This is the United States of America?

New York Times online
The Opinionator

April 24, 2007,  10:53 am

Shame Inside the Prison Walls

The domestic Abu Ghraib, continued: National Review Online writer Andrew Stuttaford praises the “lengthy letter” by David Kaiser, president of Stop Prisoner Rape, that was published in The New York Review of Books. At The Corner, Stuttaford writes:

The letter is important in that it once again focuses attention on a state of affairs that has remained a national disgrace for far too long, but more than that it offers a number of useful suggestions including better educational facilities (yes, it shouldn’t be necessary to say this, but they matter..), proper use of protective custody, and more effective law enforcement within prisons. The Eight Amendment is there. Use it.

Stuttaford also excerpts a quote from Kaiser’s letter (making this item a blogtastic quote within a quote): “DeParle writes, ‘Since 1980 the murder rate inside prisons has fallen more than 90 percent, which should give pause to those inclined to think that prisons are impossible to reform.’ We could similarly reduce the incidence of rape in prison.”