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ACLU Files Court Order Against Delaware Prisons In Rape Case

doc.delaware.gov

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed for a court order to enforce reforms in Delaware prisons claiming the Department of Corrections has failed to follow through on its promises to protect female prisoners from sexual assault.

The legal action comes five years after a female prisoner reported being raped by a prison guard.

That resulted in a year and a-half of civil lawsuits brought with the help of the ACLU which resulted in a settlement.

The agreement required the Corrections Department to carry out a series of reforms at the Baylor Women’s Institution.

These ranged from new training for staff and additional security cameras to new policies like requiring a second employee be present whenever one enters the cell of a single inmate at a state prison.

Department of Corrections spokesman John Painter…told theWilmington News Journal that the agency and Baylor staff has “worked steadily to accomplish the goals of the settlement…and have significantly improved protections and policies at the facilities.”

The new filing noted there have been several deadline extensions for the state to carry out these reforms.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.