Former inmate with HIV sues Michigan prisons over punishment

GRAND RAPIDS (AP) — A former Michigan prisoner who is HIV-positive says his diagnosis led to a more severe punishment than another inmate after the men were accused by other inmates of engaging in a sex act.

The Grand Rapids Press reports John Dorn’s lawsuit filed last Thursday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids says the Americans with Disabilities Act and his constitutional rights were violated.

Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz says the agency, which hasn’t been served with the lawsuit, had no comment.

Dorn says the other inmate at Carson City Correctional Facility in Montcalm County got 30 days of lost privileges. Instead of similar punishment, Dorn says he was placed in administrative segregation, given a higher security classification and transferred to a prison in the Upper Peninsula.