Rejecting a challenge to Alabama's policy of segregating inmates with the AIDS virus, the U.S. Supreme Court has also left alone several other states who follow similar policies.
The high court rejected the Alabama challenge without comment, turning away arguments by Alabama inmates that the policy violates federal anti-discrimination laws involving the disabled.
Rejecting the Alabama challenge doesn't mean the Supreme Court won't review such state policies in the future, says the Associated Press, but it left alone a federal appeals court decision saying Alabama wasn't violating federal anti-bias laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a gay rights advocacy group, objected to the Supreme Court action. ``It's unsettling that no one with the power to influence Alabama's prison policy - including the Alabama Legislature and all branches of the federal government - is willing to address this total undermining of the ADA's language and intent,'' says Lambda's Catherine Hanssens to the AP.
The lawsuit was filed fourteen years ago by attorneys representing inmate Arion Davis and his fellow HIV-positive Alabama prisoners.
