Sentenced to Stigma: Segregation of HIV-Positive Prisoners - AL.com

Prisoners with HIV in South Carolina are ineligible for other jobs classified as “special” andreserved for prisoners with good behavior and low security status, e.g. bloodhound detailand in-prison construction crews. In South Carolina, no prisoners with HIV are eligible towork at the Director’s residence. These are elite jobs that permit prisoners to accruesignificant “earned work credits” that can apply toward early release from prison. 99 Denial ofaccess to these jobs is categorical and purely discriminatory, with no attempt to assess anindividual’s health status or ability to perform the work.In Mississippi the access of HIV-positive prisoners to in-prison jobs is limited. Jobs in thekitchen, barbershop, selected prison industries such as textiles and carpentry, andadministrative offices are not open to prisoners from the HIV/AIDS units. The primary jobavailable is ground crew, which involves cleaning up and cutting the grass around unit 29.Such severe restriction of work opportunities is discriminatory and contradicts Mississippi’sstated policy promoting rehabilitation and to “assist all offenders in becoming productive,law-abiding citizens.” 100Barring prisoners with HIV from jobs promotes fear, stigma and discrimination. There is, forexample, no health-related justification for prohibiting prisoners with HIV from working inthe barbershop. Indeed, the US Department of Justice has recently issued guidelinesclarifying that such a prohibition outside of prison violates the Americans with DisabilitiesAct. 101 It is no coincidence that in Mississippi, prisoner barbers display negative attitudestoward prisoners from the HIV-segregated units. Michael G. told us, “The prisoners who cutour hair are real quick about it and don’t want to give us real haircuts.” 102Commissioner Epps has assured Human Rights Watch and the ACLU-NPP that underMississippi’s new policy, HIV-positive prisoners will be eligible on an equal basis for all inprisonjobs including the kitchen and the barbershop. 10399 Human Rights Watch interview with David Tatarsky, General Counsel, South Carolina Department of Corrections, September21, 2009; South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 24, Section 24-13-230.100 Mission Statement, Mississippi Department of Corrections website, www.mdoc.state.ms.us (accessed November 24, 2009.)101 US Department of Justice, “Questions and Answers: Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rights of Persons withHIV/AIDS to Occupational Licensing and Training, July 2009, http://www.ada.gov/qahivaids_license.htm (accessed November24, 2009).102 ACLU of Mississippi interview with Michael G., Mississippi State Penitentiary, Parchman, Mississippi, September 10, 2009.103 Email communication between Human Rights Watch/ACLU-NPP and Commissioner Christopher Epps dated March 16, 2010.Sentenced to Stigma 34