THE NUMBER of federal prison inmates has exploded over the past three decades, increasing by 7 1/2 times between 1980 and 2004. The duty to keep those inmates safe makes a new report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine essential reading. The report focuses on sexual abuse of prisoners by prison staff. The inspector general's office sees a lot of these cases, though presumably only a tiny fraction of the ones that take place. From the experience of hundreds of these cases, Mr. Fine has concluded that federal law is inadequate. Congress must respond promptly.
Staff sex with inmates, even consensual sex, is illegal for good reasons. Prison staffers are positioned to extort sex from inmates over whom they have considerable power. Staff-inmate sexual relationships tend to corrupt prison institutions, making staffers vulnerable to blackmail by inmates and leading to staff smuggling of contraband, including weapons and drugs. Yet in the federal system, Mr. Fine contends, prosecutors are often unable or reluctant to bring criminal cases. While prison rape is a felony, staff sex with inmates is only a misdemeanor, in contrast with laws in 43 states.
What's more, even that weak law does not cover prisoners held in privately run prisons, so 27,000 inmates held in contract facilities have no protection in federal criminal law. Such cases have to be referred to state prosecutors who are understandably more concerned with their own facilities.
The result is a considerable number of unprosecuted instances of sexual abuse of inmates. Even when prosecutors do obtain convictions, sentences tend to be light. Seventy-three percent of those convicted of abuse of inmates between 2000 and 2004 got probation; only 8 percent got more than a year in prison. Even a Bureau of Prisons psychiatrist convicted of seven counts of having sex with patients got only a year's incarceration.
The prevalence of rape and sexual violence in prisons is a national scandal, and keeping staffers from even ostensibly consensual sexual contact with inmates is one key component of stopping it. Congress passed an important bill in 2003 to get prison rape under control. In light of Mr. Fine's report, another step is needed.
