Today, Lambda Legal, the MacArthur Justice Center, and law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon 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’ (“MODOC”) 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, 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. As she alleged in her complaint, she was placed in solitary confinement after she was brutally assaulted by her cellmate. Under MODOC policy, she was placed in solitary confinement for this assault, which was deemed a “PREA event”, despite posing no risk of HIV transmission because her HIV was virally suppressed.
Ms. Bishop passed away during the course of this litigation, but her family and legal team continued to pursue justice on behalf of her estate and in her memory, with hopes of preventing similar treatment of incarcerated people living with HIV, including transgender people living with HIV.
As of 2020, over 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.
This settlement includes substantive 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 to 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 Ms. Bishop’s estate.
“My sister, Honesty, was a fighter who never gave up,” said Latasha Monroe, Ms. Bishop’s sister and personal representative for the Estate of Honesty Jade Bishop. “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. Her courage in speaking out has created lasting changes.”
“While we deeply mourn the loss of Ms. Bishop, this settlement ensures that her fight for justice was not in vain,” said Richard Saenz, Lambda Legal Counsel. “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.”
“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,” said Shubra Ohri, a senior counsel at the MacArthur Justice Center. “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.”
“This settlement represents a critical victory in our ongoing fight against HIV criminalization and discrimination,” said Jose Abrigo, Lambda Legal HIV Project Director. “For too long, correctional systems across the country have subjected people living with HIV to punitive and medically unjustified isolation based on outdated stigma rather than modern science.”
“We were honored to work alongside Lambda Legal and MacArthur Justice to achieve this profound outcome in Honesty’s memory,” said Shook, Hardy & Bacon Partner Jennifer Hackman. “We 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 Monroe v. Foley, et al. here.