Rape in prisons

This New York Times editorial ("Curbing Rape Behind Bars") is worth a read, and worth thinking about.  My wife served on the National Commission that was established by the Prison Rape Elimination Act, discussed in the piece.  The problem is serious and our (generally speaking) indifference to it -- indeed, the extent to which we joke about it in movies, and even in 7-Up Commercials! -- is shameful.  It is, in my view, immoral to impose on those convicted of even the most serious crimes more or worse punishment than is legally authorized by their offense, conviction, and sentence . . . and no one is sentenced to be raped in prison.  If we lock someone up, we assume a moral responsibility for his or her safety (to the extent possible).  However, it is clear that, in many institutions, rape is overlooked and tolerated by "corrections" officers who see it as (among other things) a useful way to maintain discipline.  (To be sure, that maintaining discipline in our prisons is such a challenge, even for well-meaning, dedicated, and humane officers, is at least in part a result of severe overcrowding, which is at least in part a result of a misguided approach to the criminalization of drugs . . . .)