Instapundit today calls our attention to a UPI article about the spread of deadly diseases among inmates because of prison rapes.

This is a human rights violation that needs attention. We ask that you stop by the website of Stop Prisoner Rape, an organization that has been dedicated to fighting the problem for over two decades.

Some good news is that bipartisan legislation was introduced in June to reduce the problem by Sen. Ted Kennedy, Sen. Jeff Sessions, Rep. Bobby Scott, and Rep. Frank Wolf.

The bill is the Prison Rape Reduction Act of 2002. This is what it will do:

"The bill creates three programs in the Department of Justice: one dedicated to collecting national statistics about the problem, one to facilitate confidential reports of prisoner rape and provide training about how to address it, and one that will provide grants to combat the problem. The bill also creates an investigative commission which will produce a report and new national standards to address prisoner rape which states may adopt or opt out of. The bill has so far garnered a broad range of bipartisan support."

Of course, the bill addresses only part of the problem. “In addition to effective legislation, we need mental health services for survivors, lawsuits aimed at reform, and greater sympathy on the part of the public.”

Just last week we reported on the case of a 19 year old man who was repeatedly raped at the Jefferson County Jail in Colorado after deputies placed him in a cell with a sex offender who had attacked another inmate hours earlier. It was the 19 year old's first time in jail. He had been arrested for failing to complete his alcohol classes in connection with a D.U.I.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the Act next Wednesday. Please support this legislation.