National Prison Rape Elimination Commission

The NPREC was charged with studying federal, state and local government policies and practices concerning sexual assaults and crimes within the prison and jail systems.

The study culminated with the release of the aforementioned report on its findings, conclusions and recommendations to the President, Congress, the U.S. Attorney General and other state and federal officials.

[3] The commission was a major component of the PREA legislation and it was given subpoena powers as well as authorization to conduct a broad based study of prison rape in the United States.

Hearings continued into at least late 2007 in other locations, including Boston, New Orleans, and San Francisco, where commissioners heard from victims of prison rape as well as federal lawmakers.

[5] After seeking outside input from aforementioned sources and others the commission announced the release of "draft standards for the reduction of prison rape" on May 5, 2008.

[3][11] The vice-chair was John A. Kaneb; the other six members were: James E. Aiken, Jamie Fellner, Pat Nolan, Gus Puryear, Brenda V. Smith, and Cindy Struckman-Johnson.

[12] The report cited data that showed each year in the U.S. detention facilities (jails, prisons, et al.) 60,000 inmates are sexually abused.

[13] NPREC Commissioner Brenda V. Smith stated that sexual abuse in prison or jail is not a random event that can only "happen to other bad people", she added that the commission heard harrowing tales from victims, some of whom spent only one night in custody.

The Department of Justice published the final rule adopting national standards to prevent, detect, and respond to prison rape in May 2012.