Montgomery, AL – The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit claiming Alabama's policy on HIV-positive inmates discriminates against them by separating them from other inmates and excluding them from some programs.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in the Middle District of U.S. District Court in Montgomery on behalf of 10 HIV-positive Alabama inmates. It names Gov. Robert Bentley, Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Kim Thomas and four wardens as defendants. The lawsuit asks that a court declare the prison system's segregation policy violates sections of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.
Prisoners in the lawsuit claim they've received harsher punishments.
Brian Corbett, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections, says he hasn't seen the lawsuit and can't comment.
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