Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry is the sponsor of the "Mandatory HIV Testing and Educational Services for Inmates and Committed Youth Amendment Act of 2009." Courtesy Photo
A bill to require mandatory testing of HIV/AIDS in the District of Columbia's correctional facilities has elicited support among those who believe that it will help stem the tide of the deadly epidemic, but has received criticism because some think testing is unnecessary and the city's efforts in testing inmates is adequate.

D.C. Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) is the sponsor of the "Mandatory HIV Testing and Educational Services for Inmates and Committed Youth Amendment Act of 2009." The bill would mandate HIV/AIDS testing of all inmates and committed juvenile offenders confined in the D.C. Jail, the Correctional Treatment facility and the Oak Hill Youth Center in Laurel, Md.

"There are many people in the city who are suffering from HIV/AIDS and it has reached epidemic proportions," Barry said. "In order to control this disease we have to take extraordinary measures.”

The legislation would require that any person who has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor would be required to give a blood sample to health officials in the correctional system. If an individual tests positive, the bill states that the inmate receives counseling, educational sessions, dietary and nutritional counseling, condoms and HIV/AIDS case management.

The bill also states that any HIV/AIDS test that is positive shall not be admissible as evidence of guilt or innocence in any criminal proceeding and that the victim has the right to disclose the results of the test to the victims' partners and family.

In March, the District's HIV/AIDS Administration released a study which stated that the city had the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the United States; three percent of its overall population. The D.C. HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Update in 2008 said that 15,000 residents in the city were living with HIV/AIDS as of Dec. 31, 2007. Of the 10,835 men in the city with the disease, 70.4 percent were Black, with 21.1 White and the remaining percentage among Latinos, Asians and Pacific Islanders and Native Americans.

The update said that of the 4,285 women afflicted, 91.1 percent were Black while 3.2 percent were White and the rest among the other races and ethnicities.

In the District correctional system, 95 percent of all inmates are Black, according to a July 2007 study conducted by the Sentencing Project. While there is strong evidence that shows that Black women's incarceration rates are growing in the city, data from various studies and city statistics show that the overwhelming majority of inmates in the D.C. correctional system are Black males.

Barry said that the disease among the incarcerated population is getting out of control. Ward 8 has one of the highest rates of affliction of HIV/AIDS, measured according to the epidemiology update at a range of 1,801 to 3,000 per 100,000 residents. Barry’s Ward also has the highest percentage of Blacks in the city with 91 percent overall.

Barry said that the disease began as a “White gay affliction” and seemed to morph over the years into a serious killer of Blacks, but that that is not the real point of what the disease is doing to residents of the city.

"That does not matter now because it is no respecter of race or position," he said. Barry said that society needs to have a reality moment regarding HIV/AIDS.

"Sex occurs in prison," he said. "We know it happens, guys just do it. We have to be forced to deal with this."

However, he said that he does not believe statistics that state that 90 percent of the inmates voluntarily agreed to be tested.

"I really question those numbers and it seems that people have taken [the statistic] and run with it," he said. "We can hold discussions about it to see what those numbers mean."

D.C. Councilmember David Catania (I-At-Large) disagrees with Barry's bill, saying that it is not necessary.

"Councilmember Catania thinks that what the D.C. Jail is doing now is right, which is the opt-out system," said Ben Young, chief of staff to the councilmember. "An inmate will be tested unless they specifically say that they do not want to. We have gotten a good participation rate of 90 percent and the councilmember is satisfied that the system is working and helping to fight HIV/AIDS."

The D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, a D.C. think tank that is devoted to studying local issues, recently gave the city's HIV/AIDS testing program an "A" in its annual report card for the third consecutive year. In addition, the American Corrections Association selected the District's HIV/AIDS testing and counseling program for its "2010 Exemplary Offender Award Program."

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged that its national HIV/AIDS inmate program was modeled after the District's.

Catania was the driving force in May 2006, when he, using his powers as chair of the Health Committee, strongly encouraged D.C. correctional officials to move to the opt-out policy from the previous practice of asking inmates if they wanted to be tested.

Ronald Moten, an ex-offender and co-founder of the Peaceoholics, an organization dedicated to fighting gangs and youth involvement in crime, said that while he respects Barry's intentions, mandatory testing is not the way to go.

"While I think it is important for people to be tested, I don't think people should be forced to do it," Moten said. "I think counseling and education should be available to people, but there should be no requirement that people are tested."

Moten also questioned how the city, in its slipping financial situation, can handle the logistics that the bill calls for.

"I want to know how are they going to test all those people and where are they going to get the money to do it," he said.

D.C. Councilmember Kwame Brown (D-At Large) is one of seven co-sponsors of Barry's bill. The others are D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray (D), Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), Michael Brown (I-At Large), Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) and Harry Thomas (D-Ward 5).

Kwame Brown said that preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in the correctional facilities and ultimately, the city, is why he supports the bill.

"I have had several inmates tell me that mandatory testing is a good thing," Kwame Brown said. "They are the ones who are saying that it could stop the spread of AIDS."

However, D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) has not made a commitment to support or oppose the bill.

"I am waiting to see what the gay and lesbian community has to say about it," he said. "After they have their line on it, I will make my decision."

The bill is in the Committee of Public Safety and the Judiciary, chaired by D.C. Councilmember Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large). A committee staffer said that hearings have been held on the bill, but no action is scheduled for it at this time.