DREDF Model Testimony Regarding HIV Criminalization (PDF)
August 2022
State laws that criminalize, or enhance the criminal penalties for, acts by people who are HIV-positive violate the nondiscrimination principles of the Americans with Disabilities Act. […]
DREDF Opposes HIV Criminalization
March 29, 2022
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) opposes the criminalization of people based on their HIV-positive status. In addition to being harmful to public health, laws and prosecution targeting HIV-positive people constitute discrimination on the basis of disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits disability discrimination by state and local governments. State laws and prosecutions that criminalize people living with HIV without a basis in current objective medical and scientific knowledge violate the ADA and other antidiscrimination mandates. We urge lawmakers across the country to modernize their HIV laws and policies, and to discard outdated and harmful punitive approaches. […]