Just Detention International

Just Detention International (JDI), a health and human rights organization headquartered in Los Angeles, is the only organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to ending sexual abuse in detention. JDI also has offices in Washington, D.C., and Johannesburg, South Africa.

JDI was founded in 1980 by Russell Dan Smith as People Organized to Stop the Rape of Imprisoned Persons (POSRIP) and was soon renamed Stop Prisoner Rape. In 2008, the organization changed its name to Just Detention International, in recognition of its work in all forms of detention and beyond the United States. Two of the organization’s early leaders were Tom Cahill and Stephen Donaldson (also known as “Donny the Punk”).

Like many of the people involved in the beginning days of the organization, Smith, Cahill, and Donaldson were all survivors of rape behind bars. Donaldson died in 1996 as a result of AIDS, having contracted HIV during a sexual assault in jail.

Lovisa Stannow, an experienced human rights advocate and former journalist, joined JDI’s Board of Directors in 2002 and became its Executive Director in 2005. David Kaiser, a writer, joined JDI’s Board of Directors in 2003 and has served as its Chair since 2007.

Just Detention International (JDI) is a health and human rights organization that seeks to end sexual abuse in all forms form of detention. JDI has three core goals for its work: to hold government officials accountable for prisoner rape; to promote public attitudes that value the health and safety of inmates; and to ensure that survivors of sexual abuse behind bars get the help they need.

JDI submitted an amicus brief for the groundbreaking Supreme Court case on prisoner rape, Farmer v. Brennan In Farmer v. Brennan, for the first time, the court recognized that prisoner rape can amount to cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

After launching its website, JDI litigated to protect its content. In April 1996, Donaldson testified on JDI’s behalf in the case ACLU v. Reno, which challenged the constitutionality of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). The act, which sought to create standards for “decency” for content posted on the Internet, was opposed by JDI because it would have restricted access to the explicit accounts of rape posted on the organization’s website. The Supreme Court declared the CDA unconstitutional in June 1997.

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