A lawsuit challenging Missouris policy of placing people with HIV in prolonged solitary confinement has reached a settlement.Lambda Legal, the MacArthur Justice Center, and the law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon filed the suit on behalf of Honesty Bishop, a transgender woman living with HIV who was incarcerated in a Missouri Department of Corrections (MODOC) facility. The lawsuit argued that the MODOC discriminated against people with HIV by subjecting them to extended isolation. Bishop died while the case was pending. Related Jail allegedly denied father-of-two his HIV meds. Now hes dead. This settlement honors her memory and ensures that others wont have to suffer what Honesty went through, Latasha Monroe, Bishops sister, said in a statement. Her courage in speaking out has created lasting changes.Bishop was placed in solitary confinement after being assaulted by her cellmate. Prison officials classified the incident as a PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) event, despite the fact that her HIV was virally suppressed and posed no risk of transmission. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today She ultimately spent more than six yearsbetween 2015 and 2021in isolation at the Jefferson City Correctional Center. During this time, she was denied gender-affirming medical care, repeatedly exposed to chemical agents used against others, and told by a corrections caseworker that she would rot in there because of her HIV status. Her grievances about the length of her confinement were denied. The prolonged isolation caused her severe depression and anxiety, leading to suicide attempts in 2015 and 2016.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, Shubra Ohri, a senior counsel at the MacArthur Justice Center, said in a statement. The lawsuit argued that MODOCs solitary confinement policy for people with HIV violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Missouri was one of only three states that explicitly targeted people to prolonged solitary confinement based on their HIV status.Under the settlement, MODOC agreed to eliminate discriminatory language from its policies, require individualized medical assessments before considering segregation based on communicable diseases, provide mandatory staff training, and pay compensation to Bishops estate.Bishop was released from solitary confinement in July 2021 and granted parole the following year. She died by suicide in 2024. Her sisters believe the years she spent in isolation played a huge role in her death.While we deeply mourn the loss of Ms. Bishop, this settlement ensures that her fight for justice was not in vain, Lambda Legal counsel Richard Saenz said in a statement. 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.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.