Prison Rape Elimination Act Can Keep Children Out Of Adult Jails

Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) unanimously in 2003 with the aim of protecting individuals from prison rape. This Huffington Post article, written by NCCD’s Media for a Just Society Awards (MJS) judge Liz Ryan, discusses the facets of PREA that focus on the protection of children.

Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) unanimously in 2003 with the aim of protecting individuals from prison rape. This Huffington Post article, written by NCCD’s Media for a Just Society Awards (MJS) judge Liz Ryan, discusses the facets of PREA that focus on the protection of children. The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission recognized the fact that juvenile criminals are at an elevated risk of sexual assault, and the PREA accordingly restricts their placement in adult prisons. Within jails or prisons that hold both youth and adults, the PREA regulations prohibit contact between juvenile and adult criminals, demand staff supervision of youth at all times, and diminish isolation sentences that can be especially deleterious to young inmates. Youth would be better protected if they were removed from adult prisons and instead placed in juvenile centers or corrective facilities more likely to offer appropriate services and support.
 
Liz Ryan is the president and chief executive officer of the Campaign for Youth Justice (CJYJ), dedicated to ending the practice of trying, sentencing, and incarcerating youth under the age of 18 in the adult criminal justice system. Check out Liz’s guest blog post about trying youth as adults.
 
Read about the National PREA Resource Center (PRC), a project run by cooperative agreement between NCCD and the Bureau of Justice Assistance.