NCJ Number
108237
Date Published
1987
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the effectiveness of criminal law proscriptions and quarantine in preventing the transmission of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The author proposes a relevant model statute.
Abstract
A person could be properly charged with a homicide offense if it could be shown that the AIDS virus was knowingly and intentionally or wrecklessly transmitted to another person who subsequently died from it. Such an application of the law is problematic, however, because of the difficulty of proving the source of the victim's virus and the intent of the transferor. The application of criminal assault laws has similar difficulties. Efforts to control the transmission of AIDS through the enforcement of laws prohibiting sodomy, a generally homosexual act that has high potential for the transmission of AIDS, poses problems with respect to privacy, equal protection, and cruel and unusual punishment. Efforts to control the transmission of AIDS through intravenous drug abuse by criminalizing the possession of nonmedically approved hypodermic needles does not offer much promise. The proposed model statute proscribes the knowing transfer of bodily fluid or tissue which may contain the AIDS virus, making it a second-degree felony. The statute provides specific standards for unacceptable conduct relevant to AIDS transmission and raises the penalty for the defined offense. Quarantine measures are not generally legally sustainable because of liberty interests and the absence of evidence that AIDS can be transmitted through casual contact. Subpopulations such as infected prostitutes and promiscuous homosexuals who refuse to alter their sexual behavior may be legally quarantined. 39 footnotes.