An Analysis of Statutes Criminalizing Correctional Officer Sexual Misconduct With Inmates

In: The prison journal: the official publication of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, Band 100, Heft 1, S. 126-148

Abstract

The 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) mandates that U.S. state correctional systems regulate and reduce staff-on-inmate sexual misconduct in state correctional facilities. As data on correctional officer sexual misconduct are limited and its legal definition varies across states, this study utilized statutory analysis to document how staff sexual misconduct is defined and how it is punished across state correctional systems. The most notable finding is that although all 50 states have statutes designed to protect incarcerated persons from being sexually victimized by correctional staff, they are far from uniform.