Elton John AIDS Foundation Calls on State and Federal Governments to Stop Criminalizing HIV

The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) and Chairman David Furnish have issued a statement calling on state and federal governments to put an end to all criminal laws that target HIV for felony prosecution and punishment. The statement points to the Michael Johnson case in Missouri as illustrative of these irrational laws and draconian punishments, noting that if Johnson was convicted of vehicular manslaughter he would have received a sentence of seven years or less. Instead he was given a 30+ year sentence for having consensual sex with five other men; one of the men claimed that Johnson transmitted HIV to him. EJAF is a leading supporter of anti-criminalization efforts -- see their Spotlight on HIV Criminalization, released on April 2016 -- and a major funder of CHLP's Positive Justice Project.