The practice of making condoms available in jails is not uncommon. But there is plenty of discussion about whether it is the right thing to do.
This strikes me the same way the needle-exchange programs did 20 years ago. On the one hand, practicality dictates that we recognize that sex in jail and prison is a reality of life behind bars, and that it has the potential to be a big health hazard. On the other hand, when prisons and jails provide condoms, how can they enforce “no-sex” policies?
In San Francisco, a jail has installed 16 condom machines in one facility. Some state prisons and county jails make condoms available, and some do not. But there is a high rate of confirmed AIDS cases behind bars.
It’s not that states don’t know that there is unprotected sex going on. In just the state of Tennessee, prison officials filed 5,700 charges of sexual misconduct in seven years.
The Justice Department says that at the end of 2008, there were more than 20,000 state prisoners and more than 1,500 federal prisoners diagnosed as HIV positive or with confirmed cases of AIDS.
How does your state/county lockup feel about condoms in prison? Even if the government did not provide them, would they allow outside health groups to distribute condoms to inmates/prisoners? Why or why not? In big-city jails in Washington, D.C., or New York City, is there proof that condoms have reduced sexually transmitted diseases? Is there evidence that sexual activity increased?