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Andrew Auernheimer (aka. weev) is reported to have said last Friday:

"Did you know they have special laws to protect kid-fuckers in federal prison?” Andrew Auernheimer asked me with a grin on his face. “I can't hit them, it's a five year felony if I do. We're not held to the same standard because the feds protect kid-fuckers, and don’t want them to have a bad time in prison.”

Are there laws especially designed to protect incarcerated pedophiles in the US, which do not apply to other inmates?

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    Pedophile child sexual abuse offenders in particular, or all child sexual abuse offenders?
    – unor
    Apr 15, 2014 at 15:11
  • @unor I don't believe that distinction would change the answer.
    – user5582
    Apr 15, 2014 at 18:47

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Every state has criminal laws prohibiting assault and battery. Also, a physical assault also opens the attacker to a civil suit. (A Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual - Chapter 24: Your right to be free from assault by prison guards and other prisoners from the Columbia Human Rights Law Review)

The prison also assumes liability if a foreseeable threat is allowed to persist. (ibid. at footnote 24)

Prisons tend to place child molesters into protective custody (http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90004&page=2):

so child molesters and high-profile killers both tend to be given protective custody unless they're deemed tough or discreet enough to get along in the general population.

This isn't because of any "special law", but as a result of the standard-of-care owed to prisoners.

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