NCJ Number
118155
Journal
The Compiler Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: (Winter/Spring 1989) Pages: 10-12
Date Published
1989
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The AIDS epidemic is beginning to effect changes in the law and in criminal justice policies and practices, both nationally and in the State of Illinois.
Abstract
By the end of 1988, a total of 2,417 AIDS cases had been diagnosed in Illinois, more than 90 percent of them in the Chicago area; the corresponding number of cases for 1987 was 1,457. Although most people who have AIDS are homosexual or bisexual men, intravenous drug abusers represent the fastest growing group of people being diagnosed with AIDS. A 1988 study in Chicago found that nearly 21 percent of 956 practicing intravenous drug abusers and their sex partners were infected with HIV. At least some of the increase in AIDS among intravenous drug abusers in Chicago is related to cocaine's increased popularity. Only a small number of people with AIDS are in the custody of Illinois' Department of Corrections (IDOC), and most have been intravenous drug abusers. To protect law enforcement and corrections personnel from AIDS, Illinois has developed formal policies and training curricula that stress reasonable precautions in high-risk situations and nondiscrimination against people typically associated with AIDS. During 1988, through a program sponsored by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, 42 law enforcement and corrections personnel were trained as instructors to provide education on AIDS transmission and prevention for their coworkers throughout the State. The number of AIDS cases in Illinois correctional facilities is low; the IDOC monitors inmates who are at high risk of developing AIDS, providing them with medical examinations and blood tests every 3 months. Issues related to whether AIDS transmission is a crime if a person knowingly exposes another individual to HIV and whether a positive HIV test should affect the sentencing of convicted offenders are discussed. 1 table, 1 figure.