In what prison advocates are heralding as a critical victory, the top corrections official in Mississippi announced this week that HIV-positive inmates will be allowed to attend educational and vocational programs.
Mississippi and Alabama are the last states in the country to segregate HIV-positive inmates in housing and programs; South Carolina prisons have segregated housing.
The plan approved this week in Mississippi calls for several changes, including: inmates with HIV will be gradually integrated into education and vocational programs; prison staff and inmates affected by the integration will be immediately trained on HIV transmission, treatment and prevention; and all inmates and staff will receive training on HIV issues in the next two years.
Currently, male HIV-positive inmates in the state can't enroll in any of the 15 vocational programs, and female inmates are allowed to attend only one in five programs. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, 1.2 % of Mississippi's prison population is HIV positive. As of January, there were 218 HIV-positive inmates: 172 Black males, 21 white males, 21 Black females and 4 white females.
"This is a huge step forward," said Margaret Winter, associate director of the ACLU's National Prison Project. "For years, we've been fighting for basic equality for prisoners with HIV. Access to programs in Mississippi is just one piece of this—but it will markedly improve inmates' lives."
Advocates have argued that the segregation of HIV-positive inmates adds time on to their sentences and hinders their ability to readjust to the outside world because they are barred from prison programs that would help them.
Recent studies indicate that many inmates are infected with HIV and other STDs while incarcerated as a result of rape. Estimates indicate that one in five of the country's 2 million male prisoners have been forced into some kind of sexual contact, and one in 15 has been raped. — Karen Hawkins