By Donna Jordan

After many years of advocacy and with the breakthroughs of modern science, the time is NOW to modernize New Jerseys HIV-specific criminal statutes

We know discrimination. Weve been fighting against it our entire lives. And when we learned that there are laws that discriminate against people living with HIV (PLHIV), we couldnt stay silent.

The issue of HIV/AIDS is very personal to me. I lost several friends to the disease during the height of the epidemic in the 1980s and early 90s. Friends who, if diagnosed today, would have had the opportunity to live long, healthy lives thanks to modern medicine. What I didnt realize was that those friends living with HIV today would face prosecution for their status. HIV criminalization laws that were enacted decades ago created initially as misinformed public health tools and guided by a culture of fear have not been updated to meet the latest science.

Criminal justice reform is another issue that is personal to our family. I became intimate with the injustice of our criminal system while my son Michael was preparing for his role as the formidable Bryan Stevenson in Just Mercy. Yes, we already knew that the justice system was racist, but Michaels experience in this film made it even more glaringly obvious.

And now, collectively, we sit at an intersection of race and criminalization issues that hit close to home, quite literally. Our home state of New Jersey is one of the many states with outdated criminal laws that specifically target people living with HIV. When you combine a disease that disproportionately affects Black men and women with a criminal justice system that discriminates against them, you have the perfect storm of racism and inequality.

This is also a problem of public health. These laws make it criminal for anyone with an HIV diagnosis to expose another person through physical contact, including biting or spitting. This means that even if someones conduct poses little to no risk of HIV transmission, they can still be charged with a crime.

Research shows that these laws dont align with current science, but they do perpetuate discrimination. A 2017 study from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found no correlation between HIV diagnosis rates and the effectiveness of criminal exposure laws.

In addition, the Williams Institute found that Black and Latinx people comprise 51% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in California but make up 67% of those charged under HIV laws. Additionally, Black men and women in Georgia are significantly more likely to be arrested for HIV-related offenses than their white counterparts; Black men are also twice as likely to be convicted.

In New Jersey, the situation is just as dire. New Jerseyans can be convicted of HIV transmission even when there is no transmission or intent to transmit. I stress people living with HIV (PLHIV) can be convicted of a crime that did not happen. New Jersey has also seen cases where people living with HIV (PLHIV) have been charged under both HIV-specific criminal laws and general criminal laws. This treatment has led to individuals pleading guilty for the hope of a lesser sentence.

These antiquated laws dont stop transmission; instead, they discourage people from seeking testing and treatment because a positive test result subjects a person to criminal liability. In many cases, PLHIV are forced to register as sex offenders after conviction, leading to lifelong problems with employment, housing and medical care. As Black people are charged at a disproportionate rate, these laws are just one more way our systems operate against the interest of marginalized communities.

Discriminatory laws are not the solution to our present HIV epidemic. We must modernize the laws, improve access to testing and medication, and erase the stigma.

As of January 2021, two bills that help do just that are on track to be written into New Jersey State Law. S2545 prohibits long-term care facilities from discriminating against LGBTQI individuals due to their gender identity, perceived or actual sexual orientation, HIV status, intersex status, or gender expression. Additionally, A687/S1039 authorizes pharmacists to dispense HIV prophylaxis without individual prescription under certain circumstances and mandates prescription benefits coverage.

We will continue to fight against discrimination. We hope that you will join us. Please contact your elected officials to demand they vote in favor of these two pieces of legislation and against the criminalization of people living with HIV/AIDS. For more information, visit Garden State Equality.

Donna Jordan has been a school counselor at Newark Arts High School, the school that her son, actor Michael B. Jordan, attended.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Heres how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.

Visit link:

Michael B. Jordans mom says its time to end the HIV epidemic in New Jersey | Opinion - nj.com