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| Miss., Vt. give condoms to married inmates |
| By Clarion Ledger |
| Published: 06/20/2005 |
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Mississippi and Vermont are the only states in the nation to dispense condoms to inmates, and now a California lawmaker wants his state to be the third in the nation. Mississippi's policy recently was cited by a California lawmaker offering a bill that calls for condom distribution to California inmates to help lower the risk of contracting HIV. The bill recently passed the California Assembly and awaits Senate action. The Mississippi Department of Corrections began the policy in 1992. "The big complaint (from lawmakers) was that people in prison were starting families. We thought it would discourage that," House Corrections Chairman Bennett Malone, D-Carthage, said. "Automatically they (the children) go on welfare and Medicaid. If we stop one or two we've done quite a bit. Too many (prisoners) had babies." Malone said the policy also came about because of concerns to curb the spread of HIV. "I don't know if it helped or not. You never know." There were 230 HIV cases on average for the last three years in Mississippi's prison system, MDOC reports. Statewide, the number of new HIV disease cases was 623 in 2002, 625 in 2003 and 607 in 2004, according to the state Department of Health. "Worldwide research demonstrates that condoms are one of the best methods for prevention of sexually transmitted diseases," Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said. Epps said his agency is "committed to offering and promoting sensible health principles to the state inmates and to their spouses." With conjugal visits allowed, "we don't have problems with rapes and gang rapes," Epps said. "I see this as the right thing to do," he said of the limited distribution of condoms to some prisoners. MDOC houses about 20,000 inmates, so the condom distribution is only for a small portion of them. The policy applies to inmates at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County and the South Mississippi Institution in Greene County. Epps said condoms are distributed free for conjugal visits to married inmates. MDOC verifies marital status and the spouse's identification with the inmate's home county, Epps said. Condoms are not provided to control the spread of HIV within a prison, Epps said. "We keep HIV offenders separate," he said. Former Mississippi inmate Angela Dickerson, 40, said she appreciated that condoms were available in the room when she had conjugal visits with her husband, then an inmate at the South Mississippi Correctional Institution. "It makes sense, without a doubt," said Dickerson, who works at the Friendship Connection, a drug and alcoholic treatment center in Jackson for mostly female ex-offenders. Having condoms available at conjugal visits can prevent pregnancies, she said. It also can be a factor in preventing the spread of HIV, said Dickerson, who served 14 months in prison. The Health Department and MDOC have collaborated since the mid-1980s when prisoners began getting HIV and syphilis tests upon entering the prison system, said Jim Craig, director of health protection at the Health Department. Vermont began its policy 10 years ago to address the spread of HIV and other health issues, said John Perry, director of planning with the Vermont Department of Corrections. Inmates must request a condom, he said. After a decade of distributing condoms, "I can't say if it is effective or not," Perry said. "I don't know if it has been successful." Perry said he didn't know how many condoms have been distributed over the years or the cost. Jail systems in some large cities, such as New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, also distribute condoms. The California bill would allow nonprofit and public health-care agencies to distribute condoms to help lower the HIV infection rate. California prisons now house 162,000 prisoners who are at high risk of contracting HIV, according to Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, who introduced the bill. |
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