Recently Gov. Jerry Brown has signed Senate Bill 239 into law, changing older legislation pertaining to the sentencing related to HIV. However, much controversy has ensued.
For one, the new bill repeals old legislation that mandates that those who are aware of their HIV positive status, have unprotected sex with someone with whom they have not disclosed this status with the intent of transmitting the virus can be convicted of a felony with 3-8 years in state prison. The old legislation also says that those who are HIV positive and intentionally donate blood materials that end up infecting someone can be sentenced with a felony and 2-6 years in state prison. There are also parts in the old legislation that single out sex-workers who test HIV positive, giving them extra hoops to jump through.
The new legislation removes language regarding sex workers, and makes both of the above offenses misdemeanors punishable with up to 6 months in state prison.
Much of the outrage lies in the fact that people feel that the new legislation lets those who intentionally infect people with a potentially deadly disease off with a misdemeanor. On the other hand, others argue that this bill brings us into a modern age of destigmatizing those with HIV and making the playing field more equitable for sex workers. They also argue that HIV is no longer a lethal disease, as drugs are available to manage it.
What do you think?
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB239
~Scarlett
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment