Testimony of Stephen Donaldson -- president, Stop Prisoner Rape
April 1, 1996
20 JUDGE SLOVITER: Next witness.
21 MS. HEINS: Good morning, your Honors. I'm Marjorie
22 Heins, one of the attorneys representing the ACLU plaintiffs
23 and our next witness is Stephen Donaldson. He's the
24 president of Stop Prisoner Rape.
25 (Pause.)
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1 MS. HEINS: Mr. Donaldson's direct testimony
2 declaration was signed on March 17th and filed with the Court
3 on March 28th and at this point I would move it into
4 evidence.
5 JUDGE SLOVITER: Do you have any objection?
6 MR. COPPOLINO: No objections, your Honor.
7 JUDGE SLOVITER: Okay, it's accepted, received.
8 MR. COPPOLINO: Your Honor, if I may introduce to
9 the Court my colleague, Mary Kustel, who will be handling the
10 cross-examination of this witness. Thank you.
11 THE COURT CLERK: Mr. Donaldson, would you please
12 stand and raise your right hand?
13 STEPHEN DONALDSON, Plaintiffs' Witness, Sworn.
14 THE COURT CLERK: Thank you, please be seated.
15 State and spell your name.
16 THE WITNESS: Stephen Donaldson, S-t-e-p-h-e-n
17 D-o-n-a-l-d-s-o-n.
18 JUDGE DALZELL: Proceed.
19 MS. KUSTEL: Good afternoon, your Honors.
20 CROSS-EXAMINATION
21 BY MS. KUSTEL:
22 Q Good afternoon, Mr. Donaldson. You are the president of
23 Stop Prisoner Rape, correct?
24 A That is correct.
25 Q And Stop Prisoner Rape is a non-profit organization
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1 committed to combating prison rape, is that correct?
2 A That is correct.
3 Q It also is committed to providing assistance to the
4 victims of prisoner rape, correct?
5 A Yes.
6 Q You are concerned that Stop Prisoner Rape might be
7 prosecuted under the Communications Decency Act for material
8 that it posts on its web site, correct?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Stop Prisoner Rape posts material on its Website that
11 discusses prisoner rape, correct?
12 A Yes.
13 Q And it often discusses that topic in graphic detail,
14 correct?
15 A We include on our site discussion in graphic detail, not
16 necessarily originated by us but often by prisoners, former
17 prisoners.
18 Q But there is material on your site that is discussing
19 prisoner rape in graphic detail, correct?
20 A Yes.
21 Q And would you also describe some of the language in the
22 material on your site as street language?
23 A Yes, yes. Prisoners in particular are not educated in
24 Latin and tend to use Anglo-Saxon English.
25 Q One of the purposes of Stop Prisoner Rape's Website is to
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1 educate the public about the phenomenon of prisoner rape, is
2 that right?
3 A That's correct.
4 Q And among the things that the Website does is to provide
5 data about prisoner rape, is that correct?
6 A That's correct.
7 Q And it also provides a forum for the victims of prisoner
8 rape to discuss their recollections and experiences, correct?
9 A Yes.
10 Q And it also provides information about the spreading of
11 AIDS as a result of prison rape, is that correct?
12 A Yes, and prevention of the spreading of AIDS.
13 Q For example, could you please turn to Exhibit Number 145
14 in the Defendants' Exhibits Volume 3?
15 A I'm not sure which of these volumes Defendant's...
16 MS. KUSTEL: May I approach the witness to help him?
17 JUDGE DALZELL: Yes, you may.
18 JUDGE SLOVITER: Sure.
19 THE WITNESS: 143?
20 BY MS. KUSTEL:
21 Q 145.
22 A 145?
23 Q Yes, 145.
24 A Yes.
25 Q Do you recognize this as the hard copy of some material
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1 that appears on the Stop Prisoner Rape Website?
2 A AIDS advice for the prisoner rape survivor, right.
3 Q And you recognize it as something that appears on the
4 Website, correct?
5 A That is correct.
6 Q You're concerned that Stop Prisoner Rape might be
7 prosecuted under the Act for posting this on its Website,
8 correct?
9 A Yes.
10 Q And Stop Prisoner Rape's purpose in posting this material
11 on its Website is to give practical advice to potential
12 prisoner rape victims, correct?
13 A That is part of the purpose. Another part of the purpose
14 is to educate professionals who must deal with these issues
15 as to what the reality of the situation is and for that
16 purpose we have in effect given them a copy of the advice
17 that we give to prisoners directly.
18 Q So, the purpose, Stop Prisoner Rape's purpose is both to
19 give advice to potential victims and to educate professionals
20 and other people?
21 A Right, also to provide support for those who have already
22 become victims.
23 Q Would you characterize the material in this exhibit as
24 using street language?
25 A Yes, I counted 11 instances of language that might be
98
1 considered objectionable by some people.
2 Q And you would characterize it as street language?
3 A Yes; Anglo-Saxon English, in other words.
4 Q Stop Prisoner Rape's purpose in using street language in
5 this exhibit is to educate people who might not otherwise
6 understand other language, is that correct?
7 A Yes. Since the document concerned was written for
8 prisoners we have had to write it in language that even
9 uneducated prisoners, some of whom can even barely read,
10 would understand.
11 Q Does Stop Prisoner Rape also post statistics concerning
12 prisoner rape on its Website?
13 A Yes, we have a statistical report now in its seventh
14 edition.
15 Q Could you please turn to Exhibit 138? Is this one of the
16 statistical reports that Stop Prisoner Rape posts on its
17 Website?
18 A Correct, it's called "Rape of Incarcerated Americans, a
19 Preliminary Statistical Look."
20 Q Thank you. Could you please turn also to Exhibit 143?
21 Do you recognize this as material that is posted on the Stop
22 Prisoner Rape's Website as well?
23 A Yes, this is the program statement on sexual assault
24 prevention intervention programs by the Federal Bureau of
25 Prisons.
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1 Q Stop Prisoner Rape has a person its board of directors
2 that's responsible for maintaining the Website, correct?
3 A That is correct.
4 Q That person is Ellen Spertus?
5 A Ellen Spertus, and her title is Webmaster.
6 Q Ms. Spertus is a doctoral candidate in computer science
7 at MIT, correct?
8 A That is correct.
9 Q Would you agree that she's very knowledgeable about
10 computers?
11 A Yes, I would.
12 Q Do you know if Ms. Spertus knows HTML or hypertext mark-
13 up language?
14 A She does.
15 MS. KUSTEL: Your Honors, may I have a moment to
16 confer with counsel?
17 JUDGE DALZELL: Yes.
18 (Pause.)
19 MS. KUSTEL: Thank you, Mr. Donaldson. I have no
20 further questions.
21 JUDGE SLOVITER: Thank you.
22 MS. HEINS: Nothing -- no redirect at this time.
23 JUDGE SLOVITER: Okay. Does the Court...
24 JUDGE DALZELL: No.
25 JUDGE BUCKWALTER: I don't believe I do, thank you.
100
1 JUDGE SLOVITER: Okay, I don't. Thank you very
2 much.
3 THE WITNESS: Thank you very much.
4 (Witness excused.)
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