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U.S. Supreme Court Reaffirms Duty of Officials to Protect Prisoners from Rape and Retaliation

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

U.S. Supreme Court Reaffirms Duty of Officials to Protect Prisoners from Rape and Retaliation Press release from Just Detention International (www.justdetention.org) Washington, DC, January 24, 2011. In a decision released today, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court's ruling that officials who retaliated against a prisoner when she reported being raped by a prison staff member were immune from litigation. Speaking for the Court in Ortiz v. Jordan, Justice Ginsberg highlighted pre-existing law establishing that officials can be held liable for failing to protect an inmate who they know is at risk of harm. "The right of inmates to be free from abuse, and the duty of officials to protect this right, should be apparent," said Melissa Rothstein, Senior Program Director at Just Detention International...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on January 24, 2011 (boomark / email).