Let me see if I get this straight: The Department of Corrections is going to give condoms to inmates at California State Prison, Solano, to protect them from the consequences of doing something that they are forbidden by law to do ("Inmates get condoms in new program," The Reporter, July 29).

Is there anyone else who sees the wrong-headedness in this whacky program? It is yet another example of how modern society is taking the old-fashioned and out-of-date notion of personal responsibility away from individuals (in this case prisoners, no less) who engage in a dangerous and reprehensible activity…

It's illegal for inmates to have sex in California prisons, but that's not stopping the state from installing condom machines at California State Prison Solano.

For the next year, KCRA-TV says 1,000 prisoners will be able to retrieve prophylactics from 10 machines throughout the facility. A non-profit group is paying for the trial program, which is budgeted for about 1,200 condoms a week.

"We know risk behavior is being reduced," Mary Sylla of the Center for Health Justice tells the station. "We will eventually be reducing HIV infections by this measure…"

A pilot program that will allow condoms to be distributed to about 1,000 inmates at California State Prison, Solano, at best offers a mighty mixed message.

On one hand, it is illegal for inmates to have sex in prison. On the other hand, such acts take place and propagate the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

That's why Assembly Bill 1334 by Assemblyman Sandré Swanson, D-Oakland, was written in the first place. It would have allowed nonprofit and public health agencies to distribute "sexual barrier protection devises" to state inmates, a program that has been deemed successful in some county jails. It passed both the Assembly and Senate, but was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last October…

A new pilot program at California State Prison Solano will make condoms available to inmates in an effort to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

The objective of the Sexual Barrier Device Distribution Project as outlined in documents obtained by The Reporter, is to assess the risk and viability of distributing condoms within California prisons.

In its report, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation recognizes that consensual and non-consensual sexual activity between inmates may occur in spite of regulations prohibiting such conduct. The report goes on to state that outbreaks of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases have been documented in many state prison systems and that state and federal prison inmates are affected by rates of HIV infection that are three to five times that in the free population…