Reliably Austin
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Greg Abbott Reverses Rick Perry Decision on Sexual Abuse Behind Bars

Photo via Flickr/Thomas Hawk (CC BY-NC 2.0)

From Texas Standard:

In 2003, then President George W. Bush signed the Prison Rape Elimination Act. The bill required federal and state lockups to implement certain procedures and standards that would address sexual abuse behind bars. Not doing so, states would run the risk of penalties, such as the loss of federal grant money.

The final rules took effect in 2012, and the Texas governor at the time, Rick Perry, refused to sign on. However in a 180-degree reversal, Gov.Greg Abbott says the state will be brought in-line with the law.

Matt Simpson, a senior policy strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, talks to the Standard about the shift.

"In a way, the state was heading in the same direction as the federal requirements," he says. "It was Gov. Perry probably in some ways talking about his opposition to DC."

Because Texas was creating an ombudsman in the correctional system to address sexual assault, Perry may have felt the state was already working toward compliance Simpson says.

"Ultimately Gov. Abbott decided that these are straightforward, common sense things to implement to prevent sexual assault," he says. "It's very likely Gov. Perry had one idea of how we could get there and Gov. Abbott has a different one."

Listen to the full interview in the audio player above.

Rhonda joined KUT in late 2013 as producer for the station's new daily news program, Texas Standard. Rhonda will forever be known as the answer to the trivia question, “Who was the first full-time hire for The Texas Standard?” She’s an Iowa native who got her start in public radio at WFSU in Tallahassee, while getting her Master's Degree in Library Science at Florida State University. Prior to joining KUT and The Texas Standard, Rhonda was a producer for Wisconsin Public Radio.
Related Content