July 10, 2013:  The ACLU announced today that South Carolina, the last state to segregate HIV+ inmates, has agreed to end that practice.

“Ending a long out-dated policy that stigmatized human beings and ignored modern medical information is a tremendous victory for human rights,” said Susan K. Dunn, legal director of the ACLU of South Carolina and SASI Steering Committee member.  “While the segregation of HIV-positive prisoners has long been an unnecessary and ineffective tool for preventing the transmission of HIV, it has had the profound effect of humiliating and isolating prisoners living with the disease.”

Alabama ended a similar segregation policy last year after the policy was held to violate the Americans with Disabilities Act by a United States District Judge in response to ACLU litigation.