By guest poster Gary Farber.
Prison rape jokes abound every time a heinous trial or crime is in the news.
I don't need to repeat any: you've heard them. Heh, heh, I'm not going to feel sorry for that mass murderer/rapist/con artist/thief, and what's coming to him.
Of course, few of us think we'll ever wind up in jail, let alone prison, and most of us won't.
Prison rape is what happens to The Other.
Which is where the laughing and the righteous vengeance arise: it's not so funny if you imagine yourself, or one of your loved ones, trapped in an injustice system, unjustly thrust into captivity, and subject to brutal sexual and violent abuse.
Last week, the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics released a report: Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates, 2008-09.
As you imagine, it's not enjoyable reading.