Former Inmate Tapped to Serve on Prison Rape Commission

Prison Fellowship Executive Pat Nolan Named to Congressional Commission to Eradicate Sexual Assault in Prisons

Washington, D.C., March 18, 2004—The recently formed National Prison Rape Reduction Commission will include a member who brings the inmate's point of view to the issue of prison rape. Pat Nolan, president of Prison Fellowship's criminal justice reform arm and who served more than two years in prison, has been appointed to the commission by Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert. The setup of the nine-member commission was mandated by the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, passed unanimously by both houses of Congress last summer and signed into law by President Bush. 

"I know how the system works, how rapes could occur, and what the attitude of the staff would be," said Nolan, a former Republican leader in the California state assembly who served 25 months in a federal prison himself for one count of racketeering. "My vision for the commission is to ensure that rape will now be treated as a crime and not just an expected part of prison life."

Nolan played a significant role in mobilizing bipartisan congressional and grassroots support of the legislation. Supporters of the bill ran the gamut of theological and political persuasions: from the Open Society Institute to Focus on the Family; from liberal congressional leaders Ted Kennedy and Bobby Scott to conservatives Frank Wolf and Jeff Sessions.

"We felt it was important to say that this was not a matter of politics but of moral conscience," explained Nolan. "We wanted to make a statement that prison rape is intolerable. No sentence, even for the most heinous crime, should include being sexually assaulted while in custody."

The commission, for the first time ever, will extensively investigate the prevalence of rape in prison including:

• Looking at exacerbating conditions that have produced high rates of rape in some prisons, as well as actions that have led to significant reductions in other prisons

• Setting standards designed to cut down on opportunities for rape (such as getting rid of "blind spots" in the facilities-areas not under constant supervision)

• Prosecuting and punishing assailants

• Providing treatment for victims

According to the new act, prisons will be required to meet these standards or risk losing federal funding.

"Pat will do a superb job," said Prison Fellowship Chairman Chuck Colson. "This appointment is a testimony of how a man, humbled by his time in prison, can help achieve great reforms in our criminal justice system."

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BACKGROUND: Founded in 1976 by Charles W. Colson and led today by former Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley, Prison Fellowship is based in Reston, Va., and has become one of the most effective prison outreach and criminal justice reform organizations in the world with programs in all 50 states and in more than 110 countries worldwide.