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• Friday, December 23, 2005 11:45 AM

  Good ol' prison rape.

  Wil:

  "Violent criminals" do not "deserve" to be raped. Nobody deserves to be raped. In 2005, that may be a controversial position -- "Nobody? What about rapists/child molesters/serial killers/etc? Don't they deserve to be forcibly anally raped on a regular basis?" -- but it is still the moral position. Really, why should our government be in the business of raping people? That a rape may be accomplished by creating, and then deliberately ignoring, dangerous conditions doesn't make us, or the officials who serve us, any less culpable.

  The anti-rape position is also the practical position; criminals (even the violent ones, who deserve to be raped), with only a few exceptions, are eventually released from prison. If they have spent years in a culture of relentless violence and sexual abuse, they are more likely to re-offend.

  But what really irks me about your lazy remark is the way it ignores the realities of male prison rape. It is not the most violent and experienced criminals who are customarily the victims; they are the perpetrators. The victims are typically non-violent offenders, first-time offenders, and prisoners who are especially vulnerable for one reason or another -- because of their size, or because, for instance, they are gay. In other words, if you're taking solace in the fact that powerful gang leaders are being raped behind bars: don't.

  One of the reasons it's so difficult to make any progress towards preventing prison rape is that it can only be discussed as a joke -- or (as you've done here) casually cited with approval as part of criminals' just punishment.

  We shouldn't be castrating, raping, or torturing anyone -- not Tookie, not anyone. Nor should we speak so glibly about castration, rape, and torture -- especially when we are partly responsible, and are doing nothing to stop it.

  If you're interested in reading more about this subject, Human Rights Watch has published an excellent, highly detailed report, available at this address: www.hrw.org/reports/2001/prison/

  —Matt Williamson
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