I've always thought it was ridiculous that these things are allowed to happen in a controlled environment like a prison. It seems like a great case for privitization. If the guards were held responsible like at any other private firm, the number of rapes would be cut way back. In a government facility, a guard can take a bribe to look the other way and just shrug his shoulders when an inmate is attacked. In a private facility, he would be held directly responsible for what happened on his watch. I'm not soft on crime at all, but it's a crime in and of itself that prisoners under the care of the state and federal government are allowed to run amok like a bunch of wild animals.
I have a problem with the whole concept of prison as it is known today. I don't think it is effective either as a means of punishment or as a way to safeguard the public from criminals. I would prefer to see a simple three-tiered system of criminal punishment: confinement (under Spartan conditions -- say an outdoor fenced pen behind the local courthouse) for misdemeanor crimes, corporal punishment (caning) for non-violent felony crimes, and hanging for crimes of violence. Hanging would be used only in cases where a plea of "guilty" is entered by the accused; those claiming innocence would be given a commuted sentence (up to life) without possibility of parole, to be served in a prison camp run under military discipline.
Ideally, we should have a Coventry -- an area where the law does not apply -- in every state. This area would have fenced and guarded borders, but within those borders would be without any law or legal government at all. Those who choose to live without the law would be sent to Coventry, where no law exists, there to survive as best they can.