I remember reading \The Scarlet Letter"" for the first time in high school and thinking how unfair the whole story was. Why was the woman punished for becoming pregnant while her partner, who remaining secret, was punished by only his conscience? Literature often reflects life, and unfortunately it is often the women who are punished and ostracized for sexual activities, while their male partners deny responsibility.
After reading recent news regarding the Taycheedah Correctional Institution, I am reminded that some things have not changed. Yes, it's Wisconsin and it's 2003. But it's the same old scandal, same old story.
During the past two weeks, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has followed the story of a mentally ill Taycheedah inmate impregnated by Matthew Emery, a prison guard. On repeated occasions, Emery would take Jackie Noyes, 24, into the staff break room and have sex with her. When prison officials were made aware of this, they sentenced Noyes to a year in solitary confinement for ""sexual conduct, soliciting staff."" The warden later reduced this sentence to 180 days.
And lest any romantics think this is some case of star-crossed lovers, accusations by other inmates have indicated Emery may have been around the cellblock. First, while Noyes said the sex was consensual, it appears Emery was manipulating her by leading her to believe he loved her.
In addition, another inmate in the mental health unit, Angela McKnight, had tried to alert prison staff in October that Emery might be involved with another inmate. Instead of investigating the issue, prison officials believed McKnight was lying and sentenced her to a year in solitary confinement. There is a pattern at Taycheedah.
The outrage the Noyes case provoked was due not only to its unfair nature, but also to the fact that a pregnant woman with suicidal tendencies is being subjected to solitary confinement.
Emery was dismissed from his job, but was not found to have violated any laws because Wisconsin is one of four states that does not prohibit prison guards from sexual contact with inmates. The Wisconsin Assembly has passed bills that would make such conduct a felony, but both times the bills have died in the state Senate without a vote.
Why is Wisconsin so behind the times in this area? By now, all but four states have realized sex between a prisoner and a guard can not be truly consensual. It is commonly accepted that people in positions of power --teachers, professor, and priests to name a few--abuse their authority when they use it for sex. You can't have much more power than holding the keys to someone's jail cell.
However, this problem in Wisconsin is just indicative of a nationwide problem. All over the United States, prison regulations, as well as the facilities themselves, are seldom adapted to women. This oversight can lead to disturbing abuse of women inmates. Amnesty International has documented specific cases of women prisoners being sexually harassed, assaulted and denied adequate health care.
Of course, the obvious response is that Wisconsin should adopt a law making it illegal for prison guards to have sexual contact with prisoners. This is something that our legislators should place at the top of their agendas, to make sure men like Emery do not walk away without a thorough investigation. However, this is a Band-Aid fix for a larger problem. After all, why are men guarding women inmates in the first place?
The employment of men in such positions is inconsistent with international standards set out in the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. This document states that female prisoners should be attended and supervised only by female officers and that male staff, doctors and teachers who provide professional services for female inmates should always be accompanied by female officers.
Of course, it is hardly shocking that the United States is, once again, ignoring international standards set by the United Nations. The excuse is that, under U.S. anti-discrimination laws, prisons and jails cannot refuse to employ men to supervise female inmates. However, there are certainly organizations that are able to circumvent such rules. The idea of prisoners being guarded by members of the same sex certainly deserves greater debate by our legislators and scholars.
Kudos to Mary Zahn at the Journal-Sentinel for bringing this issue into the public's eye. But let's not let it die on the pages of a newspaper. Contact your representatives and urge them to join other states in prohibiting this kind of sexual conduct. But also urge them to delve deeper into the treatment Wisconsin inmates are receiving, and to consider the importance of providing women guards for women inmates.
