Below are articles from the Dallas Morning News and the Houston
Chronicle stating that the rate of rape reported in Texas prisons has
dramatically increased. Stop Prisoner Rape receives more letters from
Texas inmates - comprising 24 percent of all of our letters from across
the nation - than from any other state in the country.

Lara Stemple
Stop Prisoner Rape
www.spr.org



REPORTS OF RAPE IN PRISON INCREASE

160% rise in 4 years a sign of vigilance, state argues; some call stats
falsely low

Sunday, January 23, 2005

By DAVE MICHAELS / The Dallas Morning News

AMARILLO - Garrett Cunningham refers to it only as "the incident," the
five or 10 minutes that forever changed the way he saw himself.

Garrett Cunningham says a Texas corrections officer raped him four years
ago near a prison shower. Another inmate is suing prison administrators
and staff over rape allegations. Four years ago, Mr. Cunningham said, a
state corrections officer raped him near the showers of a prison.
Afterward, the inmate lay in bed, weeping. "When I was awake, I thought
about wanting to die, because I didn't want to live with this," said Mr.
Cunningham, 33.

Since 2000, at least 129 Texas prisoners, including Mr. Cunningham, have
alleged that they were raped or had had sexual contact with corrections
officers, according to state records. Allegations of inmate-on-inmate
rape are even more frequent and appear to be increasing. Overall, the
number of reported sexual assaults in Texas prisons has increased 160
percent, to 609 in 2004 from 234 in 2000.

Inmate advocates - who have launched a nationwide legal campaign against
assaults and the complacency that they say allows them to flourish - say
that the problem is greater than the statistics show, with the situation
in Texas acute.

"I really have become convinced over the last three years or so that
Texas is the prison-rape capital of the country," said Margaret Winter,
a lawyer who represents two inmates who sued the prison system. "When
prisoners report it, they are ignored, laughed at and often punished."

State officials attribute the increase in reported assaults to their
vigilance in punishing offenders.

Issue gains attention

Though the issue is difficult for people to acknowledge, , it's gaining
more attention. Driving much of that: the case of another former Texas
inmate Roderick Johnson, who said prison officials did nothing as gangs
bought and sold him as a sex slave.

Mr. Johnson is suing seven prison administrators and staff members from
the Allred Unit in Iowa Park. The case, set for trial in July, will turn
on the question of whether prison officials violated the inmate's Eighth
Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. The suit
also argues that prison administrators refused to protect him because he
is gay.

Legal experts say the case could open the door to several judgments
against prison officers or the state, though some emphasized that
because jurors are not often sympathetic to inmates, awards are
typically low.

Lawyers for prison-rape victims say that neglect such as Mr. Johnson
alleges is common - that corrections officers often don't bother to
investigate rape claims and that some even regard the crime as a natural
byproduct of incarceration.

Prison officials said they take rape allegations seriously. Besides an
indicator of their success reaching out to victims, they also note that
the number of allegations is low for a prison population of 151,000
inmates, more than any other state.

Rape not tolerated

"The message is hammered constantly that we do not tolerate rape in
Texas prisons," said Mike Viesca, a spokesman for the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice. "People are more comfortable reporting these
incidents because they know we take them seriously."

The vast majority of sexual assault allegations do not produce criminal
prosecutions, records show. Most are either rejected by prosecutors or
declined by grand juries. Some prison officials say inmates often lodge
false complaints in hopes of gaining favorable treatment.

But some who have studied prison rape believe that even the rising
numbers don't capture its prevalence.

"Recurrence is the great fear" if they report it, said Cindy
Struckman-Johnson, a University of South Dakota psychology professor who
has studied inmate rape incidents in Midwestern prisons. "They fear harm
by perpetrators, poor treatment by staff, and shame and embarrassment."

Mr. Cunningham, who went to prison on a probation violation, said all
those factors influenced his decision to keep quiet.

"He [the corrections officer] told me he'd have me sent to another
prison, where this would happen to me all the time from gang members,"
Mr. Cunningham said. "That he could have me killed in there."

The Dallas Morning News generally does not identify victims of sexual
assault. Mr. Cunningham, who was released last year, said he wanted to
tell his story because he believes that the public should know about his
experience.

Court records show that Mr. Cunningham wrote an anonymous letter to a
prison captain in 2000, complaining that guard Michael Chaney groped
offenders during pat searches. Mr. Cunningham said he tried to tell
other prison supervisors, but they told him to keep quiet. He also said
he complained privately to a prison psychotherapist.

When Mr. Cunningham filed an official written complaint in 2003 - three
years after the alleged incident - investigators declined to file
charges, saying it was too late.

At least three other inmates and former inmates reported that Mr. Chaney
raped them at the Luther Unit in Navasota.

Mr. Chaney, who resigned after the allegations were made, declined to be
interviewed. His lawyer, Frank Blazek, said the former officer denies
the allegations.

"He is not charged with having any sexual relationships, except with one
inmate," Mr. Blazek said. "He has adamantly denied any wrongdoing."

Guard faces 3 charges

The former guard is charged with two counts of improper sexual activity
and one count of aggravated sexual assault. Prosecutors said they intend
to bring another sexual assault case, involving a former inmate from
Garland, to a grand jury this month.

In November 2001, another inmate reported that Mr. Chaney had sexually
assaulted him. He was able to save semen on a handkerchief, and an
analysis later showed it belonged to Mr. Chaney, court records show.

Had officials at the Luther Unit listened to Mr. Cunningham's and other
inmates' complaints, future rapes could have been avoided, Ms. Winter
said.

"One prisoner was lucky enough to smuggle DNA evidence out of the
prison," said Ms. Winter, associate director of the American Civil
Liberties Union's National Prison Project. "But this man has had
countless victims."

Prosecutors say the DNA set the inmate's complaint apart. Without such
evidence, jurors would have had questions.

"I don't doubt their commitment to ensuring that prison rape is
eradicated," Gina DeBottis, a prosecutor, whose federally funded office
handles prison prosecutions, said of Texas prison officials.

Mr. Chaney denied to investigators that he had sex with with the inmate
who produced the DNA evidence.And the guard's lawyer, Mr. Blazek, is
challenging the DNA, saying an analyst improperly tested it.

The inmate settled a civil suit against Mr. Chaney and the prison system
this month for $54,000.

Mr. Cunningham said he, too, would like to be compensated for what he
endured. But he cannot sue the state because he never filed a formal
grievance, a step required under federal law.

Now living with friends in Amarillo, he works six days a week at a
fast-food restaurant. He cannot afford counseling, which he says the
state should pay for. And despite it all, he does not regret the way he
handled the assault, he said, because it might have saved his life.

"Had I done it different, I might not be sitting here right now," he
said. "I might have been shipped to another unit and mysteriously died.
... Or an officer could find me dead in my cell."

In his spare time, Mr. Cunningham operates a business, Pen Friends and
Services, which provides prisoners contacts and resources for free books
and legal information.

"It's what I do to try to cope," Mr. Cunningham said. "It took a lot
away from me, as a man.

"I wear a mask on the outside, but I feel totally different on the
inside."

E-mail dmichaels@dallasnews.com




RECORDS SHOW SURGE IN SEXUAL ATTACKS IN PRISONS

Associated Press

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/metropolitan/3006309

Jan. 24, 2005

DALLAS - Sexual assaults in state prisons are up sharply, with hundreds
of inmates reporting that they were attacked by cellmates or corrections
officers.

The number of reported sexual assaults in Texas prisons has increased
160 percent, to 609 in 2004 from 234 in 2000, according to state
records.

At least 129 Texas prisoners have alleged that they were raped or had
sexual contact with corrections officers since 2000, the records show.
Claims of inmate-on-inmate rape was even more frequent.

State officials said the increase in reported assaults resulted from
their vigilance in punishing offenders.

However, inmate advocates said the problem is greater than the state
figures show. They have begun a nationwide legal campaign against
assaults and the complacency that they say allows them to flourish.

"I really have become convinced over the last three years or so that
Texas is the prison-rape capital of the country," said Margaret Winter,
a lawyer who represents two inmates who sued the prison system. "When
prisoners report it, they are ignored, laughed at and often punished."

Former Texas inmate Roderick Johnson, who said prison officials did
nothing as gangs bought and sold him as a sex slave, is suing seven
administrators and staff members from the Allred Unit in Iowa Park, near
Wichita Falls. Set for trial in July, the case involves whether prison
officials violated the inmate's Eighth Amendment protection from cruel
and unusual punishment.

According to the lawsuit, prison administrators refused to protect
Johnson because he is gay.

Cases such as Johnson's are described as common by prison-rape victims'
attorneys who contend that corrections officers often don't bother to
investigate the claims. Some officers even regard the crime as a natural
byproduct of incarceration, the attorneys have said.

Most sexual assaults do not produce criminal prosecutions, according to
records. However, prison officials say they take rape allegations
seriously, adding that the number of claimed attacks is low for a prison
population of 151,000 inmates.

"The message is hammered constantly that we do not tolerate rape in
Texas prisons," said Mike Viesca, a spokesman for the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice. "People are more comfortable reporting these
incidents because they know we take them seriously."

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