Missouri’s HIV Criminalization Impacts Hundreds
Gradual increase in punitive measures led to more arrests and longer imprisonment
BY MATT TRACY
Nearly 600 people have
been swept up by HIV
criminalization laws
in Missouri following a
gradual increase in penalties targeting
individuals living with HIV/
AIDS in the state between 1988
and 2002, according to a new report
by the Williams Institute, a
UCLA-based think tank focusing
on sexual orientation and gender
identity law.
At least 593 individuals were
arrested between 1990 and 2019
as the result of the state’s severe
restrictions on individuals living
with HIV/ AIDS, and 318 of those
people have been convicted of
those crimes, according to the report.
Sentences have ranged from
2.9 years to 10 years, depending
on the crime and the time when
a person was fi rst arrested since
sentences have increased as the
laws became more punitive.
Those most impacted by the
laws have been individuals accused
of exposing state employees
to their bodily fl uids. HIV-positive
sex workers, Black men, and those
living in the St. Louis metropolitan
area have been among those most
likely to face punishment under
the laws. Moreover, the laws have
affected a signifi cant portion of the
people living with HIV in the state:
One in 60 Missourians living with
HIV have at least been arrested
due to the laws.
The timeline of HIV criminalization
measures in Missouri provides
important background information
behind the large number
of people who have been negatively
impacted. A law that passed in
1988, 191.677, banned people living
with HIV from even attempting
to be a blood, organ, sperm, or tissue
donor (except when declared
➤ ATTEMPTED MURDER, from p.12
her prosecution effort to focus solely
on the attempted murder charge.
Acting Queens Supreme Court
Justice Peter Vallone, Sr., who is
Missouri Department of Corrections facilities like this one have housed HIV-positive people caught up
in harsh sentences for “exposing” corrections offi cials and other state employees to bodily fl uids.
necessary for medical reasons). It
also banned people from deliberately
infecting another person. An
infraction under this law amounted
to a Class D felony punishable
by a sentence of seven years behind
bars.
However, the law was strengthened
even further in 1997 when it
was amended to ban people living
with HIV from “exposing” another
person to HIV — though not necessarily
“infecting” them — and it established
that condom use was not
an acceptable defense. The penalties,
previously capped at seven
years, were also boosted to up to
a decade behind bars if the person
charged with the crime was over 21
and their partner was under 17.
Finally, the law was updated yet
again in 2002 — and remains in
that form today. The 2002 update
added “biting” or other actions under
the law banning the HIV-positive
overseeing the case, “indicated”
that he would sentence Viltus to
10 years in prison and fi ve years
of post-release supervision, according
to the DA. Viltus’ sentencing is
scheduled for April 8.
MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
individual from allowing their
semen, vaginal secretions, or blood
to contact the mucous membranes
of another person. The penalty
classifi cation was also increased
from a Class D felony to a Class B
felony — even when the person living
with HIV did not transmit the
virus — and called for sentences to
range from fi ve to 15 years. Those
who did transmit the virus faced
sentences ranging from 10 to 30
years.
Individuals living with HIV in
Missouri get criminalized in other
ways, as well. The state enacted
laws in 2005 and 2010, respectively,
criminalizing exposure of Department
of Corrections offi cials
and Department of Mental Health
offi cials to blood, seminal fl uid,
urine, feces, or saliva. Those penalties
were even more severe if the
alleged perpetrator knew they were
living with HIV/ AIDS, hepatitis B,
“Our transgender population
has faced a tremendous amount of
violence all over this country,” Katz
said in a written statement. “The
victim in this case was attempting
to free herself from the sex trade industry
CRIME
or hepatitis C. Of the 598 total people
arrested for HIV crimes, 398
were busted at least once for exposing
HIV to state employees. All
but two of those cases pertained to
exposing employees connected to
the Department of Corrections.
There are clear patterns when
examining the effects of the law by
race. Considering that Black men,
for example, represent 5.5 percent
of the state’s population but
make up 35 percent of those living
with HIV, that demographic was
already very vulnerable to be impacted
by the law. But while Black
individuals make up 11.8 percent
of the state’s population, they represent
56.5 percent of those who
are at least arrested for HIV-related
crimes and 60 percent of those
convicted under those laws.
“Violations of these laws are all
felonies,” the report’s lead author,
Brad Sears, said in a written statement.
“They do not require that
the defendant actually infect anyone
— or intend to infect anyone
— and they include behaviors that
pose no or little risk of transmission.
These laws are disproportionately
enforced against already vulnerable
communities and aren’t
preventing the spread of HIV and
hepatitis.”
Several legal challenges to the
laws have been unsuccessful, but
state lawmakers introduced a bill
this year to revise the laws and
a hearing is slated to take place
in March. If passed, the new law
would require an individual to have
shown “specifi c intent” to transmit
the virus and would allow the use
of condoms as a defense. It also
would specifi cally only criminalize
exposure to blood and bodily fl uid
“that has been scientifi cally shown
to be a known means of transmission
of a serious infectious or communicable
disease.”
when the defendant — who
was pocketing the money she made
— attacked her and could have
killed her. The defendant has now
admitted his guilt and will be punished
for this criminal act.”
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