Promise Amid Peril: PREA's Efforts to Regulate an End to Prison Rape

Authors

Brenda V. Smith, American University Washington College of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2020

Volume

57

Issue

4

First Page

1599

Last Page

1635

Abstract

This Article discusses the modest aspirations of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (“PREA”) that passed unanimously in the United States Congress in 2003. The Article posits that PREA created opportunities for holding correctional authorities accountable by creating a baseline for safety and setting more transparent expectations for agencies’ practices for protecting prisoners from sexual abuse. Additionally, the Article posits that PREA enhanced the evolving standards of decency for the Eighth Amendment and articulated clear expectations of correctional authorities to provide sexual safety for people in custody.

Recommended Citation

PROMISE AMID PERIL: PREA’S EFFORTS TO REGULATE AN END TO PRISON RAPE, 57 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 1599 (2020).