SC prison system braces for federal lawsuit on policy of housing HIV inmates separately

SC prisons brace for lawsuit over inmates with HIV

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina prison officials say they have no plans to stop segregating HIV-positive inmates despite the threat of a lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Department.

The state faces a Wednesday deadline to change the practice, which prison officials say is best for inmates and prison employees.

The state Corrections Department says prisons and employees are safer because of the program.

But a report issued earlier this year by the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch criticized both Alabama and South Carolina, the only two states that segregate HIV-positive inmates.

The report argued they don’t have access to the same programs and jobs as other prisoners and are wrongly stigmatized.