Prisoners With AIDS

As the chief executive officer at AIDS Project Los Angeles, I was disturbed to read my quote in the April 2 article on Judy Cagle’s compassionate release from the California Institute for Women in Frontera. I would like to clarify the context in which I said that “prisoners on parole infect other people.” This statement was part of a longer, more involved discussion. We were discussing the necessity for anonymous testing within the prison system and the fact that voluntary and anonymous testing is not available to inmates in California. Because of this, inmates are not aware of their HIV status, do not receive early intervention, and upon release, they may unknowingly infect other people. The key element here is “unknowingly,” because this was omitted, my message was distorted.

As the nation’s second largest AIDS service provider, we fight discrimination and the fear of people with AIDS every day. A comment like this would only increase this fear and prejudice and undermine our efforts.

LENNY BLOOM

Chief Executive Officer

AIDS Project Los Angeles