Objectives To review the extant literature on HIV criminal laws, and to determine the impact of these laws on public health practice.Methods The available research on this topic was obtained and reviewed.Results The extant literature addressed three main topics: people's awareness of HIV criminal laws; people's perceptions of HIV criminal laws; and the potential effects of HIV criminal laws on people's sexual, HIV-status disclosure and healthcare-seeking practices. Within these categories, the literature demonstrated a high level of awareness of HIV criminal (...) laws, but a poor comprehension of these laws. For perceptions, on the whole, the quantitative research identified support for, while the qualitative literature indicated opposition to, these laws. Lastly, the behavioural effects of HIV criminal laws appear to be complex and non-linear.Conclusions A review of the extant literature from a public health perspective leads to the conclusion that HIV criminal laws undermine public health. (shrink)

In the foundational piece in this issue of the journal, “Integrating Law and Social Epidemiology,” Burris, Kawachi, and Sarat present a model for understanding the relationship between law and health. This article uses the case of a specific health condition, the human immunodeficiency virus infection, as an opportunity to flesh out this schema and to test how the model “fits” the world of the HIV pandemic. In applying the model to this communicable disease, we hope to illustrate the multitude of (...) ways that laws affect the course of the pandemic as well as the course of an individual’s vulnerability or resilience to the disease, and how the complexities of an individual’s life dealing with the virus interface with the world of laws and legal institutions. (shrink)

In the foundational piece in this issue of the journal, “Integrating Law and Social Epidemiology,” Burris, Kawachi, and Sarat present a model for understanding the relationship between law and health. This article uses the case of a specific health condition, the human immunodeficiency virus infection, as an opportunity to flesh out this schema and to test how the model “fits” the world of the HIV pandemic. In applying the model to this communicable disease, we hope to illustrate the multitude of (...) ways that laws affect the course of the pandemic as well as the course of an individual’s vulnerability or resilience to the disease, and how the complexities of an individual’s life dealing with the virus interface with the world of laws and legal institutions. (shrink)

Since at least the mid-1970s, public health and law enforcement officials have conducted joint or parallel investigations of both health problems possibly associated with criminal intent and crimes having particular health dimensions. However, the anthrax and other terrorist attacks of fall 2001 have dramatically underscored the needs that public health and law enforcement officials have for a clear understanding of the goals and methods each discipline uses in investigating such problems, including and especially the potential use of biologic agents as (...) weapons of mass destruction. Recognition of these needs has prompted some experts to call for the application of “forensic epidemiology” to such problems. Even before the attacks of fall 2001, other problems, such as the detection of the West Nile Virus in the United States and concerns that the emergence of this infectious agent was the consequence of a deliberate act, raised novel challenges to the combined interests of public health and criminal investigators. (shrink)

Since at least the mid-1970s, public health and law enforcement officials have conducted joint or parallel investigations of both health problems possibly associated with criminal intent and crimes having particular health dimensions. However, the anthrax and other terrorist attacks of fall 2001 have dramatically underscored the needs that public health and law enforcement officials have for a clear understanding of the goals and methods each discipline uses in investigating such problems, including and especially the potential use of biologic agents as (...) weapons of mass destruction. Recognition of these needs has prompted some experts to call for the application of “forensic epidemiology” to such problems. Even before the attacks of fall 2001, other problems, such as the detection of the West Nile Virus in the United States and concerns that the emergence of this infectious agent was the consequence of a deliberate act, raised novel challenges to the combined interests of public health and criminal investigators. (shrink)

Criminal law and the proceedings surrounding it work, at least in theory, much like an author works when writing a play or a novel. Both the lawyer and the writer follow traditional formulae that allow them to create and express a vision of reality. When done well, the reality created is virtually seamless. This, however, is the point at which law and literary works diverge. Although we embrace creativity in literary endeavors, we would prefer that the foundation of our legal (...) system be something more substantial. Unfortunately, where US. criminal HIV exposure statutes are concerned, there appears to be little if any concrete connection between proscribed behaviors and what we know about HIV transmission risk. Twenty-four states in the U.S. make it a criminal offense for a person who has HIV to expose another to the virus through consensual sexual activities. The relationship between the activities prohibited by these laws and actual risk of virus transmission is tenuous at best. (shrink)

Criminal law and the proceedings surrounding it work, at least in theory, much like an author works when writing a play or a novel. Both the lawyer and the writer follow traditional formulae that allow them to create and express a vision of reality. When done well, the reality created is virtually seamless. This, however, is the point at which law and literary works diverge. Although we embrace creativity in literary endeavors, we would prefer that the foundation of our legal (...) system be something more substantial. Unfortunately, where US. criminal HIV exposure statutes are concerned, there appears to be little if any concrete connection between proscribed behaviors and what we know about HIV transmission risk. Twenty-four states in the U.S. make it a criminal offense for a person who has HIV to expose another to the virus through consensual sexual activities. The relationship between the activities prohibited by these laws and actual risk of virus transmission is tenuous at best. (shrink)

The response many gay men took to the HIV epidemic in the United States was largely informal, especially given distant state and federal governments. The condom code, a set of informal norms that encouraged the use of condoms, is one instance of this informal response, which was wholly uncoordinated. Yet, it is not clear why these informal norms emerged or why they have since eroded. This paper explores how gay men in particular generated expectations and normative beliefs regarding condom usage, (...) which helped to establish the condom code as an informal norm. Furthermore, the erosion of the condom code is viewed as a result of changing expectations, which change as bio-medical means of HIV treatment and prevention develop and as online and digital communities facilitate serosorting, all of which provide alternatives to condoms as a means of prevention and their associated informal norms. Future HIV prevention campaigns should recognize the extent to which informal norms coordinate and encourage preventative behavior, as well as how beliefs and expectations alter the informal norms people adopt. (shrink)