The Prison Experience
I clicked on two articles tonight that I thought go together nicely.
First, David at Indefensible had a great post on January 13 (sorry, the perma-link seems to be broken) referencing a New York Times article about a Minnesota judge being sent to prison and facing some of the very inmates whose sentences he either ordered or upheld. Of course, he discovers the true nature of the prisons to which he's been sentencing people.
I also found this article, about a questionable study on prison rape.
SAN FRANCISCO - A bitterly disputed, government-sponsored study has concluded that rape and sexual assault behind bars may be rampant in movies and books but are rare in real life.
When inmates have sex, it is usually by choice, and often engaged in as a way to win protection or privileges, said Mark Fleisher, a cultural anthropologist who specializes in prisons and crime at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
...
“To take the position that it’s not a problem and prisons are safe places is asinine,” said Reggie B. Walton, a federal judge and chairman of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, set up under a 2003 federal law. He said Fleisher’s conclusions are “totally inconsistent” with what he has learned during 30 years in the criminal justice system.
Based on my admittedly limited experience with my incarcerated clients, I have to agree with Judge Walton, rather than Professor Fleisher.
My anecdotal evidence aside, the article outlines several details that undermine the credibility of the study. Professor Fleisher conducted no literature review, provided no explanation of his methodology, and refuses to share the data supporting the conclusions.
And, oh yeah, the study confirms his previously held belief that prison rape isn't all that common:
He said his findings were no surprise to him, though he admitted his conclusion “flies in the face of what everyone believes.”
Sure thing, Professor.
posted by Public Defense @ 1/17/2006
4 Comments:
http://msass.case.edu/faculty/mfleisher/
Of course, the Fleisher study IS idiotic. But even his argument that prison sex is consensual because it can be traded for protection is self-contradictory. That's not consensual, it's coerced. The inability to distinguish between coerced sex (sex as barter in the institution's underground economy) and rape is typical of the detention staff. Too bad they now have an academic agreeing w/ 'em.
I would be curious to do a study,an anonymous poll across the U.S. of prisoners and get the truth.
Men's prisons are a bit different than women's, I believe and although rape was a possibility for me in prison it never occured nor did I witness it. But I know it did happen and spoke first hand to women who went through it. A friend of my sons, upon learning he would return to prison, killed himself rather than to be raped by a cellmate ever again. It does happen, this I know. Nice blog and I wish I'd had an honest public defender when I was sentenced. Mine was a complete liar who sold me to the D.A. as it was an election year. I'm sure you've heard that story before, right!? Take Care.
Anonymous,
Thanks for pointing out the coercion aspect. The inability to distinguish between coerced sex and rape is a major problem in society as a whole.
babsbitchin',
I'm sorry about your son's friend and about your bad experience with a public defender.
To tell you the truth, the negative public defender stereotype I hear most often is incompetent and bumbling (think of the PD in My Cousin Vinny).
At any rate, I hope that you never have cause to encounter a public defender again. But if you do, I think you will find that most PDs pride themelves on antagonizing prosecutors, rather than assisting them.
Thanks for reading.
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