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Protection or Prevention: Testing the Prisoner Population for Communicable Diseases

Prisoners, because of both pre-incarceration and confinement lifestyles and living conditions, are at greater risk for contracting communicable, often lethal, diseases than are non-incarcerated persons. Despite current knowledge about the numbers of inmates who are infected with HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, and other communicable diseases, legislators and correctional administrators have resisted making policy decisions mandating routine communicable disease screening of all inmates. Moreover, in the name of protection of inmate rights, several prisoner suits have been brought on both sides of this issue: Some prisoners have challenged mandatory wholesale screening policies while others have challenged the absence of mandatory screening procedures. This article explores the constitutional arguments that surround the issue of communicable disease screening and the operational difficulties that are a consequence of mandatory screening procedures. It is contended that correctional authorities have an ethical duty to include such screening in their medical treatment protocols.

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