New rules to address prison sexual assault, most common in Texas

Meredith Simons and Robert Gavin from Hearst Newspapers report:


WASHINGTON – Each week, the staff of the prison watchdog group Just Detention International receives about 30 letters from inmates who say they've been sexually assaulted in prisons across the nation.

More than a quarter of those letters come from one state: Texas.

Even when adjusted for the number of inmates in a given prison system, Texas stands out as the state where sexual assault in prison is most prevalent.

Five of the 10 prisons with the highest rates of sexual abuse in the country are in Texas. That includes the top two, the Estelle Unit and the Clements Unit.