GOV. PERRY WILL NOT ENFORCE FEDERAL PRISON MANDATE

  

Gov. Rick Perry is in the final months of his lengthy tenure as the state’s chief executive but he is not going quietly.

In his latest defiant pushback against mandates from the nation’s capital, the  governor says he will not comply with a law designed to curb prison rapes,  a statute signed by then Governor George W. Bush.

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Perry accused the Obama Administration of enacting rules for the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 that Texas cannot afford to enforce the act.

Failure to comply with the federal law carries possible penalties, including the loss of grant funding for justice programs, and potential litigation.  However, state and federal officials said Monday, they did not expect Perry’s refusal to trigger action against Texas anytime soon.