Texas Gov. Rick Perry takes great pleasure in sticking in the eyes of federal officials.

Take his latest rant against a rule handed down by the U.S. Department of Justice. Perry has informed Attorney General Eric Holder he has no intention of enforcing federal rules designed to prevent rape in prisons.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/01/rick-perry-orders-texas-prisons-not-to-follow-federal-rape-prevention-law/#.Uzv9lfNOU2M.facebook

President George W. Bush signed the Prison Rape Elimination Act in 2003. The rules apparently prevent “cross-gender viewing” of inmates. Gov. Perry said in his letter that the rule is impossible to enforce since 40 percent of all Texas Department of Criminal Justice security officers are female. How would the state prevent those officers from observing male inmates? Good question.

He goes on to say that the federal rules infringe on states’ responsibility to set their own security standards. What’s more, according to rawstory.com, “The governor also complained that the law ‘infringes on Texas’ right to establish the state’s own age of criminal responsibility’ by mandating that inmates 17 years old and younger be separated from adults. And he said ‘specific staffing ratios for juvenile detention facilities’ were unreasonably high.”

I’m not quite sure how to interpret the governor’s objection to the federal rule requiring children to be separated from adult prisoners. Haven’t the feds set a reasonable standard?

This is another of those state-vs.-the-feds arguments that crops up so often, especially where it regards Republican governors bucking mandates handed down by Democratic federal officials.

PREA’s creation came over the signature of a Republican president. However, this really isn’t — or should be — a political issue. It’s related instead to protecting prisoners who are brutalized by other prisoners. Since states take it upon themselves to incarcerate these individuals, they also take on the responsibility of protecting them against others who would harm them.

Isn’t it part of governing that enables federal authorities to enact rules aimed at encouraging states to do what’s right? Protecting prison inmates from rape is the right thing to do.