Our Work

Resource
The latest news on HIV criminalization from the Positive Justice Project, including CHLP's call to DOJ to investigate laws in Ohio and Tennessee for violating the ADA, support for Rep. Barbara Lee's REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act, and up-to-the-minute updates from state legislatures around the country.
Flag of the US DOJ
News
The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP) has filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of people living with HIV in Ohio and Tennessee who have been prosecuted or are at risk of prosecution under criminal laws that single out HIV for uniquely punitive treatment. The complaints allege that these laws violate federal laws prohibiting disability-based discrimination.
Photo by Marion Touvel
News
On January 11, 2022, New Jersey legislators voted to repeal the state’s HIV-specific felony law but left the door wide open for felony prosecutions to continue without requiring transmission to occur.
News
The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) convened the 72nd full council meeting on Monday, November 15, and Wednesday, November 17, 2021, during the public comment period, CHLP’s Amir Sadeghi testified on molecular HIV surveillance.
The Fine Print Blog
On International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, the struggle to end criminalization based on identity and health/disability-related bias is far from over. To secure real justice for those who are crushed by the horrific inequities of the criminal legal system, we need to be intentional about keeping the bigger picture in view and centering the concrete needs of the most marginalized, the most criminalized, and the most unheard.
News
CHLP is one of 90+ organizations endorsing the "CCD Rights and Allies" sign-on letter that the Bazelon Center drafted and that was sent on Monday, December 6, 2021 to all Senate offices urging Senators to recommend candidates living with disabilities for judicial nominations.
News

This year for World AIDS Day, we mark 40 years since the beginning of the epidemic in the United States.

New Jersey Attorney General Seal
News
Today, the Attorney General of New Jersey took an important step towards decriminalizing sexual activity by people living with PLHIV, announcing guidance to state prosecutors regarding the enforcement of New Jersey's HIV criminal law, which outlaws the sexual relationships of PLHIV.
NY Covid Working Group Logo
Resource
As a member of New York's COVID-19 Working Group, CHLP has endorsed this letter to Governor Kathy Hochul making six recommended actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including in regard to both vaccine confidentiality/immunity passport privacy and vetoing the vaccine card/new crime bill.
CNP HIV Criminalization Roundtable
News

The Counter Narrative Project hosted it's Revolutionary Health Live 2021 HIV Criminalization Roundtable on September 22, 2021.

News
Illinois became the second state (after Texas in 1994) to fully repeal its HIV criminal laws with Governor Pritzker signing Senate Bill 655 into law on July 27, 2021.
News
Part of an ongoing collaboration between CHLP and the APA, this Prosecutors Roundtable provided up-to-date information on the science of infectious disease as it relates to the work of prosecutors and law enforcement in New York City.
Photo by Stephan Müller from Pexels
News
Led by local advocacy groups with assistance from CHLP, the reform process in Nevada produced a major reworking of both criminal and public health codes that take into account modern concepts of individual liberty and racial, gender, and disability justice.
News
Interview with CHLP and health experts centers on New York State bill A3864, new sexual health literacy legislation that will support Ending the HIV Epidemic (EtE) efforts.
News
Along with new data visualizations and insights, AIDSVu is featuring conversations with leaders and activists in the movement who are advocating for meaningful HIV criminalization reforms and repeals across the country.
Photo by CQF-Avocat from Pexels
The Fine Print Blog
How advocates can develop legal challenges to state HIV criminalization laws using the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
News
CHLP's Anne Kelsey and Dr. William M. Valenti authored this op-ed in Syracuse.com on Nushawn Williams and how science, not stigma, should guide the next steps in his case.
Resource
A resource for lawyers and community advocates outlining punitive laws, policies, and cases affecting PLHIV in all 50 states. It may be used as an aid for attorneys of PLHIV prosecuted for “HIV exposure” or non-disclosure of HIV status, as well as for advocates who want to reform the HIV criminal laws in their state.

FIND LAWS IN YOUR STATE

CHLP has compiled information on HIV laws in every state as they relate to HIV-specific criminal laws, guidelines for health care workers with HIV, youth access to STI testing and treatment, and HIV testing.

Get The Latest

Criminal Law
Resource | Posted on January 28, 2022
Criminal Law
News | Posted on January 27, 2022
Criminal Law, HIV as a Disability Under Antidiscrimination Law
News | Posted on January 25, 2022
Criminal Law
Resource | Posted on January 28, 2022
Criminal Law
Resource | Posted on December 17, 2021
Criminal Law
Resource | Posted on September 23, 2021
Criminal Law
Resource | Posted on May 26, 2021
Other Infectious Diseases, Prisons and Jails
Resource | Posted on December 3, 2020
Criminal Law, Sex Work
The Fine Print Blog | Posted on December 17, 2021
The Fine Print Blog | Posted on September 2, 2021
Testing and Informed Consent
The Fine Print Blog | Posted on June 25, 2021
Criminal Law, HIV as a Disability Under Antidiscrimination Law
The Fine Print Blog | Posted on April 13, 2021
Criminal Law, Other Infectious Diseases
The Fine Print Blog | Posted on August 27, 2020