Punishing Disease: HIV and the Criminalization of Sickness
Language: English
Aids & Hiv Criminology Disease & Health Issues Diseases & Conditions Health Health & Fitness Jurisprudence Law Medical Medical Law & Legislation Social Science
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Published: Oct 14, 2018
Description:
From the very beginning of the epidemic, AIDS was linked to punishment. Calls to punish people living with HIV—mostly stigmatized minorities—began before doctors had even settled on a name for the disease. Punitive attitudes toward AIDS prompted lawmakers around the country to introduce legislation aimed at criminalizing the behaviors of people living with HIV. Punishing Disease explains how this happened—and its consequences. With the door to criminalizing sickness now open, what other ailments will follow? As lawmakers move to tack on additional diseases such as hepatitis and meningitis to existing law, the question is more than academic.