Testimony to House Judiciary Criminal Law Committee on Condoms in Prisons

March 15, 2007
Springfield, IL

The U.S. Department of Justice found that in 2005 the AIDS rate among U.S. prisoners was three times that of the general population. Given this fact, there has been and continues to be speculation that prisons are a breeding ground for HIV infection because some of the prisoners are engaging in unsafe sex with each other, with some of the correctional staff, and drug injection practices while “on the inside."

It is mind boggling to conceive that there are 2.13 million prisoners in American’s prisons; 41% are African-American males.

Once released from prison, individuals with high risk factors for HIV will return to African-American communities seeking to reunite into the social fiber of society; which explains a substantial share of the disparity in HIV/AIDS among heterosexual African-American women.

Nevertheless, HIV risk-reduction interventions, such as access to condoms, are not available to the vast majority of prisoners. Policies on HIV testing and education vary widely between states and facilities.

Condoms are banned or unavailable in 95% of the country’s prisons; only the state prison systems of Mississippi and Vermont make them available, as do the county jail systems of Philadelphia, New York City, Washington D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Despite evidence showing that the proper and consistent use of condoms greatly reduces HIV risk, the issue continues to be highly politicized, particularly in the correctional context.

In September 2006, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation that would have allowed nonprofits and public health agencies to distribute condoms to prisoners.

The State of Illinois also remains steadfast in its stubbornness to act outside of their conservative point of view, which sends a strong indication that the African-American community is such a disenfranchised population in the State of Illinois that politicians would rather be politically correct about not providing condoms in the prison system, than to be politically responsible for the well being of the general population.

• Of the reported 31,376 people living with HIV/AIDS in Illinois, 16,166 are African American.

The African-American communities are in dire need of action, we can not sit idly by and allow politicians to waste precious time playing politic with the lives that they were elected to represent and protect.

But whose interest are the politicians really representing? When they allow tens of thousands identified as being high risk for HIV (the prison population) go without access to a simple and harmless life-saving device to prevent a direct collision with the catastrophe of HIV/AIDS?

As a Reverend, I understand the mentality of those who feel that to allow condoms in the prison system is to condone behavior that may go against your moral standards. However, this is not about you! This is about addressing a dangerous, life-threatening situation that exists among us despite your personal moral point of view.

Therefore, I respectfully request that you remove yourself from the equation and allow your personal feeling to take a back seat in your rationale. The only thing that should be of any interest to you is all of the innocent lives that will be caught up in the human drama of HIV/AIDS if you fail to address this matter appropriately.

Yes! I hear the cry of those that oppose the legislation for condoms in prisons; but it’s no different from the cry of those that opposed seatbelt legislation. Nevertheless, your rationale for the public safety overwhelmed the cry of the public emotion.

You passed a law into existence without concern for what a person may do to cause an accident, but rather, if an accident should occur, a safety device would be available to protect those involved.

In that spirit, I strand before you and pray that you use the same rational approach to allow prisoner access to the safety devices of condoms, just in case they decide to drive recklessly and destroy the life of an innocent passenger.

This is not rocket science that we are dealing with, ladies and gentlemen; in fact, it is a no brainer.

Either we properly and intelligently address this social threat on the inside of the prisons or suffer the consequence on the outside in society.

Thank you,

Rev. Doris Green
AIDS Foundation of Chicago

Chicago Tribune article

Chicagoist.com article

Condom Bill Factsheet

IL Dept. of Corrections HIV Testing Statistics

Corrections Information