Male Rape in U.S. Prisons: Are Conjugal Visits the Answer
![handle is hein.journals/cwrint37 and id is 585 raw text is: MALE RAPE IN U.S. PRISONS: ARE CONJUGAL VISITS THE ANSWER?
Rachel Wyatt t
I. INTRODUCTION
I had no choice but to submit to being [an inmate's] prison wife. Out of
fear for my life, I submitted to sucking his dick, being fucked in my ass,
and performing other duties as a woman, such as making his bed.
I'm a tall white male, who unfortunately has a small amount offeminine
characteristics.... These characteristics have got me raped [in prison]
so many times I have no more feelings physically. I have been raped by up
to 5 black men and two white men at a time.
I go through nightmares of being raped and sexually assaulted. I can't
stop thinking about it. Ifeel everyone is looking at me in a sexual way. I
Male prison rape is the most tolerated act of terrorism in the
United States.2 Prison inmates describe rape as a common event in prison
life and an accepted part of court imposed punishments.3 News reports,
documentaries, films, and books extensively document the prevalence of
male prison rape.4 The United States Supreme Court has declared that
prison rape constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth
t B.A., Ohio University (2002); J.D. Case Western Reserve University School of Law
(2006). I would like to thank Associate Dean Hiram Chodosh, Amy Miller, and Andrew
Malone for all their help and guidance during the development of this Note. Additional
thanks are owed to Professor Michael Benza for his insightful comments and suggestions.
Finally, I would also like to give the greatest thanks to my husband, Chad Cutright, and to
my parents, Joan and Gregory Linscott and Robert Wyatt, for all their patience and support.
1 Human Rights Watch, Excerpts from Prisoners' Letters to Human Rights Watch,
http://www.hrw.org./press/2001/04/rapetest.htm.
2 James E. Robertson, A Clean Heart and an Empty Head: The Supreme Court and Sex-
ual Terrorism in Prison, 81 N.C. L. REv. 433,436 (2003).
3 See id. (citing a quote from a book written by a lifer, VICTOR HASSINE, LIFE WITHOUT
PAROLE 134 (2d ed. 1999)).
4 See 25TH HOuR (Touchstone Pictures 2002); Ed Galucki, Three Men Charged in Sep-
tember Jail Rape, CABOT STAR HERALD, Feb. 6, 2004, available at
http://www.spr.org/en/news/2004/0206-2.html; Stuart Dye, Prison Rape Taunt Contributed
to Man's Suicide, N.Z. HERLAND, June 12, 2004, available at http://www.spr.org/en/
news/2004/0612.html; All Things Considered: Rights Groups Hail Prison Rape Law (Na-
tional Public Radio broadcast Oct. 29, 2003), available at http://www.npr.org/templates/story
/story.php?storyld=1483718; MICHAEL SCARCE, MALE ON MALE RAPE: THE HIDDEN TOLL OF
STIGMA AND SHAME (1997).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/cwrint37&div=33&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Male Rape in U.S. Prisons: Are Conjugal Visits the Answer
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