Posted on 04/29/2005 9:22:25 PM PDT by neverdem
In any given year, perhaps a third of the people infected with hepatitis C and more than 15 percent of those with AIDS spend time behind bars. With infection levels far higher than in the outside world, the jails and prisons are a potential public health menace. Officials have a special duty to curb the spread of disease among the more than 11 million people who pass through the system each year.
No one knows for sure how many people pick up H.I.V. while incarcerated. But a 2002 survey of prisoners' own estimates found that about 44 percent of the inmates were probably participating in sex acts. Researchers suspect that about 70 percent had their first same-sex experiences in prison. If those estimates are anywhere near accurate, the risk of infection behind bars is substantial, and the men who contract H.I.V. in prison return home to infect wives and girlfriends. Still, condoms are barred or unavailable in 95 percent of the country's prisons.
The national picture could well change if the California Legislature passes a timely bill, introduced by Paul Koretz, a Democrat from West Hollywood, that would require California's corrections system, the nation's largest, to allow public health and nonprofit groups to distribute condoms. In documents filed in support of the bill, Mr. Koretz notes that prevention programs make financial sense, too, given that treating an H.I.V.-positive person outside prison costs California nearly $23,000 a year.
Distributing condoms does not encourage sex in prison - that appears to be going on anyway. And data from Canada and American jurisdictions found no evidence that sexual activity goes up or that security declines once prisoners have access to condoms. On the contrary, jurisdictions that adopt such programs tend to keep and build upon them. Corrections officers usually support the programs once they have been proved to be effective.
I recommend chastity belts instead, or the male equivalent thereof.
Oh I know it sounds crazy, but if we seriously punished people who engage in the crime of forcible rape; say by sentencing them to death if they are HIV positive or life in prison if they aren't then maybe this wouldn't be a problem.
The last time I checked, forcibly boinking anyone in the a** was a crime in all fifty States. Let's just start enforcing that law even when the victim and perp are incarcerated.
L
What possible motivation to not rape a weaker inmate would another life sentence, or a death verdict for that matter, mean to a convict already serving life?
If you rape someone in prison and infect them with a lethal disease, we as a society kill you.
Granted, it may not stop them all but I'm willing to bet it will make masturbation a good deal more attractive.
L
Sit down and shut up would work for most people.
Revocation of privileges.
That's too logical and terribly unPC.
It's just another sign of the sickness of our society, that we encourage, or at least, turn a blind eye to the homosexual rape we allow in our prisons.
If this involved breathing privileges, that would get my vote
It would make sense even if all "intercourse" could be prevented, because of fights, accidents, etc. in which blood borne illness could be spread.
Adding a life sentence to some mook doing 3-5 for your standard offense would do a lot to deter that sort of crime.
If the perp is HIV positive, then you charge him with 1st degree murder. After all, knowingly infecting someone with AIDS is logically an act of premeditated murder. There's no need to wait for the victim to actually succumb to the disease. Just try him and fry him.
Once a few of these miscreants see that forcibly copulating with another inmate carries a very stiff price, they will see the wisom of dating Rosie Palm and her five daughters after lights out.
Thanks for the support. Their seems to be a serious dearth of logical thought around here lately. It's nice to run into someone else who thinks clearly.
Regards,
L
Trinoasitol is far more effective!
QUARANTINE.
By all means don't refrain from saying what you want to. If you're misunderstood, then take a few moments to explain your position. I've found that most folks who still 'misunderstand' after one explanation are at best being deliberately obtuse and at the worst are just trying to bait you.
In either case they aren't worth the time of a second explanation. It does however feel very good to let those among us who are obtuse know that they can't always pull their crap without being called on it. If nothing else, it makes them more circumspect.
I bid you a pleasant evening sir (or ma'am as the case may be.) Don't sell yourself short, and don't be afraid to get in some liberals face whenever the opportunity presents itself. With just a bit of practice, you'll find it's great fun.
Regards and a hat tip right backatcha.
L
How abiout a Lop-it-off-of-me surgery without pain killers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.