Prison Condom Program Reports No Problems
VACAVILLE, Calif. — Although it is illegal for inmates to have sex in prison, a condom distribution test program in California State Prison, Solano, has reported no major problems in the first four months of operation, according to a prison spokesperson.
Critics of the program say it promotes illegal behavior by inmates and others expressed concern the condoms could be used as weapons or to hide drugs. But, the department has reported no incidents so far.
Proponents of the program point to the high rate of HIV infections among inmates and inmate behavior during incarceration may be riskier for those who do not have access to condoms. One study reported 17 percent of young men in prison had consensual sex with men or women while in jail.
The program was developed in 2007, after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill for the second time that would have allowed nonprofits or public health organizations to distribute condoms to inmates in California prisons.
In the veto, Schwarzenegger acknowledged projects in Los Angeles and San Francisco jails provide inmates with condoms and directed the CDCR to develop a pilot program to “determine the risk and viability of such a program by identifying one state prison facility for the purpose of allowing nonprofit and health agencies to distribute sexual barrier devices.”
The condoms are dispensed from seven machines at the prison, according to officials. Inmates are permitted to carry or keep in their cell one packaged condom. The machines are provided by the Center for Health Justice, which is sponsoring the program. The machines are refilled once a week and hold 144 condoms, but none of the machines have been completely empty since being installed.
The distribution project in the Los Angeles jail was developed to provide gay inmates in dormitory-style housing units with access to condoms without involving custody staff or time. Every week a health educator from the center goes to each dorm, explains the rules of the program and hands one condom to each inmate who lines up to get one, according to a report from the Center.
A survey by the Center of 100 of the 300 inmates in the unit reported 53 percent engaged in anal sex in the last 30 days, but despite access to condoms, 75 percent say the sex was unprotected. The top three reasons given by inmates for not using the condoms were: my partner and I are both HIV negative (or positive), I ran out of condoms and I don’t like the way condoms feel.