1 / 14

Legal Responses to Staff Sexual Misconduct with Individuals in Custody: Elements of Good State Laws

Legal Responses to Staff Sexual Misconduct with Individuals in Custody: Elements of Good State Laws. National Institute of Corrections and The Washington College of Law March 6-11, 2005 Jaime Yarussi. Enacting a Law. Context Climate Proponent.

irish
Télécharger la présentation

Legal Responses to Staff Sexual Misconduct with Individuals in Custody: Elements of Good State Laws

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Legal Responses to Staff Sexual Misconduct with Individuals in Custody: Elements of Good State Laws National Institute of Corrections and The Washington College of Law March 6-11, 2005 Jaime Yarussi

  2. Enacting a Law • Context • Climate • Proponent

  3. State Criminal Laws Prohibiting Sexual Misconduct with Offenders in 1990 National Institute of Corrections M Law Enacted 1983 Law Enacted 1986 Law Enacted 1985 M Law Enacted 1988 Law Enacted 1987 Law Enacted 1958 Law Enacted 1988 Law Enacted 1983, Amended in 1995- removing necessary language. Law Enacted 1981 WASHINGTON, DC Law Enacted 1986 Law Enacted 1974 Law Enacted 1983 Law Enacted 1983 Law Enacted 1987 Law Enacted 1978 Law Enacted 1983 Law Enacted 1986 Sexual misconduct in prisons is defined as a misdemeanor. Sexual misconduct in prisons is defined as a felony. Sexual misconduct in prisons is defined as a felony or mis- demeanor, according to the nature and severity of the assault. No laws criminalizing sexual misconduct in prisons. Law Enacted 1989 Source: 1997, Fifty State Survey of Criminal Laws Prohibiting Sexual Abuseof Prisoners, Brenda V. Smith, National Women=s Law Center.

  4. State Criminal Laws Prohibiting Sexual Abuse of Individuals in Custody National Institute of Corrections/American University, Washington College of Law – March 2005 Vt. N.H. Wash. Montana Me. N.D. Minn. Mass. Oregon Wis. Idaho S. D. N.Y. Mich. Ct. RI Iowa Pa. Wyoming N.J. Nevada Neb. Ohio Ill. D.C. Utah WV In. Colorado Va. Del. Ky. Kansas Mo. California Md. N.C. Tenn. Ark. Arizona Okla. N. M. S.C. Al. Ms. Ga. Texas La. Florida Hawaii Alaska Sexual misconduct defined as a misdemeanor. Sexual misconduct defined as a felony. Sexual misconduct defined as either a felony or misdemeanor depending on the nature and severity of the assault. No statute specifically criminalizes sexual misconduct. Source: July 2004. Brenda V. Smith, The American University, Washington College of Law

  5. Important Policy Decisions • What conduct will the law cover? • Which staff will the law target? • Will you penalize offender victims? • What agencies will the law cover? • What will the penalties be? • Will this be a strict liability offense? • Will this be a separate statute?

  6. Coverage • Agency Secure Confinement Community Correction Agencies • Personnel Staff Clergy Volunteers Medical Staff Contractors Food Service Maintenance Workers Will place matter?

  7. Conduct • Physical Penetration Contact • Non-Physical Harassment Over-familiarity

  8. Reporting • Duty to Report • False Reports • Retaliation and Coercion

  9. Defenses • Ignorance of Status • Marriage • Consent

  10. Penalties • Who will be penalized? - Staff - Offender Victims • What will the penalty be? - Felony - Misdemeanor - Graduated Sanctions -Malfeasance in Office/ Loss of License

  11. Optimal Legal Elements • Coverage • Conduct • Reporting • Defenses • Sanctions and Penalties

  12. Food for Thought • Staff sexual misconduct is embedded in culture • An incident polarizes staff, population, and leadership • Policies need to be in place to direct staff to prevention • Training is essential • Legislation can be reinforced by internal policies

  13. Things to Remember… • Absence of a law does not mean that states don’t or cannot address the issue • Laws that may be sound in theory may not be in practice and reality • Enactment of a law does not guarantee enforcement • Education, prevention, sanctioning, and visible aggressive prosecution can only be used to remedy and eradicate this problem

  14. State Law Activity

More Related