“Slaves cannot be victims.” This has long been the sentiments of slaveholders from chattel slavery and continues in present day carceral slavery. IDOC recently amended its Adult Disciplinary Code to permit the punishment of rape victims for ‘sexual intercourse’. In May 2023 the definition of Code Violation A-114 was amended to “Participating in sexual intercourse, consensual and nonconsensual…” Construed in its plain language a rape victim can be charged and found guilty of a Class A code violation. Class A code violations are the most serious and can result in over a year in disciplinary segregation, loss of over a year in credit time, loss of visiting privileges and other grievous sanctions. Seem farfetched? Consider this… Male and female prisoners cannot legally consent to sex, especially with authority figures. Yet, for decades male and female prisoners discovered in sex acts with staff have been thrown in administrative segregation for years at a time, lost privileges, and been blacklisted by administrations from jobs and rehabilitative programming. Now, thanks to the new disciplinary amendment rape victims can be punished in accordance with policy. Prisons are the new plantations. Ignore the monster in the dark long enough and it will start to reveal itself in the light.
by Landis Reynolds #157028, currently incarcerated at CIF