Lambda Legal, the MacArthur Justice Center and law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon today (Thursday, Aug. 21) announced a settlement in Monroe, Administratrix of the Estate of Honesty Bishop v. Foley, et. al.,a federal lawsuit alleging that a discriminatory Missouri Department of Corrections policy resulted in the prolonged use of solitary confinement against people living with HIV.
The case was brought on behalf of Honesty Bishop, originally under the pseudonym “Roe,” a formerly incarcerated transgender woman living with HIV, who was held in solitary confinement for more than six years between 2015 and 2021 at the Jefferson City Correctional Center because of alleged unconstitutional and discriminatory policies against people living with HIV.
Bishop alleged in her complaint, she was placed in solitary confinement after she was assaulted by her cellmate. Under MODOC policy, she was placed in solitary confinement for this assault, which was deemed a “PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) event,” despite posing no risk of HIV transmission because her HIV was virally suppressed.
As of 2020, more than 10,000 incarcerated people were living with HIV in state and federal prisons. Transgender people are disproportionately impacted by both the prison and jail systems as well as HIV. This makes trans women of color at exponentially higher risk of being both incarcerated and living with HIV.
Bishop passed away during the course of the lawsuit, but her family and legal team continued with the case on behalf of her estate in hopes of “preventing similar treatment of incarcerated people living with HIV, including transgender people living with HIV,” according to a Lambda Legal press release announcing the settlement.
This settlement requires changes to MODOC’s policy that:
• removes discriminatory language that singles out people living with HIV for segregation, i.e. solitary confinement which is severe disciplinary action.
• adds language requiring an individualized assessment be conducted in consultation with medical staff if segregation, i.e., solitary confinement is being considered based on someone’s communicable disease, including HIV.
• requires mandatory training for certain MODOC staff, and
• monetary compensation to Bishop’s estate.
Latasha Monroe, Bishop’s sister and the personal representative for the Estate of Honesty Jade Bishop, said in a press release, “My sister, Honesty, was a fighter who never gave up. She endured years of cruel treatment because of her HIV status, but she never stopped believing that things could change.
“This settlement honors her memory and ensures that others won’t have to suffer what Honesty went through,” Monroe added. “Her courage in speaking out has created lasting changes.”
Lambda Legal counsel Richard Saenz said, “While we deeply mourn the loss of Ms. Bishop, this settlement ensures that her fight for justice was not in vain. The substantive policy changes and training achieved through this agreement will protect incarcerated people living with HIV from the kind of discriminatory treatment and prolonged isolation that no human being should ever endure.”
Shubra Ohri, a senior counsel at the MacArthur Justice Center, said, “Honesty spent years in torturous isolation based solely on a discriminatory policy. She was denied her basic human rights and the prolonged solitary confinement infringed upon her dignity.”
Ohri added, “Her legacy will be felt across Missouri as other incarcerated folks living with HIV will no longer face the harsh and discriminatory practices that she did.
Jose Abrigo, Lambda Legal’s HIV Project director, called the settlement “a critical victory in our ongoing fight against HIV criminalization and discrimination.” Jennifer Hackman, partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon said her firm was “honored to work alongside Lambda Legal and MacArthur Justice” in this case, and will “continue to seize opportunities to protect the rights of those most vulnerable.”
The lawsuit Monroe v. Foley, et. al., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, in June 2023, alleged that MODOC’s policy violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by subjecting Ms. Bishop to prolonged solitary confinement based on her HIV status.
Read more about the case at the Lambda Legal website.