Megan McLemore
Published: 2010
Total Pages: 58
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This report focuses on the practice of segregating prisoners who are HIV-positive from the rest of the prison population in Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi. When prisoners with HIV are segregated, they are forced to forfeit many of their rights, while at the same time they are subject to an atmosphere of prejudice, stigma and hostility from staff and other prisoners. Prisoners in the HIV units are forced to wear armbands or other indicators of their HIV status, are forced to eat and even worship separately, and are denied equal participation in prison jobs, programs, and re-entry opportunities that facilitate their transition back into society. Taken together, these conditions constitute inhuman and degrading treatment in violation of international law. After reviewing the findings of this report, Mississippi agreed to end its long-standing policy of segregation. Now, only in two states, Alabama and South Carolina, do prison officials systematically isolate, marginalize and exclude this population without medical justification.