Timeline
|
1980 |
Congress passes the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, authorizing the U.S. Attorney General to investigate and litigate abusive conditions of confinement in Federal, State, and local facilities. |
|
1984 |
Filing of Cason v. Seckinger. One of the first contemporary court cases to address widespread abuse of women prisoners by staff, it compelled significant reforms in Georgia. |
|
1985 |
Activist and abuse survivor Stephen Donaldson becomes president of Stop Prisoner Rape. Renamed Just Detention International in 2008, it is the only organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to eliminating sexual violence in detention. |
|
1994 |
In Farmer v. Brennan, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that corrections officials have a legal duty to protect prisoners from sexual abuse. |
|
1994 |
In Women Prisoners of District of Columbia Dept. of Corrections v. District of Columbia, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia finds that a widespread pattern and practice of sexual abuse of women inmates violates the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. |
|
1996 |
The National Institute of Corrections begins working with corrections administrators to reduce staff sexual misconduct. |
|
1996 |
The Journal of Sex Research publishes “Sexual Coercion Reported by Men and Women in Prison.” |
|
1996 |
Human Rights Watch publishes All Too Familiar: Sexual Abuse of Women in U.S. State Prisons, detailing sexual abuse in the District of Columbia, Michigan, and Georgia. |
|
1997 |
The U.S. Department of Justice sues the State of Arizona and intervenes in women prisoner cases in Michigan to challenge pervasive sexual abuse of women prisoners during cross-gender pat downs. Consent judgments the following year create moratoriums on cross-gender pat downs of women in both States. |
|
1999 |
The Association of State Correctional Administrators passes a resolution strongly encouraging each of its member agencies to adopt and enforce policies prohibiting all forms |
|
1999 |
In Lucas v. White, three female inmates are awarded $500,000 in damages after male staff at a Federal prison “sold them as slaves.” The case prompted the Federal Bureau of Prisons to issue Sexual Abuse/Assault Prevention and Intervention, A System Response and Agency Plan. |
|
2000 |
A coalition of religious and human rights groups organized by Michael Horowitz of the Hudson Institute presses for a Federal law to address the sexual abuse of prisoners. |
|
2001 |
Human Rights Watch publishes No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons. |
|
2002 |
Stop Prisoner Rape mobilizes 100 advocacy organizations to halt a 7UP® commercial that jokes about prison rape. |
|
2002 |
Beginning in July 2002 and continuing through April 2003, Congress holds hearings on a “Prison Rape Reduction Act.” |
|
2003 |
The American Jail Association passes a resolution to support the implementation of policies that prohibit staff sexual misconduct. |
|
2003 |
On September 4, President Bush signs the Prison Rape Elimination Act. |
|
2004 |
The National Institute of Corrections launches an intensive training and technical assistance program under PREA. |
|
2004 |
The National Institute of Justice launches a series of research publications in response to PREA, beginning with Prison Rape: A Critical Review of the Literature. |
|
2004 |
The newly appointed members of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission hold their first meeting in July. |
|
2004 |
The American Correctional Association begins to adopt sexual abuse accreditation standards in response to PREA. |
|
2004 |
The Bureau of Justice Assistance issues the first grants to States to support PREA reforms, ultimately providing funding to 34 States and one territory. |
|
2004 |
In Everson v. Michigan Department of Corrections, a Federal appeals court approves barring male staff from supervising women prisoners to protect privacy and prevent custodial sexual abuse. |
|
2005 |
The Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Justice publishes Special Report: Deterring Staff Sexual Abuse of Federal Inmates. |
|
2005 |
On March 31, the Commission holds its first public meeting at the University of Notre Dame Law School in Indiana to discuss the issue of prison sexual violence. |
|
2005 |
On June 14, the Commission holds a hearing in Washington, D.C., examining the cost of victimization and why the country must confront prison rape. |
|
2005 |
The Bureau of Justice Statistics publishes Sexual Violence Reported by Correctional Authorities, 2004, the first national look at reported incidents of sexual violence in custody. Updates for adult prison and jail populations were published in 2006 and 2007. |
|
2005 |
On August 19, the Commission holds a hearing in San Francisco on vulnerable populations at risk of sexual abuse. |
|
2005 |
The California legislature passes the Sexual Abuse in Detention Elimination Act, the first state law corollary to PREA. |
|
2006 |
On March 23, the Commission holds a hearing in Miami exploring how corrections professionals view prison rape. |
|
2006 |
The National Sheriffs’ Association passes a resolution encouraging sheriffs to vigorously enforce explicit policies prohibiting all forms of sexual harassment and abuse between jail staff and detainees. |
|
2006 |
The Vermont legislature criminalizes staff sexual abuse of persons in custody, the last State to do so. |
|
2006 |
On June 1, the Commission holds a hearing in Boston on juveniles at risk of sexual abuse. |
|
2006 |
A scandal at the Tallahassee Federal Correctional Institution involving officers allegedly smuggling contraband to prisoners in exchange for money and sex gains national attention when a corrections officer shoots and kills a U.S. Department of Justice Special Agent serving arrest warrants at the facility. |
|
2006 |
On August 3, the Commission holds a hearing in Detroit on reporting, investigating, and prosecuting prison rape. |
|
2006 |
December 13–14, the Commission holds a hearing in Los Angeles exploring staffing and labor relations as well as sexual abuse in immigration facilities. |
|
2007 |
The Texas legislature forms a committee to investigate widespread sexual abuse in the Texas Youth Commission (TYC), ultimately discovering hundreds of allegations by youth against staff and implementing reforms that included creating multiple external mechanisms to oversee the TYC. |
|
2007 |
March 26–27, the Commission holds a hearing in Austin to examine lockups, detention facilities for Native Americans, and conditions in correctional facilities in Texas for adults and juveniles. |
|
2007 |
Beginning in November 2007 and continuing throughout 2008, the Commission holds roundtable discussions with corrections professionals and a wide range of other interested groups. |
|
2007 |
December 5–6, the Commission holds a hearing in New Orleans covering medical and mental health care for survivors, abuse in community corrections settings, and oversight of correctional facilities and agencies. |
|
2007 |
The Bureau of Justice Statistics publishes Sexual Victimization in State and Federal Prisons Reported by Inmates, 2007, the first national survey on the subject. |
|
2008 |
The U.S. Department of Justice Review Panel on Prison Rape holds hearings over the course of several months on correctional facilities with the highest and lowest prevalence of sexual victimization according to the national survey results and publishes separate reports on rape in U.S. prisons and U.S. jails. |
|
2008 |
On May 5, the Commission releases draft standards for adult prisons and jails as well as for facilities holding immigration detainees and seeks public comment through July 7. |
|
2008 |
On June 16, the Commission releases three sets of draft standards covering lockups, juvenile facilities, and community corrections and seeks public comment through August 15. |
|
2008 |
The Bureau of Justice Statistics publishes Sexual Victimization in Local Jails Reported by Inmates, 2007, the first national survey on the subject. |
|
2008 |
The Bureau of Justice Statistics releases Sexual Violence Reported by Juvenile Correctional Authorities, 2005–2006. |