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Abstract: 

Editor’s Note: The intentional or even reckless spread of HIV is taken seriously under the law. It is also handled with misunderstanding and overreaching. Because it has potentially deadly consequences, some states liken HIV to a weapon, placing stringent sanctions on persons who pass it along to others. (See, e.g., People v. Shawn, 107 P.3d 1033, 1036 (Colo. Ct. App. 2004); U.S. v. Moore, 846 F.2d 1163 (8th Cir. 1988).) However, in terms of disclosure, the requirements applied to people carrying a gun, for example, are far more rigorous than the laws applied to people carrying HIV. Earlier installments of this article summarized several highly publicized AIDS transmission cases, public reaction to the spread of the virus, and the public policy arguments driving criminal HIV-transmission statutes. The last installment continued the discussion of the laws currently applied to prosecute intentional transmission of HIV and sample cases under these statutes from various jurisdictions throughout the country.

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