There’s a lot to dislike in this left-wing screed on the subject, but easily the most contemptible line is this parenthetical one: “The clear interest of [conservative evangelical groups] in promoting religion among inmates has helped create a strange-bedfellowship with leftist prisoners’ rights groups” on the prison-rape issue. Conservative evangelicals can’t be legitimately against prison rape. They can’t even have been awakened to the issue by their work with prisoners. No, they’ve got an ulterior motive.

The authors also assert that to fight prison rape we would have to take up rehabilitation and “abandon the purely retributive and incapacitative function of prisons.” Well, obviously. It’s a good thing they don’t waste our time making an argument for this view.