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

South Carolina is the only US state that maintains an absolute prohibition on access to workrelease for prisoners with HIV.Segregation policies reflect outdated approaches to HIV that no longer have any rationalbasis in science or public policy. In the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, fear andignorance led to severely restrictive public policies, including quarantine and segregation inprisons. In 1985, for example, 46 of 51 state and federal prison systems segregated HIVpositiveprisoners. As science and societal attitudes evolved, however, prison officialseliminated these policies. By 1994, only six prison systems had segregation policies, and by2005, that number was down to the three states examined in this report. Today, integrationof prisoners with HIV into the general population is the national norm and representsgenerally accepted best practice in correctional health.Segregation of prisoners living with HIV without basis in science or public policy cannot bejustified under human rights treaties ratified by the United States. Discrimination againstprisoners with HIV not only violates human rights law but contravenes international and USguidelines for management of HIV in prisons. Moreover, additional violations of humanrights flow from the fact of segregation and compound the harsh consequences of this policyfor HIV-positive prisoners: involuntary disclosure of HIV status to family, staff and otherprisoners; loss of liberty by assignment to higher security prisons; denial of work, programand re-entry opportunities; and policies that promote, rather than combat, fear, prejudiceand even violence against persons living with HIV. These and other conditions documentedin this report go well beyond discrimination. Viewed cumulatively, conditions for HIVpositiveprisoners in Alabama and South Carolina constitute cruel, inhuman and degradingtreatment of prisoners.This report is a collaborative effort by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil LibertiesUnion National Prison Project (ACLU-NPP). The project was, to a great degree, informed bythe extraordinary history of the ACLU-NPP in advocating for the rights of HIV-positiveprisoners in these states for more than two decades. Throughout that time, HIV segregationpolicies have been controversial, contested, and intertwined with other fundamental issuesof human and civil rights, including the right to adequate medical care and humane livingconditions. For this report, Human Rights Watch, ACLU-NPP, and local ACLU affiliatesconducted interviews of current and recently released prisoners in order to document thecontemporary impact of continued housing segregation and ongoing inequality in access tojobs, programs, and work release opportunities. Human Rights Watch also interviewedHIV/AIDS service organizations providing education and counseling services inside theprisons, and community leaders, legislators, and others engaged in HIV policy issues in theSentenced to Stigma 2