<br /><br />So yeah, I'd say that's more important than jokes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-24928656159829123702009-06-24T14:40:18.297-07:002009-06-24T14:40:18.297-07:00I am slightly suspicious of certain conservatives&...I am slightly suspicious of certain conservatives' motives for being concerned about the prison rape issue. Among many, it seems to come at least partly from gay panic (having sex with another dude is worst thing ever!!!), which manifests in acceptance of non-sexual assaults and of sexual assaults on female prisoners, and framing all prison sex as rape.<br /><br />A few conservatives also seem to frame the issue in racial terms; I wasn't quite sure what Lehrer meant by "the racial supremacist gangs that control many prisons use rape as a tool for keeping other prisoners in line and, in some cases, prison officials may turn a blind eye towards sexual abuse when it keeps prison populations more orderly."<br /><br />Still, props to Lehrer for recognizing that in the drive to reduce prison litigation, courts have wrongfully turned their backs on prisoners who suffer heinous abuse that prison officials ignore or even encourage. And also for writing about this for years: see, e.g., Eli Lehrer, Hell Behind Bars: The Crime that Dare Not Speak Its Name, NATIONAL REVIEW, Feb. 5, 2001, at 24; Eli Lehrer, No Joke: Prison Rape Is Finally Taken Seriously, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE, June 20, 2002, http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/commentlehrer062002.asp.PGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09381347581328622706noreply@blogger.com