WREG-TV: Should Condoms Be Given to Inmates?

By Danya Bacchus, WREG-TV [Link]

FAST FACTS:

- Inmate Charged With Rape And Assault of Fellow Inmate
- Case Could Renew Push For Condoms In Prison
- Activist Says Yes, County Officials Against The Idea

(Memphis 12/16/2008) Shelby County Corrections inmate Lorenzo Shelton is already behind bars. Now, he faces new charges: Rape and aggravated assault of another inmate. Novella Arnold is familiar with stories like this one but the one she tell has a different ending.

"Tears started to come down and he said I was raped in jail and I was given this virus but I was afraid and ashamed to tell it," said Arnold.

Arnold's foster daughter contracted HIV from man raped in prison over 20 years ago. Today, she is fighting to have condoms passed out to inmates. But it's not going to be an easy task. Shelby County Sheriff Mark Lutrell and County Division of Corrections Director Andrew Taber say there's no county policy that allows sex behind bars for inmates. They don't want condoms to send mixed message to inmates.

"They can't tell me they're not doing that in jail. Nobody is watching when you're in your cell block," said Arnold.

Shelby County Health Department officials make sure standards for inmate healthcare are met but admit passing out protection is not one of them. Arnold, who was once a volunteer chaplain for the jail, has seen people die from HIV and AIDs. She believes the issue is simple.

"If just a rubber would save a life then give it."

A note for TV stations

This note is for TV stations only, who may wish to broadcast Novella's HIV/AIDS PSA spot, "Is My Momma Ever Coming Back?". If you are not a broadcast engineer, click here instead to read about the PSA, see the storyboard, and watch an iPod or Quicktime version. It's also on YouTube.

Engineers: click and read on...

The PSA was originally produced and edited at the studios of WMC-TV in Memphis. If the master tape still exists, it would probably be in their vaults -- but last time we checked, they were unable to locate it. Copies may also exist in the libraries of other stations and cable outlets who had broadcast it at the time.

Fortunately, the WMC engineers had made a courtesy dub on VHS for Novella. I have digitized that copy in DV Type II format using Adobe Premiere on a PC. I think it's reasonably close to broadcast quality, and I know that other stations have used it. If you email me, I can send you that file on a CDR or DVD+R, whichever you prefer. I'm sorry, but I do not have the equipment to give you a DVCPRO or BETA-SP.

If you are in too much of a hurry for postal mail, you can download the file at link below. It's well over 150 megabytes. To conserve this site's bandwidth, please download it only if you really need it for broadcast purposes.

To download the file to a PC, right-click on the link, and click "Save Target As..." (or similar wording, depending on what browser you use).

HTTP download link

Tri-State Defender: AIDS activist retools push for condoms in county jail

Inmates are having consensual sex and contracting HIV/AIDS

By Wiley Henry, Tri-State Defender [Link]
Friday, December 12, 2008

Novella Smith Arnold is determined to get condoms into the Shelby County Jail and it’s clear that she sees the pathway running through the Shelby County Board of Commissioners.

Arnold, an AIDS activist and former jail chaplain, fears that some inmates are having consensual sex and contracting HIV/AIDS. She said these inmates then may spread the virus into the community after they’ve been released.

Read complete articleCommissioner Henri Brooks, one of the board’s more vocal members, penned a resolution and scheduled Arnold and other AIDS activists to speak during a recent commission meeting. But Arnold wasn’t fully prepared. So Brooks had to defer.

The issue sparked a countywide debate following the meeting. Brooks drew the ire of her detractors and opposition from Sheriff Mark H. Luttrell, who made his rounds to talk radio. If the commissioner wants to discuss the issue, “I’ll be happy to listen to arguments or review any data Brooks will present,” Luttrell said.

Collecting data

The Sheriff’s Department has begun the process of compiling data. Of the 31,645 inmates booked in the county jail this year, 10,495 agreed to be tested for HIV. Two hundred fifteen (or 2.04 percent) tested positive for HIV.

Here’s the breakdown provided by the department: 26 percent of men agreed to be tested; 1.86 percent were infected. Sixty-two percent of women volunteered to be tested; 2.3 percent had the virus

(Medical experts say the HIV antibodies, which indicate the virus is present, can take up to 12 weeks to appear. To get a snapshot of infection rates, HIV tests also would have to be given about three months after an inmate is released or transferred to prisons.)

Luttrell said the department is aware sexual activity occurs in the jail and it has taken steps to address the issue. “We know there’s a problem with sex in the jail, but we’re enhancing supervision and sanctioning those committing the problem. We’re following closely the protocol by the Shelby County Health Department (if a rape occurs),” he said.

When the issue of condom distribution is placed back on the commissioners’ table, Brooks plans to have her own AIDS experts and research.

“We want to address the whole issue of AIDS in Shelby County. We’re going to get our facts and the experts together first and have a meeting,” she said. “Then we’ll make some changes to the resolution and maybe address the issue at a board meeting sometime in January.”

Friends for Life compiled AIDS data for Shelby County back in 2005.

Between 2001 and 2005, 5,960 African Americans were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in Shelby County; whites totaled 1,532 cases. During this span, 1,886 African Americans died compared to 639 white deaths.

“I know what I’m talking about,” Arnold said. “I’ve buried too many fathers (who were incarcerated), mothers and children with AIDS over the years.”

Distributing condoms to inmates isn’t an endorsement of homosexuality, she said. “All we’re asking is to protect these guys when they come home to their women and loved ones.”

Arnold noted rape cases have been reported. Joseph Liberto, who alleged he was sodomized by two inmates in 2000, filed a suit against Shelby County and the Sheriff Department. Another inmate, Darius Little, then 19 years old when he was gang raped, sued in 1996 and won.

“A condom won’t stop a rape,” Arnold said. “But there are a lot of gay folks in jail who will have consensual sex.”

Eliminating Rape

According to the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA), 2,100,146 inmates were incarcerated in federal, state, county and local jails at the end of 2001. Of that number, at least 13 percent were sexually assaulted. In the past 20 years, 1,000,000 inmates were likely victims of rape.

Congress passed PREA to make prison rape a top priority. It also seeks to prevent rapes and punish the assailant.

Luttrell said the number of rape cases at the Downtown lockup is far lower than Arnold’s estimation. “The average stay in jail is about three weeks,” he said.

There are other medical issues just as germane as AIDS, the sheriff said. “There are far more medical issues that we deal with than HIV/AIDS, such as tuberculosis and hypertension.”

Arnold’s passion and determination are fueled, in part, by personal tragedy. Twenty years ago, her foster daughter contracted HIV from a man who was sodomized in jail.

“He also infected four other women. And each one died,” added Arnold, who was volunteering as a chaplain at the time in the Criminal Justice Ministry.

Condoms, she said, would protect the women and babies that are born. “We’re trying to protect the unborn child. I don’t like burying babies. It’s a painful feeling when you lose a loved one to AIDS.”

Arnold also cited other AIDS cases while conducting her prison ministry. “When 14 inmates in a single pod begged me to get them tested in the late ‘90s, I called the health department. I was told that I had to be a health department employee. So (mayor) Jim Rout paid me $1.”

Of the 14 inmates that were tested, 13 were infected, Arnold said. “I ministered to them. And when they died, I buried them. I have ministered to and buried so many inmates over the years.”

Luttrell said he is adamantly opposed to doling out condoms. He said inmates should be restricted from having sex anyway.

Commercial Appeal: Activist urges AIDS tests, condoms in Shelby County Jail

Reaction mixed on warning of 'epidemic'
By Alex Doniach, Memphis Commercial Appeal [Link]
Thursday, October 2, 2008

HIV and AIDS among inmates in the Shelby County Jail is an "epidemic," activist Novella Smith Arnold told members of the County Commission on Wednesday.

Her solution? Hand out condoms to inmates and require testing.

"AIDS is still alive and well," Arnold told the commission's law enforcement committee. "It's still coming out of the jail to the black community, and our black women are suffering from this virus, and they're dying. ... I want you all to please put condoms in the jail."

Read complete articleArnold, an "advocate for the poor and downtrodden" and former candidate for the commission and Memphis City Council, said condoms would protect those who engage in consensual sex, and their loved ones when they get out of jail. It's an idea that has sparked debate around the country.

Statistics from the Sheriff's Office show that, out of the inmates who volunteered to get tested since January, just over 2 percent tested positive. That compares with about three-fourths of 1 percent of the U.S. population, health officials say.

However, only about a third of those booked in 2008 were tested. Testing is not mandatory because the sheriff's office says the booking process is already very stressful to some.

"It's not exactly pandemic, but they (the inmates) do bring it," said Harvey Kennedy, Sheriff Mark Luttrell's chief administrative officer.

Reaction to the condom proposal was mixed among commissioners, law enforcement and health officials.

"The jail needs to get the message that, if you're going to do this, then at least protect yourself," said Commissioner Henri Brooks. "The reality is they are having sex."

Brooks said she'll introduce a resolution calling for condom distribution if the sheriff doesn't adopt a program.

But Kennedy said passing out condoms might send the wrong message. Inmates are closely watched, and he can't recall any incident of sexual assault in recent years.

"To be issuing condoms for prisoners as they come in would be sending a signal to anyone who walks through the door that you are at high risk" for assault, he said.

Consensual sex, however, might occur among inmates who share a cell, Kennedy said.

Yvonne Madlock, director of the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department, said HIV prevalence in jails and prisons tends to be higher because inmates typically engage in riskier behaviors in and out of prison.

But she said rather than pass out condoms, resources for addressing and controlling the spread of HIV are best focused on increased testing and giving HIV-positive people proper care.

Condom distribution was an idea addressed here more than a decade ago with little success, she said.

If jail officials were to distribute condoms, they would be the first in Tennessee to do so. Other city jails distribute condoms, including those in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York.

Mississippi gives out condoms at its prisons.

HIV and the Shelby County Jail

-- Of the 31,645 inmates booked in the Shelby County Jail this year, 10,495 volunteered for HIV testing; 215, or 2.04 percent, tested positive for HIV.

-- For men, 26 percent, or 6,434, of the 25,115 men booked, volunteered to get tested; 1.86 percent tested HIV-positive.

-- For women, 62 percent, or 4,061, of the 6,539 women booked, were tested; 2.3 percent tested HIV-positive.

-- Alex Doniach: 529-5231

Remembering Isaac Hayes

Staxtacular 2007


February 25, 2007: Isaac, his wife Adjowa, and his 10-month-old son Kwadjo (pronounced “kwo-jo”) put in an appearance at Staxtacular 2007, an annual fundraising gala at Soulsville USA.


Adjowa, Novella, and Kwadjo.


Basketball star Pao Gasol (then with the Memphis Grizzlies) holds Kwadjo for a photo.

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Stax-Studded Guitar


September 12, 2007: Isaac autographs the Stax-Studded Guitar, which will be auctioned later for the benefit of Soulsville.


Novella rewards him with a kiss.


Novella, Isaac, and Gale Jones Carson.


The guitar, with the autographs of Isaac Hayes and songwriting partner David Porter near the knobs (left). See if you can recognize the other signatures, all of them associated with Stax Records and Memphis Soul music. For example, can you find two of the Blues Brothers? (Hint: They were also key members of Booker T. and the MGs.)

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Blues Ball 2007


September 29, 2007: The 2007 Blues Ball, an annual Memphis charity event, this year held on Blues Street. Novella, Isaac, and Memphis Congressman Steve Cohen.


Songwriting partner David Porter and Isaac Hayes show us the appreciation awards they receieved at the Blues Ball.


Later, Isaac takes the stage to perfrom.


Performing the Theme from Shaft. At this crowd-pleasing point near the end of the song, Isaac faces the band and flashes them finger signals of how many staccato hits he wants. Five, ten, or whatever the count, they always get it right. On the right is Isaac's original wah-wah guitarist, Charles "Skip" Pitts.

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Stax 50th Anniversary Concert


June 22, 2007: Isaac at the Memphis Orpheum, rehearsing for the Stax 50th concert that night.


After rehearsing, Isaac stops downstairs for a live interview on XM Radio.


Isaac posing with Novella and XM Radio personalities. The man in the far back was an XM listener who had won a trip to the concert.

All photos by Michael Cromer.