NCJ Number
239967
Date Published
2010
Length
82 pages
Annotation
This handout contains information on legal liability for sexual violence in juvenile justice settings when addressing the problem of sexual abuse of youth in custody.
Abstract
The areas covered in this training module that address the problem of legal liability for sexual violence in juvenile justice settings include the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), laws implementing PREA, criminal laws, reporting laws, licensing, vulnerable persons statutes, and civil liability. The first section of the module covers the most common legal issues related to civil liability, such as the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), the 8th, 4th, and 14th amendments to the Constitution, 42 U.S.C. Section 1997 that covers civil rights of institutionalized persons, and State tort claims. A detailed discussion of the PLRA includes the primary focus of the law and legal cases concerning rules and regulations established by the PLRA. This is followed by a discussion on CRIPA, the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act and cases related to this act, as well as an examination of what areas of law are covered by the 4th, 8th, and 14th amendments. Following this, the training module examines the different types of liability resulting from sexual violence in juvenile justice settings. The different forms of liability are municipal, official, individual, and personal. The final sections of the module cover immunity from liability and related cases, punishing consensual sex of inmates, emerging issues on cases involving sexual minorities, emerging issues related to PREA and civil case law, and what facility administrators can do to prevent liability.