Lexington Herald Leader: Guard-inmate Sex Should Be Felony. I AGREE.
Guard-inmate sex should be felony
In Kentucky, a person who steals a DVD player, forges some low-dollar checks, is carrying a small amount of a drug or has a minor parole violation could wind up in prison on felony charges for a decade or more, if he's had previous convictions.
But a guard who has sex with an inmate is committing only a misdemeanor, a lesser crime punishable by a fine or up to a year in prison.
That's just wrong.
We regularly argue that too many people are sent off for long prison terms in an effort that is bankrupting the state and ruining lives without any sign that it's making us safer.
But Kentucky lawmakers should have long ago made it a felony for a corrections worker to sexually assault someone under his or her care and control.
While prisoners have been convicted of serious crimes and are deprived of their freedom, in our system that doesn't mean they can also be deprived of their basic rights.
Sex abuse often involves an imbalance of power: adult-child, teacher-student, boss-employee. Is there any question that guard-prisoner falls into the same category?
The Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, which includes the Department of Corrections, supports such a change.
"There is no consensual sex," between an inmate and a prison worker, cabinet spokeswoman Jennifer Brislin said.
Kentucky is, The Courier-Journal reported, one of only three states that considers sexual abuse of a prisoner a misdemeanor and not a felony.
A number of attempts have been made in recent years, including the regular session this spring, to make what is called custodial misconduct a felony, only to fall short.
Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, plans to make another run at it in the next session.
Reports that several inmates at Otter Creek, a private women's prison, have been sexually assaulted by their guards should serve as a wake-up call to members of the General Assembly to remedy this gap in the Kentucky criminal code as rapidly as possible.
In Kentucky, a person who steals a DVD player, forges some low-dollar checks, is carrying a small amount of a drug or has a minor parole violation could wind up in prison on felony charges for a decade or more, if he's had previous convictions.
But a guard who has sex with an inmate is committing only a misdemeanor, a lesser crime punishable by a fine or up to a year in prison.
That's just wrong.
We regularly argue that too many people are sent off for long prison terms in an effort that is bankrupting the state and ruining lives without any sign that it's making us safer.
But Kentucky lawmakers should have long ago made it a felony for a corrections worker to sexually assault someone under his or her care and control.
While prisoners have been convicted of serious crimes and are deprived of their freedom, in our system that doesn't mean they can also be deprived of their basic rights.
Sex abuse often involves an imbalance of power: adult-child, teacher-student, boss-employee. Is there any question that guard-prisoner falls into the same category?
The Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, which includes the Department of Corrections, supports such a change.
"There is no consensual sex," between an inmate and a prison worker, cabinet spokeswoman Jennifer Brislin said.
Kentucky is, The Courier-Journal reported, one of only three states that considers sexual abuse of a prisoner a misdemeanor and not a felony.
A number of attempts have been made in recent years, including the regular session this spring, to make what is called custodial misconduct a felony, only to fall short.
Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, plans to make another run at it in the next session.
Reports that several inmates at Otter Creek, a private women's prison, have been sexually assaulted by their guards should serve as a wake-up call to members of the General Assembly to remedy this gap in the Kentucky criminal code as rapidly as possible.
Labels: News reporting
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 8:26 PM
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