Mississippi Stops Segregating Prisoners With HIV

Jackson -- The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) has agreed to end the segregation of prisoners with HIV, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said today. This longstanding discriminatory policy, reversed after two decades of advocacy by the ACLU, Human Rights Watch, and others, prevented prisoners from accessing key resources that facilitate their successful transition back into the community.

The decision by Mississippi's corrections commissioner Christopher Epps, prompted by recent advocacy by the ACLU and Human Rights Watch, leaves Alabama and South Carolina as the only states in the nation that segregate prisoners based on their HIV status. Epps made the decision ahead of a forthcoming report by the ACLU and Human Rights Watch analyzing the harmful impact segregation policies have had in the three states.