California makes knowingly transmitting HIV a misdemeanor rather than a felony.

[makattak]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/magazine/americas-hidden-hiv-epidemic.html

So California has decriminalized knowingly infecting someone with HIV, so that it's treated just like knowingly infecting others with other diseases.

I'm sure that won't cause any problems.

[KD5NRH]

How is intentionally infecting someone with any disease (presumably without their consent) not always a felony?

[zxcvbob]

What about knowingly transmitting a disease to a public official?

[cordex]

What about knowingly transmitting a disease to a public official?

Is it even possible to make a virus sick?

[RoadKingLarry]

How is intentionally infecting someone with any disease (presumably without their consent) not always a felony?

Particularly an incurable disease. WTF California?

[lupinus]

I'd say I'm surprised, but it's California so not really. I fail to see the reasoning in this stupidity.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[Fly320s]

I fail to see the reasoning in this stupidity.

1. California
2. The people who have HIV/AIDS are extra special, so California doesn't want to hurt their feels.

[RoadKingLarry]

If someone was to knowingly infect me, without my consent, with an incurable, debilitating and potentially fatal disease I can guaran-damn-tee a felony would occur.

[Pb]

They are looking out for their voters.

[HankB]

If someone was to knowingly infect me, without my consent, with an incurable, debilitating and potentially fatal disease I can guaran-damn-tee a felony would occur.

^^^^^^^^^^^
This.

[RevDisk]

1. California
2. The people who have HIV/AIDS are extra special, so California doesn't want to hurt their feels.

Pretty much. While it is no longer a death sentence, it is a "extremely expensive, livestyle changing and life shortening" condition. If you're being a responsible human being. While I concur that people with HIV or AIDS should not be treated like lepers, really? Bloody really?

[agricola]

What a barking decision.  Over here doing it deliberately is always one of the two versions of GBH and I don't think I have ever heard of anyone complain that it shouldn't be.

[230RN]

GBH = Grievous Bodily Harm?

I'm gettin' damned tired of having to look up or "translate" acronyms.

No offense (offense), agricola, but it's a general gripe for me.

Terry

[Ben]

GBH = Grievous Bodily Harm?

I'm gettin' damned tired of having to look up or "translate" acronyms.

No offense (offense), agricola, but it's a general gripe for me.

Terry

TTB SIL TTWIG QSS

 

[Angel Eyes]

1. California

Yep.

Knowingly infect another person with HIV?  Misdemeanor.

Possess a single round of tracer ammo?  Felony.

[230RN]

TTB SIL TTWIG QSS

 

Gr.
146.52

[BlueStarLizzard]

Well, jeez, why don't the legislators on that particular bit of garbage just go out and slap the victims.

[RoadKingLarry]

Well, jeez, why don't the legislators on that particular bit of garbage just go out and slap the victims.

Wouldn't surprise me to see reporting someone for infecting you with HIV get labeled a hate crime in Kalifornia.

[Hawkmoon]

GBH = Grievous Bodily Harm?

I'm gettin' damned tired of having to look up or "translate" acronyms.

No offense (offense), agricola, but it's a general gripe for me.

Agreed.

And someone needs to remind Ben that "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." 

[Firethorn]

Guys, knowingly infecting somebody with HIV is still going to be a misdemeanor.  It's still covered by a more generic law that covers all diseases.  HIV simply won't be special anymore.

Personally, I'd rather have the option of it being felony level depending on the disease.  Turns out that some other diseases are as bad as HIV is now.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Guys, knowingly infecting somebody with HIV is still going to be a misdemeanor.  It's still covered by a more generic law that covers all diseases.  HIV simply won't be special anymore.

Personally, I'd rather have the option of it being felony level depending on the disease.  Turns out that some other diseases are as bad as HIV is now.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that intentionally spreading any disease should maybe be more than a misdemeanor...
 

[RevDisk]

Guys, knowingly infecting somebody with HIV is still going to be a misdemeanor.  It's still covered by a more generic law that covers all diseases.  HIV simply won't be special anymore.

Personally, I'd rather have the option of it being felony level depending on the disease.  Turns out that some other diseases are as bad as HIV is now.

Uhm. I must be mistaken, but HIV is often lethal. Not on par with shooting yourself in the head, but not insanely far off. Yes, it should be a felony. Yes, other intentional infections should be felony grade.

[Ben]

Uhm. I must be mistaken, but HIV is often lethal. Not on par with shooting yourself in the head, but not insanely far off. Yes, it should be a felony. Yes, other intentional infections should be felony grade.

I agree with this. Somehow this (what CA did) seems to me to be similar to "hate crime" legislation, except from the other direction. We force harsher penalties on a "hate crime" murder than we do a "regular" murder, or murders on unprotected classes of people, even though the victims all suffer equally and are all just as dead.

Here, somehow they are deciding that to make knowing and malicious HIV transmission a felony is somehow a "hate crime" against the person committing the crime because of the statistics of what protected class of people might be most likely to commit the crime. Whether HIV or doping someone's food with cyanide, the victim can end up just as dead.

[Firethorn]

Uhm. I must be mistaken, but HIV is often lethal. Not on par with shooting yourself in the head, but not insanely far off. Yes, it should be a felony. Yes, other intentional infections should be felony grade.

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say.
1.  I don't want HIV to be a "special snowflake"
2.  Diseases as bad or worse than HIV should be felonies, and I'm willing to talk on where the line is on "less lethal than".

That noted, Those refusing to vaccinate their kids could be facing some jail time.