Got HIV? You Might Be a Terrorist in Michigan

by Michael Jones · 2010-05-11 09:30:00 UTC
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TerrorismSix months ago, a prosecutor in Michigan decided to tweak the definition of "HIV-positive" in a pretty unbelievable way. See, for Eric Smith, an attorney in Michigan's Macomb County, being HIV-positive is enough to mark you as a terrorist, a carrier of a biological weapon locked and loaded to unleash destruction on society.

The whole situation revolves around the case of Daniel Allen, a gay HIV-positive Michigan resident. Toward the end of 2009, Allen was involved in an altercation with a neighbor where a fight ensued. It turned physical, and Allen ended up biting his neighbor on the lip.

Police were called and eventually charges were filed stemming from the fight. But what makes the charges filed against Daniel Allen particularly disturbing has little if anything to do with the physical fight, and more to do with a Prosecutor's ignorance over HIV.  Because once Attorney Eric Smith found out that Daniel Allen was HIV-positive (from a local Fox News report, no less), he added a criminal charge generally reserved for people looking to blow up Times Square or airplanes: bioterrorism.

Many folks were hoping that this charge wouldn't stick. The science at the crux of the charge is bunk (there's no scientific proof whatsoever that you can transmit HIV through biting). And, after all, if Daniel Allen can be charged with terrorism for getting into a fight, can an HIV-positive adolescent be charged with terrorism for enrolling in a karate class? Or can an HIV-positive driver who gets into a car wreck be charged with terrorism, too?

But sadly, during a hearing yesterday, a judge in Macomb County, Judge Peter Maceroni, failed to take action on throwing the charge out, keeping advocates (and Daniel Allen) in a form of limbo, as everyone waits to find out whether the state of Michigan is going to categorize HIV-positive people as potential terrorists.

Several groups in Michigan expressed worry yesterday that these charges are still on the books, according to the Michigan Messenger. Among those groups include the Michigan Positive Action Coalition, which believes the bioterrorism charges filed against Daniel Allen amount to nothing less than the criminalization of HIV.

"Even without a proven mode of transmission, it seems to be enough that you are HIV-positive to be charged as a terrorist in Michigan," said Mark Peterson, the director of the Michigan Positive Action Coalition. Peterson added that if people living with HIV can be considered bioterrorists, then others might not be far behind (like those who have Swine Flu).

More than 1,400 people on Change.org have called on Prosecutor Eric Smith to drop the bioterrorism charge against Daniel Allen. He won't. Perhaps that's because he's more interested in criminalizing people with HIV instead of practicing law in accordance with public health, or perhaps he's just stubborn and doesn't want to admit that he's wrong, despite widespread condemnation of these charges.

But if Judge Maceroni allows the charge to stand, and Daniel Allen heads to trial accused of bioterrorism because of his HIV status, Michigan will in fact have set a new low. This will open up a can of worms that might just result in more prosecutions (and persecution) of HIV-positive people. Science (and common sense) be damned.

Photo credit: weglet

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.

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Demand Michigan Prosecutor Drop HIV-as-Terrorism Charges
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