HIV Criminalization 101

[MNBrewer]

http://blogs.poz.com/sean/archives/2010/11/criminalization_101.html

"The Iowa case provides a sobering illustration of the problem. The person with HIV who was charged with failing to disclose his status to a sexual partner was a 34-year old gay man who had been a volunteer with a local AIDS organization. He met a male partner online and went to his house. The person with HIV was on anti-retroviral therapy, had an undetectable viral load and used a condom when anally penetrating his partner. He posed little or no risk of transmitting the virus to his partner.

When the partner later heard that the man he had been intimate with had HIV, he went to the county prosecutor and pressed charges. The person with HIV was convicted under Iowa's extreme statute and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Fortunately, advocates were successful in getting the sentencing reviewed and after serving eleven months, he was released on five years' probation.

However, he still must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, is subject to wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet and cannot leave his home county without permission from the court. He may not be around children (including his nieces and nephews) without adult supervision. He must, for the rest of his life, take lie detector tests every six months that ask intimate questions, including whether he wears women's clothing and if he is attracted to children or animals. He is prohibited from viewing any kind of pornography or even visiting social networking sites, like Facebook.

Iowa's statute is particularly broad--in theory, it could cause a person with HIV who kissed another person without disclosing their HIV positive status to be sentenced to as much as 25 years in prison--but other state's statutes and sentencing are equally as absurd. "

[shenmue]

1. I don't know how I think about this

On the one hand, a disease is a disease. On the other, I think it is horrible to infect someone without letting them know or at least protecting yourself.

[MNBrewer]

2. Nobody was infected

His viral load was undetectable, he used a condom (which is the recommended way to prevent transmission, after all).

NOBODY was infected, and they USED A CONDOM!!!!!

[shenmue]

3. I stand corrected

Thank you.