Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003
Public Law 108-79 · S. 1435 · 108th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by George W. Bush (R) on Sep 4, 2003 · Crime and Law Enforcement
Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Cosponsors (4): Sen. Ted Kennedy, Sen. Mike DeWine,
Passage votes
- HouseUnanimous consent
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 - (Sec. 4) Directs the Bureau of Justice Statistics to carry out, annually, a comprehensive statistical review and analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape. Requires: (1) the review and analysis to be based on a sample of not less than ten percent of all Federal, State, and county prisons, and a representative sample of municipal prisons, that includes at least one prison from each State; and (2) Federal, State, or local officials or facility administrators that receive a request from the Bureau to participate in the national survey and provide access to any inmates under their legal custody.
Establishes within the Department of Justice the Review Panel on Prison Rape to carry out, for each calendar year, public hearings concerning the operation of the three prisons with the highest incidence of prison rape and the two prisons with the lowest incidence in each category of facilities identified. Declares that the purpose of these hearings shall be to collect evidence to aid in the identification of common characteristics of: (1) victims and perpetrators of prison rape; (2) prisons and prison systems with a high incidence of prison rape; and and (3) prisons and prison systems that appear to have been successful in deterring prison rape.
Requires the Attorney General to submit an annual report to Congress and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on Bureau and Panel activities regarding prison rape. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2010.
(Sec. 5) Establishes within the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) a national clearinghouse for the provision of information, assistance, and training to Federal, State, and local authorities for the prevention, investigation, and punishment of prison rape.
(Sec. 6) Directs the Attorney General to make grants to to assist States in ensuring that budgetary circumstances do not compromise efforts to protect inmates and to safeguard the communities to which inmates return. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2010, with a limitation.
(Sec. 7) Establishes the National Prison Rape Reduction Commission to: (1) study the impact of prison rape on Federal, State, and local governments and on communities and social institutions; and (2) report recommended national standards for enhancing the detection, prevention, reduction, and punishment of prison rape.
(Sec. 8) Directs the Attorney General, within one year after receiving such report, to publish a final rule adopting national standards. Provides for a five percent reduction of any amount of grant funds for prisons that a State would otherwise receive for a fiscal year, unless the chief executive of the State submits to the Attorney General: (1) a certification that the State has adopted, and is in full compliance with, the national standards; or (2) an assurance that not less than five percent of such amount shall be used only to enable the State to adopt and achieve full compliance with such standards, so as to ensure that such certification may be submitted in future years. Requires the Attorney General to publish an annual report listing each grantee that is not in compliance with the standards.
(Sec. 9) Prohibits the receipt of Federal grants by penal facility accredication organizations that fail to adopt accreditation standards for the detection, prevention, reduction, and punishment of prison rape.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Related bills
2 bills the Library of Congress relates to this one.
H.R. 1707Related bill
Prison Rape Reduction Act of 2003
H.R. 1765Related bill
Prison Rape Reduction Act of 2003
Data notes
Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 12 actions.
- Sep 4, 2003Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 108-79.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Sep 2, 2003FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Jul 25, 2003FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On passage Passed without objection.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Sensenbrenner asked unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table and consider.
- FloorFloor · Considered by unanimous consent.
- Jul 22, 2003FloorFloor · Held at the desk.
- FloorFloor · Received in the House.
- FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Jul 21, 2003FloorFloor · Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in Senate
Data notes
Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.
Amendments
No amendments to this bill are on record.
Data notes
Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.
Official record
The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.