Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - Aug. 18, 2005
Johnathon E. Briggs
Believed to be the only legislation of its kind nationwide, the African-American HIV/AIDS Response Act targets the link between disproportionately high incarceration rates among blacks and the transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
The legislation aims to expand voluntary HIV testing in state prisons and county jails. It also commissions a Chicago State University study to investigate and quantify the correlation between imprisonment and HIV infection.
Community groups and AIDS activists have lobbied for the legislation since 2003.
In Illinois, blacks are 15 percent of the population but account for 51 percent of AIDS cases and 65 percent of the state prison population, state health and census figures show.
Studies suggest that prison is a primary source of HIV transmission.
The bill originally authorized condom distribution to inmates. State Rep. Constance Howard, who co-sponsored the bill, said that provision was removed after opposition from the Department of Corrections, which forbids condoms in jails.
"It's sort of disappointing to me that we, in this day and age, don't recognize that people have sex," Howard said.
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