Proposed Law Aims to Stop Criminalizing People with HIV

[William769]

A new bill was introduced to Congress Thursday that would end extensive punishment for people who transmit HIV to others. Rep. Barbara Lee's Repeal HIV Discrimination Act would require all laws and policies about the criminal prosecution for people with HIV.

In Ohio, for example, it is unlawful for an HIVer to engage in sexual acts before disclosing their HIV status to a sexual partner.

"This bill gives a lot of people hope," Tracy Johnson, 23, told Housing Works. "These laws have made me feel like I’m a criminal because I have this illness. Even if I disclose, I know I can still be arrested if my partner gets mad at me and tells the police I didn’t do so."

Currently, 34 states have laws that criminalize exposure to HIV and non-disclosure of HIV with sexual partners, according to the Positive Justice Project. People found guilty of violating such laws can face up to 30 years in prison, and some states require violators to register as sex offenders.

http://hivplusmag.com/NewsStory.asp?id=22172&sd=09/26/2011

[MadHound]

1. I don't agree with registering people with HIV as sex offenders,

But I do think there should be a criminal penalty for a person who knows they have HIV and still goes ahead and has sex with somebody without informing them of this fact.

[William769]

2. How do you prove if it's been disclosed or not?

People know HIV is out there, people know how to protect themselves, and yes People with HIV are still discriminated on a daily basis.

[MadHound]

3. Proving it would be tough,

But I do remember a couple of cases where the perpetrator actually admitted they knowingly tried to pass on HIV to unsuspecting partners back in the eighties. People like that should be punished. Otherwise, you leave it to the jury, as you do any criminal case:shrug:

Yes, I know that people with HIV are still discriminated against on a daily basis, but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be penalized for knowingly passing such a disease on to an unknowing victim. It boils down to a basic public health issue, because their unknowing victim could unwittingly pass the disease on to others before they find out what is wrong, and those victims could also pass it on, etc. etc.

[dkf]

4. Safest way is to get them to sign something.

Or you can agree to record it perhaps.

When it comes to giving a person a possible life sentence and eternal medical bills, we need to err on the side of caution.

[Yo_Mama]

5. If it's a he-said, she-said, you can't take it to trial

The only such cases which I have ever read of reaching actual prosecution were those in which it was obvious - multiple persons had been exposed unknowingly, so the preponderance of the evidence was there.

So I don't agree with this bill. Those laws are only used in exceptional circumstances, but if a person is out there knowingly passing this along to multiple persons, it is a type of reckless endangerment very similar to driving a car drunk. And there should be laws that allow prosecution of such behavior.

Edit: On the other hand, maybe some of this has gotten out of hand. Here's a document compiled by an advocacy group:
http://www.hivlawandpolicy.org/resources/view/456