The Management of AIDS in Correctional Facilities: A View from the Federal Court System

• Date: 01 October 1989
• DOI: 10.1177/003288558906900204
• Author: J. Michael Olivero,James B. Roberts
• Published date: 01 October 1989
• Subject Matter: Articles

7

The

Management

of

AIDS

in

Correctional

Facilities:

A

View

from

the

Federal

Court

System

J.

Michael

Olivero

and

James

B.

Roberts*

Introduction

The

issue

of

prisoners

with

Acquired

Immunity

Deficiency

Syndrome

(AIDS),

AIDS

Related

Complex

(ARC),

and

HTLV-III

seroposivity

raises

complex

managerial

issues

for

correctional

administrators.

Officials

are

faced

with

protecting

the

rights

of

infected

prisoners

against

the

rights

of

noninfected

prisoners

and

prison

personnel.

For

example,

a

recent

study

found

that

both

correctional

officers

and

prisoners

alike

exert

pressure

concerning

the

management

of

infected

prisoners

out

of

fear

of

&dquo;catching&dquo;

AIDS

(Hammet,

1986).’

However,

it

is

the

courts

that

ultimately

enforce

their

will

upon

correctional

administrators

concerning

policies

for

the

management

and

prevention

of

AIDS.

As

administrators

develop

policies

for

the

management

and

prevention

of

AIDS,

these

laws

will

undoubtedly

be

challenged

for

legality

in

the

courts.

This

paper

examines

the

challenges

that

have

reached

the

federal

courts

concerning

AIDS

in

correctional

facilities.

Litigation

has

primarily

centered

upon

derivations

of

policies

concerning

the

testing

of

prisoners

for

exposure

to

the

AIDS

virus

and

segregation

of

HIV

positive

prisoners.2

2

Segregation

Correctional

systems

commonly

segregate

prisoners

who

are

diagnosed

as

having

AIDS

or

ARC.

The

Federal

Bureau

of

Prisons

transfers

male

inmates

with

AIDS

or

ARC

to

the

Medical

Center

for

Federal

Prisoners

in

Springfield,

Missouri.

Female

prisoners

suffering

the

same

condition

are

sent

to

the

medical

center

at

the

Federal

Correctional

Institute

in

Lexington,

Kentucky.

Half

of

all

state

systems

segregate

inmates

with

AIDS

or

ARC

(Vaid,

1987).

Segregation

of

Infected

Prisoners

In

1984,

AIDS

infected

prisoners

sued

administrators

of

the

N.Y.

State

Depart-

ment

of

Corrections

because

of

their

segregation

from

the

general

population

and

the

deprivations

caused

by

segregated

confinement.

The

Court

affirmed

their

segregation

and

the

nature

of

segregation,

basing

their

support

upon

the

belief

that

&dquo;there

is

a

legiti-

mate

government

end

and

the

means

used

are

rationally

related

to

that

end&dquo;

(Cordero

v.

Coughlin,

1984:10).

The

Court

did

not

find

discrimination

against

prisoners

with

AIDS.

They

were

not

seen

as

being

similarly

situated

to

other

prisoners

and

therefore

had

no

right

to

equal

treatment.3

Prison

officials

could

not

be

compelled

to

provide

prisoners

with

AIDS

identical

privileges

available

to

other

inmates.

This

opinion

was

based

upon

a

Supreme

Court

ruling

that

the

&dquo;transfer

of

an

inmate

to

less

amenable

and

more

restrictive

quarters

for

nonpunitive

reasons

is

well

within

the

terms

of

confinement

ordinarily

contemplated

by

a

prison

sentence&dquo;

(Cordero

v.

Coughlin,

1984 :10).4

Prison

*J.

Michael

Olivero

is

assistant

professor

in

the

Department

of

Criminal

Justice,

University

of

Texas-Pan

American

University,

Edinburg.

James

B.

Roberts

is

staff

attorney,

Legal

Clinic,

Southern

Illinois

University

Law

School,Carbondale.