After Dothard: Female Correctional Workers and the Challenge to Employment Law

This article examines a profession where women have made great strides - corrections. Using an equality framework, corrections and other non-traditional professions were the first target of the feminist movement in the 1970s. By and large, feminists were successful in creating greater porosity for women in law enforcement, emergency services, corrections, and the military. While women have entered these traditionally masculine spaces, they still suffer from an achievement gap. They are still underrepresented in leadership positions and marginalized in these settings; are still the targets of discrimination based on race, gender, and perceived sexual orientation; and are less likely than men to hold these positions and be married. Women\u27s entry into correctional spaces has had several unintended consequences. First, it has complicated the experiences of other marginalized groups in those institutions. In particular, women\u27s progress in correctional institutions has increased female inmates\u27 exposure to supervision by male staff, which places them at greater risk for sexual victimization. Second, it has diminished privacy of both male and female inmates in custodial settings. Third, it has resulted in female correctional employees\u27 disproportionate involvement in prohibited intimate contact with male inmates and youth in custody. These sexual interactions have resulted variously in termination, resignation, prosecution, procreation, and litigation; complicating feminist theories of power, consent, and equality. Finally, it has complicated key employment law jurisprudence. This article examines three areas of law and how female correctional staff\u27s roles have complicated those doctrines: (1) privacy for inmates under the Fourth and Eighth Amendments; (2) the bona fide occupational qualification ( BFOQ ) doctrine; and (3) sexual harassment under Title VII

Cross-gender Searches: A Case Law Study

Inmates and detainees retain a limited privacy right when detained in correctional settings, particularly in the context of cross-gender searches. Jurisdictions have approached the competing interests of privacy and cross-gender searches quite differently, finding liability for correctional officers, supervisors, and facilities under a variety of circumstances. These decisions are highly fact-sensitive, and the jurisprudence has evolved rapidly. This document provides an overview of cross-gender search cases in both state and federal courts, focusing on what types of conduct most often result in individual and supervisory liability

Anti-Fraternization Polices and their Utility in Preventing Staff Sexual Abuse in Custody

Many custodial facilities have implemented anti-fraternization policies that regulate contact between staff and inmates. These policies either limit, or altogether prohibit, interactions between employees and current or former inmates and their families. Correctional employees who are adversely affected by their agency’s anti-fraternization policies most often challenge these polices under the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to freedom of association. Courts generally uphold the agency’s anti-fraternization policy against such challenges, and cite the agency’s interest in maintaining a safe and secure facility. This document provides an overview of how courts across various jurisdictions have responded to employees’ challenges to anti-fraternization policies

Cross-gender Searches: A Case Law Study

Inmates and detainees retain a limited privacy right when detained in correctional settings, particularly in the context of cross-gender searches. Jurisdictions have approached the competing interests of privacy and cross-gender searches quite differently, finding liability for correctional officers, supervisors, and facilities under a variety of circumstances. These decisions are highly fact-sensitive, and the jurisprudence has evolved rapidly. This document provides an overview of cross-gender search cases in both state and federal courts, focusing on what types of conduct most often result in individual and supervisory liability

Sexual Abuse in Custody: A Case Law Study

Under certain circumstances correctional officers and their supervisors can be subject to civil liability for sexual abuse of inmates and detainees under their care. Liability for sexual abuse can attach whether the abuse was perpetrated by a correctional officer, facility employee or volunteer, or by a fellow inmate or detainee. This document provides an overview of sexual abuse cases in both state and federal courts, focusing on what types of conduct most often result in individual and supervisory liability. It does not address other issues that may arise in sexual abuse litigation, such as exhaustion requirements under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, qualified immunity for officers acting in an official capacity, or Eleventh Amendment immunity for states and their employees. Facilities should be mindful that these issues can complicate sexual abuse litigation

Sexual Abuse in Custody: A Case Law Study

Under certain circumstances correctional officers and their supervisors can be subject to civil liability for sexual abuse of inmates and detainees under their care. Liability for sexual abuse can attach whether the abuse was perpetrated by a correctional officer, facility employee or volunteer, or by a fellow inmate or detainee. This document provides an overview of sexual abuse cases in both state and federal courts, focusing on what types of conduct most often result in individual and supervisory liability. It does not address other issues that may arise in sexual abuse litigation, such as exhaustion requirements under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, qualified immunity for officers acting in an official capacity, or Eleventh Amendment immunity for states and their employees. Facilities should be mindful that these issues can complicate sexual abuse litigation

Training Curriculum: Responding to Sexual Abuse of Youth in Custody: Addressing the Needs of Boys, Girls, and Gender Nonconforming Youth - Notification of Curriculum Use (Facilitator’s Guide)

The enclosed Responding to Sexual Abuse of Youth in Custody: Addressing the Needs of Boys, Girls, and Gender Nonconforming Youth curriculum was developed by the Project on Addressing Prison Rape at American University, Washington College of Law as part of contract deliverables for the National PREA Resource Center (PRC), a cooperative agreement between the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) standards served as the basis for the curriculum’s content and development with the goal of the Responding to Sexual Abuse of Youth in Custody: Addressing the Needs of Boys, Girls, and Gender Nonconforming Youth curriculum being to satisfy specific PREA standard requirements. It is recommended that the Responding to Sexual Abuse of Youth in Custody: Addressing the Needs of Boys, Girls, and Gender Nonconforming Youth curriculum be reviewed in its entirety before choosing which modules to use. Any alterations to the original materials require either acknowledgement during their presentation or removal of the PRC and Project on Addressing Prison Rape logos. BJA is currently undergoing a comprehensive review of the enclosed curriculum for official approval, at which point the BJA logo may be added

Training Curriculum: Human Resources and Administrative Investigations (Facilitator’s Guide)

The enclosed Human Resources and Administrative Investigations curriculum was developed by the Project on Addressing Prison Rape at American University, Washington College of Law as part of contract deliverables for the National PREA Resource Center (PRC), a cooperative agreement between the National Council on Crime and Delinquency and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) standards served as the basis for the curriculum’s content and development, with the goal of the Human Resources and Administrative Investigations curriculum to satisfy specific PREA standards requirements. It is recommended that the Human Resources and Administrative Investigations curriculum be reviewed in its entirety before choosing which modules to use. Any alterations to the original materials require either acknowledgement during their presentation or removal of the PRC and Project on Addressing Prison Rape logos. BJA is currently undergoing a comprehensive review of the enclosed curriculum for official approval, at which point the BJA logo may be added