County Jail Inmate With AIDS-Related Illness Alleges Bias

A complaint by an Orange County Jail inmate that jail deputies are discriminating against him because he has AIDS-related-complex has been relayed to a federal judge by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU has asked U. S. District Judge William P. Gray to have the special master for Orange County jails, Lawrence G. Grossman, investigate the inmate’s complaints.

Jail medical officials say the inmate “may” have some grounds for feeling mistreated, and they are trying to solve the problem. But medical officials add that some restrictions the inmate is not pleased about cannot be helped.

Four inmates--two men and two women--are now in medical isolation at the jail with AIDS-related-complex, said jail medical director Chris Lundquist. The condition is a step between having acquired immune deficiency syndrome and simply having been exposed to the AIDS virus, Lundquist said.

Two months ago the jail reported that a woman inmate who tested for AIDS showed signs of exposure to the AIDS virus and had developed anti-bodies. AIDS-related-complex means that the person tested not only has been exposed to the virus, but that the virus has already caused some symptoms of immune deficiency.

“It requires a little more alertness to their medical care,” Lundquist said. “They are at a stage where they are more susceptible to infections and could go on to actual AIDS.”

About one-third of those who have AIDS-related-complex go on to develop AIDS, said Tom Prendergast, the county’s disease control director.

The inmate who has complained about alleged mistreatment by jail deputies told ACLU attorneys that deputies are hostile toward him because of his AIDS-related problem, make him wear a mask most of the time and usually wear masks themselves in his presence.

The inmate also complained that deputies were restricting his recreation time on the roof and his access to the telephone. But Lundquist said some restrictions on the inmate’s movement cannot be helped because he is under observation.

“I’ve tried to explain to him that some deputies have their own preconceptions about what this disease means and that they may treat him as if he has leprosy,” Lundquist said. “I really think the inmate has calmed down since we talked.”

ACLU attorney Harry Lerner said he talked with the complaining inmate Friday and that he is still claiming mistreatment by deputies.

Masks Not Necessary

While deputies reportedly have said that the inmate’s mask was ordered by the medical staff, Lerner said that, according to the inmate, deputies make him wear a mask.

Lundquist said masks are not necessary for jail deputies or the inmate. But he added that his staff members do wear gloves whenever transporting blood or bodily fluids from inmates with AIDS-related-complex.

Lundquist said he is trying to educate jail deputies about AIDS-related problems and about how to deal with inmates like the four now in medical isolation.

“I don’t know how much of it is going to sink in,” Lundquist said.

Lt. Dick Olson, the spokesman for Sheriff Brad Gates, referred any inquiries about the four inmates to county medical officials.

Outside His Jurisdiction

ACLU attorney Dick Herman on Wednesday asked Judge Gray to order Grossman to look into the inmate’s situation. Gray reportedly told Herman that it was outside Grossman’s jurisdiction unless Herman could come up with some better arguments. Herman said he intends to resubmit his request.

Gray had earlier appointed Grossman to monitor overcrowded jail conditions in Orange County.

Herman said his priority is to win the release of the inmate, who has served most of a nine-month sentence for grand theft.

Lundquist said medical officials are working with Gates’ office to get the inmate released.

“He is getting as good a care here as he could get outside the jail,” Lundquist said. “But for his own mental health, he should be released. The other three have adjusted quite well. But this individual became very depressed.”

Panicked at First

The inmate was panic-stricken because he thought he was going to die, Lundquist said, but calmed down after learning that his was a mild case and that there was a very good chance he would not get AIDS.

The doctor said all four inmates at the jail with AIDS-related-complex have only mild symptoms so far.

ACLU attorney Lerner said the inmate told him that a woman he had contact with before going to jail had developed AIDS and that he had asked jail officials for an AIDS test. He contends it was five weeks before anyone would give him a test.

But Len Foster, spokesman for the county’s Health Care Agency, said jail medical officials routinely test inmates who are either known homosexuals, drug users or who have reason to request a test.