Take action to help ban the placement of youth (under 18) in adult jails

In response to the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) proposed regulations on the implementation of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), the Campaign for Youth Justice is circulating a sign-on letter calling on the DOJ to ban the placement of youth (under 18) in adult jails and prisons. Their goal is to obtain at least 500 national, state and local organizations and individuals in all 50 states by Friday, April 1st at 12:00 noon.

To sign on, please email jjcampaign@cfyj.org.

PREA Background

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was signed into law by President Bush in 2003 to address sexual violence behind bars. A key component of the law was the creation of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPREC), a bipartisan federal commission charged with developing national standards addressing prisoner rape and the requirements would apply to all detention facilities, including federal and state prisons, jails, police lock-ups, private facilities, and immigration detention centers. The NPREC held public hearings, had expert committees to draft the standards, and released their final recommendations by issuing a report and set of standards. The Administration issued draft rules in 2010, opened them for public comment, and has now issued proposed final rules and is seeking public comments again. These comments are due April 4, 2011.