In Alabama, people in the visiting room recognize the armband worn by John S. and ask him if he has HIV. In South Carolina, Ronald B. was sentenced to 90 days in jail, but because he is HIV-positive he went to the maximum security prison that houses death row prisoners. In Mississippi, guards tell prisoners in the segregated HIV unit to “get your sick asses out of the way” when they pass them in the hall. Many prisoners with HIV will spend more time in prison because they are not eligible for programs that promote early release. These are some of the harsh consequences of HIV policies in Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi, the only three states in the nation that have continued to segregate prisoners living with HIV. In March 2010, after reviewing the findings in this report, the Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections decided to terminate the segregation policy. The segregation and discrimination against HIV-positive prisoners continues to this day in Alabama and South Carolina, and constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in violation of international law.
Related Issues
-
AlabamaSep 2013
Smart Justice
+3 Issues
Henderson et al. v. Thomas et al.Henderson et al. v. Thomas et al.
A federal judge has ruled that the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) can no longer discriminate against prisoners living with HIV by housing them separately from all other prisoners and categorically denying them equal access to prison rehabilitative programs, according to a landmark decision in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU National Prison Project, the AIDS Project, and the ACLU of Alabama. This ruling paves the way for prisoners living with HIV to have access to needed and appropriate services, and to the classes and training available to other prisoners. -
Press ReleaseJul 2013
Prisoners' Rights
Disability Rights
South Carolina Becomes Final State to End Segregation of Prisoners With HIVSouth Carolina Becomes Final State to End Segregation of Prisoners With HIV
Announcement Marks Culmination of Quarter-Century ACLU Campaign to End Discriminatory and Arbitrary Practice July 10, 2013 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org CHARLESTON, S.C. – The South Carolina Department of Corrections confirmed today that it is abolishing its policy of segregating HIV-positive prisoners, making South Carolina the final state to do so. Segregating prisoners with HIV keeps those prisoners from accessing valuable services and programs they desperately need, permanently brands them by publicly "outing" their HIV status, and can lead to longer incarceration terms, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU has been working for the last 26 years to end the practice of segregating prisoners with HIV nationwide. "HIV ghettos became a shameful fixture in U.S. prisons during the earliest days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, especially in the Deep South," said Margaret Winter, associate director of the ACLU National Prison Project. "Today, South Carolina closes a discriminatory chapter in U.S. history, one that was driven by ignorance, fear, and bias." For decades, HIV-positive prisoners in South Carolina have been subjected to a policy which required isolation and segregation, and forced prisoners to involuntarily disclose their health status in violation of medical ethics and international human rights law. Prisoners living with HIV were barred from equal access to many in-prison jobs and programs, including a host of rehabilitative, educational, trade skills and vocational programs. Those with serious mental health needs and substance abuse problems were excluded from critically important treatment programs. "Ending a long outdated policy that stigmatized human beings and ignored modern medical information is a tremendous victory for human rights," said Susan K. Dunn, legal director of the ACLU of South Carolina. "While the segregation of HIV-positive prisoners has long been an unnecessary and ineffective tool for preventing the transmission of HIV, it has had the profound effect of humiliating and isolating prisoners living with the disease." South Carolina's decision to end its segregation policy is a milestone in the ACLU's campaign to end HIV segregation in the Deep South, through litigation, negotiation, and public education. In 2010, Mississippi completely abandoned HIV segregation under pressure of a scathing report by the ACLU and Human Rights Watch, and in December 2012 in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU, a federal court ruled that Alabama’s HIV segregation policy violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. When most prison systems began to experiment with HIV segregation, transmission risks were not fully understood. There was no effective treatment for the disease, and people with HIV were treated like pariahs. Today, however, the Center for Disease Control opposes HIV segregation as irrational and counterproductive, and as of today every state in the nation has repudiated HIV segregation.