26-h-2 Statutory Rights

• Library: A Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual (2020 Edition)

26-H-2. Statutory Rights

Certain laws protect you from forms of discrimination based on disabilities, including HIV status. The Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ("FRA") prohibits discrimination, or denial of programs or benefits based on disability, by a federal, state, or local government agency, or any recipient of federal funding.¹⁶⁷ Similarly, the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") prohibits public and private entities from discriminating, excluding, or denying services, programs, or activities to a person with a disability.¹⁶⁸ These laws recognize TB and HIV infection as a form of disability because they are physical impairments limiting major life activities.¹⁶⁹ Also, in Bragdon v. Abbott, the Supreme Court clearly stated that under the ADA, "HIV infection satisfies the ... definition of a physical impairment during every stage of the disease."¹⁷⁰

Although HIV is viewed as a disability according to the FRA and the ADA, your rights are limited to some extent if:

(1) your HIV infection poses a significant risk to the health or safety of others; or

(2) it would be an undue hardship on the prison facility to accommodate your needs.¹⁷¹ Also, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided that individuals cannot recover monetary damages from the state for its failure to comply with the ADA.¹⁷² However, you can still seek injunctive relief, which means that you can file a claim in which you ask the court to require the state to end practices that violate the ADA.¹⁷³

If you are suing for violation of your statutory rights, you should cite both the FRA and the ADA, since the remedies, procedures, and rights are the same under both laws.¹⁷⁴ The only difference is the FRA only applies to public (government) entities while the ADA can support a claim against both private and public...