Knowingly Exposing Others to HIV Infection No Longer a Felony in CA

Posted on Monday, January 21, 2019 by Post Scripts

posted by Jack

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Friday that lowers from a felony to a misdemeanor the crime of knowingly exposing a sexual partner to HIV without disclosing the infection.

The measure also applies to those who give blood without telling the blood bank that they are HIV-positive.  (This will be a big break for infected homeless types)

Modern medicine allows those with HIV to live longer lives and nearly eliminates the possibility of transmission, according to state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego), authors of the bill.  (Of course the author had to be from San Francisco. )

“Today California took a major step toward treating HIV as a public health issue, instead of treating people living with HIV as criminals,” Wiener said in a statement. “HIV should be treated like all other serious infectious diseases, and that’s what SB 239 does.”

Supporters of the change said the current law requires an intent to transmit HIV to justify a felony, but others noted cases have been prosecuted where there was no physical contact, so there was an argument intent was lacking.

Brown declined to comment on his action.

HIV has been the only communicable disease for which exposure is a felony under California law. The current law, Wiener argued, may convince people not to be tested for HIV, because without a test they cannot be charged with a felony if they expose a partner to the infection.

“We are going to end new HIV infections, and we will do so not by threatening people with state prison time, but rather by getting people to test and providing them access to care,” Wiener said.

Supporters of the bill said women engaging in prostitution are disproportionately targeted with criminal charges, even in cases where the infection is not transmitted.

Republican lawmakers including Sen. Joel Anderson of Alpine voted against the bill, arguing it puts the public at risk.

“I’m of the mind that if you purposefully inflict another with a disease that alters their lifestyle the rest of their life, puts them on a regimen of medications to maintain any kind of normalcy, it should be a felony,” Anderson said during the floor debate. “It’s absolutely crazy to me that we should go light on this.”

Anderson said the answer could be to extend tougher penalties to those who expose others to other infectious diseases.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

6 Responses to Knowingly Exposing Others to HIV Infection No Longer a Felony in CA

  1. J. Soden says:
    Tuesday, January 22, 2019 at 7:34 am

    Taxifornia’s Lunkhead Legislature and Moonbeam are now responsible for any aids-related deaths resulting from a blood transfusion.

    Reply
  2. Libby says:
    Tuesday, January 22, 2019 at 9:25 am

    But it’s still a misdemeanor … and the new laws are more into diversion than incarceration. Incarceration is very expensive, you know. Shouldn’t you be pleased?

    https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DOA/CDPH%20Document%20Library/SB%20239%20OA%20Fact%20Sheet%202017_ADA-ADA.pdf

    Why do you always believe your inflammatory “news” providers … why do you NEVER go to the source?

    Reply
  3. Harold says:
    Tuesday, January 22, 2019 at 9:32 am

    Jack, this bill that the post refers too, was that SB 239 was that the bill signed by Brown in 2017?

    Reply
  4. Cherokee Jack says:
    Wednesday, January 23, 2019 at 4:24 pm

    Great! They pass laws intended to deprive me of my God-given rights, they take my money and give it away to anyone likely to vote for them, they destroy our schools, and now they set booby traps in the hospitals.
    Dammit, I know I mentioned this before, but I’ve lived in California all my life, and I’ve put too much of myself into my home to let the stinkin’ liberals run me off. (That includes you, Libby.)
    I’m a couple of years past fighting age, so I guess my only alternative is to do it my way as much as possible without attracting too much attention.

    Reply
  5. RHT447 says:
    Saturday, January 26, 2019 at 7:44 am

    Off topic, but another one to file under—

    Hahahahahahahahaflippingmoronswhatdidyouexpect?

    https://www.recoilweb.com/compmag-fast-loading-fixed-magazine-145933.html

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.