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D.C. Changes Jail Condom Policy

Washington, D.C., Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly recently unveiled a plan to combat AIDS that includes distributing condoms to the city's inmates. The plan, which was scheduled to take effect in July, will combine condom distribution with educational AIDS programming. A voluntary course for inmates is being replaced by six mandatory 90-minute classes that will cover how AIDS is transmitted, sexual attitudes among men and women and self-esteem issues. Inmates also will be encouraged to get confidential AIDS tests and counseling.

Sex between inmates remains against the rules. In the District, inmates having consensual sex may lose privileges and be segregated in their cells for up to two weeks. Washington joins three other cities--New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco--and two states, Vermont and Mississippi, that provide condoms to inmates.

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