States could lose money over prison rapes

WASHINGTON New measures aimed at reducing prison rapes are in the works and states that fail to take steps to protect their inmates could see their federal money cut.

The new standards were proposed Tuesday by the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, a bipartisan panel that spent five years studying the issue. It's estimated that about 60,000 inmates are sexually abused each year.

With more than 7.3 million people behind bars or on parole and probation in the U.S., the report said jails and prisons should take a series of steps to eliminate sexual abuse of inmates. Those steps include the adoption of zero tolerance policies, better staff training and improved screening to identify prisoners vulnerable to abuse.

"Individuals who are incarcerated have basic human rights," said U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, chairman of the commission. "Just because they've committed a crime and they're incarcerated does not mean that their human dignity can be abused."

The proposed standards are being sent to Attorney General Eric Holder, who has a year to write national standards. States will be notified of the finalized standards and then must adopt them or risk losing 5 percent of any federal prison grant money.