Shame! Gov. Brown Vetoes Bll Allowing Condoms In Prison

There is bad news to report today on the status of the progressive goal to improve the lives and health of people in locked facilities in California.

Governor Jerry Brown has finally completed his work on the 900+ bills the Democratic super majority in the California legislature sent him this session. He has taken some action that progressives applaud and some that we can only shake our head at and wonder "What was he thinking?"

Overall, the Governor vetoed 96 bills in total and signed into law 805.

However, some of his more controversial legislative actions took place at the end, which occurred this weekend. On Saturday October 12th, Governor Brown vetoed AB 999 (Prisoner Protections for Family and Community Health Act) which would have eventually allowed condoms in state prisons. The Governor's Office released his veto message:

To The Members of the California State Assembly: 

I am returning Assembly Member Bill 999 without my signature. 

This bill would require the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to develop a plan to expand the availability of condoms to all California prisons. 

The Department currently allows family visitors to bring condoms for the purpose of the family overnight visitation program. While expansion of this program may be warranted, the Department should evaluate and implement this expansion carefully and within its existing authority.  

Sincerely 

Edmund G. Brown, Jr

This is disappointing news. As readers of the blog may know, I have been on the board of directors of the Center for Health Justice for years. Health Justice has the mission to eliminate disparities between prisoner health and public health and one way it does this is by distribution of condoms in Los Angeles County jails.

The point of the legislation was to give CDCR the authority (and political cover) to consider the availability of condoms in prisons (we're talking about a condom machine, people). This is because people in prison have sex with each other, and people who are in prison often have sexually transmitted infections. Officially, sex between prisoners is against the law, so making condoms available is viewed by some as an enticement to break the law. Most public health advocates strongly support actions that will "reduce harm" and they agree that increased access to condoms in locked facilities will improve the health of prisoners (and the public) and will not reduce safety for those who work in locked facilities.

It is unfortunate Gov. Brown had to use AB 999 as an example to show less progressive members of the political spectrum his conservative bona fides. He now joins his predecessor, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in vetoing a measure that would have allowed condoms in prison.

Shame on you, Governor!

HIV Rate in Prison 2.5 Times General Population

I just received this interesting press release about a new Department of Justice report (pdf) which says that the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in state and federal prisons is roughly 150% greater than in the rest of the population:

WASHINGTON – On December 31, 2008, a reported 20,449 state prisoners and 1,538 federal prisoners were HIV positive or had confirmed AIDS, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, announced today. At yearend 2008, an estimated 5,733 inmates in state and federal prisons had confirmed AIDS, down from 5,814 in 2007. In 2007, about 41 per 10,000 prison inmates were estimated to have confirmed AIDS, compared to 17 per 10,000 persons in the general population.

At yearend 2008, the reported number of state and federal inmates who were HIV positive or had confirmed AIDS totaled 21,987. Among states reporting data in 2006 through 2008, the number of inmates with HIV/AIDS was stable between 2007 and 2008. Of the state and federal inmates who were HIV positive or had confirmed AIDS, a reported 20,075 were men and 1,912 were women. Between 2007 and 2008, the percentage of male inmates with HIV/AIDS remained stable at 1.5 percent, while the percentage of female inmates with HIV/AIDS decreased slightly from 2.1 percent to 1.9 percent.

Florida (3,626), New York (3,500) and Texas (2,450) reported the largest number of HIV/AIDS cases. While these three states account for 24 percent of the total state custody population, together they account for 46 percent of HIV/AIDS cases in state prison. New York continues to report large decreases (down 450) in the number of HIV/AIDS cases. Notable increases between 2007 and 2008 were in California (up 246) and Florida (up 166).

Between 1995 and 2006 the number of state inmates who died from AIDS-related causes decreased 85 percent from 1,010 to 155. Continuing the downward trend, 120 state inmates died from AIDS-related causes in 2007. Among federal inmates, 13 died from AIDS-related causes in 2008, up from 10 in 2007.

During 2008, a total of 24 states reported testing all inmates for HIV at admission or sometime during custody. Among these 24 states, 23 tested at admission, five tested while in custody, and six tested upon release. Fifty states and the federal system tested inmates if they had HIV-related symptoms or if they requested an HIV test. Forty-two states and the federal system tested inmates after they were involved in an incident in which an inmate was exposed to a possible HIV transmission, and 18 states and the federal system tested inmates who belonged to specific high-risk groups.

Emphasis (in bold) added by me. Some thoughts about this report (which is available here). Some observations and reactions:

1. California only has 1,155 prisoners with HIV or AIDS in 2008? That 0.8% of the custody population seems suspiciously low (Nevada's rate is 0.9%, for example)
2. It's pretty amazing that the prevalence rate for HIV is higher among female prisoners than male prisoners (1.9% to 1.5%).
   
3. Almost half the states (24) test prisoners for HIV at some point during custody. The question is, how well do they do in treating these prisoners as well as in preventing transmission in prison and upon release.
4. More than 90% of all prisoners in prisons and jails come back home so thinking that HIV in prison is something you and I don't have to think about it very shortsighted.

The Center for Health Justice is a non-profit organization in Los Angeles who I just recently stepped down as Board president of after two and a half years. Their mission is to empower people affected by incarceration and HIV to make healthier choices and advocates for the elimination of disparities between prisoner health and public health.

LA TIMES Covers Health Justice's Condom Distribution Program

Monday's Los Angeles Times carried a story about the distribution of condoms in Los Angeles County jails by the Center for Health Justice:

Inmates call Ron Osorio "West Hollywood" because the words are printed on the cream-colored cloth bag he carries inside Men's Central Jail each Friday.

The bag is filled with 300 Lifestyle condoms. Osorio, who works for the nonprofit Center for Health Justice, has been visiting the jail almost weekly since 2001, when Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca approved a small but groundbreaking program that allowed the health group to pass out prophylactics to inmates in a segregated unit for gay men.

"We go to the dorms and a guy hands out the bagged lunches. There's another guy that hands out the juice. . . . and I stand between those two as they go through the line. They get their lunch, they get a condom, and they get their juice," Osorio said.
[...]
Eight years after Baca first approved the program, the sheriff is pondering whether to expand it by doubling the number of condoms distributed to the 300 inmates within the segregated unit.

His decision comes as a yearlong pilot condom distribution program at the California State Prison at Solano enters its eighth month.

Health advocates say that a successful review of that program could lead to widespread distribution of condoms in prisons throughout the state.

It would be one of the most aggressive measures in the nation's jails and prisons to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS, experts say.

Sheriff's officials acknowledge that the virus is a prominent problem in the jails.

They spend about $2 million each year in federally refundable money on HIV/AIDS medication and identify about 65 new cases each month.

On average there are about 1,400 people in L.A. County jails with HIV each year, said Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department.

Great coverage for the great work that Center for Health Justice does (MadProfessah is Board President of the agency).

Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead

In California, prison health care advocates woke up with a smile to discover their long nightmare was over: Robert Sillen has been fired.

From the Los Angeles Times story:

A federal judge Wednesday abruptly fired the man he had appointed to fix the multimillion-dollar problems of medical care in the state's prisons, after determining the effort was moving too slowly and in too confrontational a manner.

[...]

Since taking the post, formally known as the receiver, Sillen has dramatically increased state spending on prison medical care, largely by bringing salaries up to market levels. Sillen added about $300 million a year and sought to add another $500 million in next year's budget. In addition, he requested more than $800 million for new construction over several years and was working on a $3-billion plan for 5,000 long-term medical beds, state officials said.

But he also frequently clashed with others in his orbit. He jousted with lawmakers and froze out lawyers for inmates. He suggested he should also control the hiring of prison guards, and he blasted the $7.7-billion prison reform package approved by the Legislature last year as a bad idea.

Henderson praised some aspects of Sillen's tenure, saying he had "successfully used his unique skills and bold, creative leadership style to investigate, confront and break down many of the barriers that existed at the inception of the receivership."

But his order removing Sillen also expressed frustration with the pace of progress and implicitly criticized Sillen's uncompromising attitude. The job now needs "a collaborative style of leadership," the judge wrote.

Ouch!

Arnold Getting Hit From Both Sides Over Condoms Veto

The New York Times ran an editorial on Friday October 19 entitled "Reality and Denial in California Prisons" which criticizes the veto by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of Assemblymember Sandre Swanson's AB 1334, which would have allowed the distribution of sexual barrier devices in state prisons.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s political courage clearly failed him when he vetoed a bill that would have permitted the distribution of condoms in California’s AIDS-ravaged prisons. At the same time, the governor ordered up a pilot distribution program for one as-yet unnamed prison. A small, exploratory program falls far short of the mass distribution effort that the system clearly needs.

Public health officials around the world have long realized that condom distribution is central to any meaningful AIDS-prevention effort. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made that point last year when it urged states to consider starting condom programs in prisons. Programs are already up and running in Canada and much of the European Union, as well as in jails in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington and New York.

Mr. Schwarzenegger said he vetoed the bill because it conflicts with state law that makes sexual contact among inmates illegal. That’s self-defeating and a denial of the reality of life behind bars, and the governor seems to know it. His veto statement acknowledged that condom distribution represents a reasonable “public policy, and it is consistent with the need to improve our prison health care system and overall public health.”

The governor should have gone with what he knows and signed this bill. His pilot program needs to get under way quickly and should be expanded as soon as possible. That’s the only way to improve California’s prison health care system and overall public health.

In addition, the imperious AIDS Healthcare Foundation has also condemned the Governor's action in a press release.

The Sacramento Bee ran an article on the burgeoning controversy over the Governor's veto message in which he endorsed the concept of condom distribution in prison as an HIV prevention measure and suggested a pilot program to determine efficacy and effectiveness. Of course, as the New York Times noted in its editorial, condoms have been distributed in prisons and jails all over the world for years.

Swanson said the pilot-only project works for him.

"I think this is an extremely positive move forward," the assemblyman said. "The project is going to demonstrate that we can reduce the spread of these sexually transmitted diseases and that our prisons will no longer be considered a place where these diseases can incubate."

While prison sex may be against the law, it's pretty much a part of the fabric of incarcerated life, according to one former inmate who now runs an acclaimed residential program for parolees.

[...]

Otherwise, the banned acts between consenting prisoners can add a year to an inmate's time if they get caught. Schwarzenegger's consequent approval of them, even on a pilot basis, has served to befuddle the California Family Council, a nonprofit group formed "to protect and foster Judeo-Christian principles in California's laws, for the benefit of its families," according to its Web site.

"He's talking out of both sides of his mouth," said Lynne Fishel, a spokeswoman for the group, which registered its opposition to the Swanson bill in the Legislature. "He acknowledges that it's illegal, but he wants to put a pilot project in one prison? I don't understand the logic. I can't connect the dots."

The California Correctional Supervisors Organization opposed the legislation, citing concerns of inmates using condoms to hide drugs in their rectal cavities. Spokesman Ford Canutt said inmates also use balloons, condoms and plain old cellophane to conceal stabbing devices.

"Anything that circumvents security, we have a problem with," Canutt said.

Canutt said the CCSO might be OK with a pilot project, however, at a minimum-security prison, or at an inmate fire camp.

Besides the 33 state prisons, California's Penal Code also bans sex "in any local detention facility." But that hasn't stopped San Francisco from making prophylactics available to its inmates for the past 20 years. They even put a condom machine in the recreation room a few months ago, without ever having a problem, according to Sheriff Mike Hennessey.

"We've never had an inmate caught using a condom to hide contraband, we've never had an inmate use a condom as a weapon, to strangle someone or suffocate someone, and we've never had an incident of sexual assault where a condom was used," Hennessey said. "The fears about bad things happening if you allow condoms in prison, they just haven't happened."

Another question to ask would be why is it constitutional to ban consensual sex between adults in any setting in the United States?

Mad Professah salutes Sheriff Hennessey for speaking truth to power and discounting the ridiculous argument by the CCSO that condoms will be used as weapons or to smuggle weapons or contraband. The prisoners seem to already have lots of weapons and condoms already, don't they? Where do you think prisoners get that stuff? Not from other prisoners, but from people who have access to the outside of the prison, i.e. prison employees.

Governor Vetoes Bill To Allow Condoms in Prisons

The Governor of California has completed his actions on 964 bills passed by the State Legislature. Schwarzenegger vetoed the gender neutral marriage bill on Friday afternoon and on Sunday (the deadline for signing or vetoing all bills) he again vetoed legislation that would have allowed the distribution of condoms in California prisons. Assemblymember Sandre Swanson (D-Oakland)'s AB 1334 would have allowed the distribution of "sexual barrier protection devices" by nonprofit or health care agencies to inmates. (The State wouldn't even have to pay for it!) Like gender neutral marriage, Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill to legalilze the distribution of condoms before but this time his veto message at least acknowledges that the distribution of condoms is "not an unreasonable public policy." Well, duh!

To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 1334 without my signature.

This bill would enact the Inmate and Community Public Health and Safety Act, which would allow any nonprofit or health care agency to distribute sexual barrier protection devices to inmates in state prisons.

As stated in my veto of AB 1677 last year, the provisions of this bill conflict with Penal Code Sections 286 (e) and 288 (e), which make sexual activity in prison unlawful. However, condom distribution in prisons is not an unreasonable public policy and it is consistent with the need to improve our prison healthcare system and overall public health.

Local jail systems in both Los Angeles and San Francisco have already implemented condom distribution programs. Therefore, I am directing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to determine the risk and viability of such a program by identifying one state prison facility for the purpose of allowing non-profit and health agencies to distribute sexual barrier devices.

Sincerely,

Arnold Schwarzenegger

It's not every day that the Governor of the state endorses one of the main missions of a non-profit organization that Mad Professah serves on as the Chair of the Board of Directors, i.e. Center for Health Justice, even if he did use litotes to do so.