Prison Nation: Posters on the Prison Industrial Complex

52. Health Care Not Death Care ACT UP/LA, Critical Mass Silkscreen, 1990 Los Angeles, CA In 1990, the overcrowded California Institution for Women at Frontera, was the country's second largest women's prison. All women diagnosed with HIV or AIDS were segregated inside, in the Walker A Unit. The conditions and treatment for these women were deplorable— there was no infectious disease doctor and Frontera had no licensed infirmary. Women died in their cells without medical attention. The prison staff did not want to come in contact with those who were infected. Deaths were sometimes discovered when the food trays piled up. This poster was first used in a boisterous ACT UP/LA demonstration outside the Frontera prison on November 30, 1990. Prisoners inside were placed on lockdown but could hear AIDS activists chanting, "sisters on the inside, sisters on the outside, ACT UP is watching, you won't die." When a series of protests moved to the California Department of Corrections main offices in Sacramento, ACT UP took over the offices of the prison system's Chief Medical Officer to demand an end to inhumane conditions for incarcerated people with AIDS. Several of ACT UP/LA's demands were implemented. An infectious disease doctor was assigned to Walker A. One woman, Judy Cagle, became the first inmate in the history of the CDC to be granted a compassionate release. The segregation policy was changed and the women with AIDS were moved into a medical facility.

These actions by ACT UP/LA and other California ACT UP chapters and in particular, the ACT UP/LA's Womens Caucus, inspired ACT UP chapters in other states to take action and advocate better treatment for all prisoners living with AIDS.