Good news -- Alabama taxpayers have been dunned only $1.3 million by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which sued to end the segregation of HIV-positive inmates in the state prison system. It’s good news because the ACLU wanted $2.4 million for its successful litigation forcing prison officials to place inmates who have a communicable, fatal illness in proximity with inmates who don’t. Taxpayers also had to pay a private law firm, Maynard, Cooper & Gale, another $1.76 million to defend the state against the ACLU’s class-action suit, according to Al.com. In December 2012, U.S. District Judge Myron H. Thompson issued a 152-page ruling against Alabama’s Department of Corrections, ordering it to integrate HIV-positive inmates with other inmates. Separating the inmates, the judge said, violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. The state and the ACLU have been wrangling over legal fees ever since, with the ACLU finally agreeing to...(Read Full Article)