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| Court: Miss. must allow inmates with HIV into work programs |
| By Jackson Clarion Ledger |
| Published: 06/18/2004 |
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The American Civil Liberties Union is applauding a federal court order directing the Mississippi Department of Corrections to allow HIV-positive prisoners to participate in the system's community work programs. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerry A. Davis issued his decision last week. Margaret Winter, associate director of the ACLU's National Prison Project and lead counsel for the prisoners, Thursday described Davis' ruling as a "wonderful victory." The state's HIV-positive prisoners, about 220 in all, have been housed separately from the rest of the prison population, Winters said. About 190 of the inmates are male and are housed in Unit 28 at the state penitentiary in Parchman, while about 30 HIV-positive women are held at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County. Under Davis' ruling, the prisoners can qualify to transfer to lower security community work centers throughout the state. Winters said she hopes the prisoners will begin requesting the transfers immediately. "They are to be admitted to those facilities on the same basis as prisoners who don't have HIV," she said. "Whatever the eligibility qualifications are, if they meet them, they'll be admitted on the very same basis." Winters said the decision came at the end of a 14-year battle to obtain equal treatment for HIV-positive prisoners in Mississippi. |
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